I had begun this series of #GuestPosts to bring variety to my content. Originally scheduled for the first of every month, this post was pushed to the 2nd because 1st July was already crowded with #SkywatchFriday, #FridayReflections and the #TheDailyPost . Besides,  a blogger of repute like Corinne deserves a special day.  I am honoured and pleased to present a guest post by Corinne who really needs no introduction.  But for those who don’t know her, it’s time you did.

I met Corinne very briefly in Mumbai  but ‘meet’ her every day in the blogosphere.  Today she has become a real friend .

A friend in need is a friend indeed but sometimes, as Corinne reminds us, good intentions don’t always turn out the way they were meant to be.

Thanks Corinne for reaching out to friend and sharing your thoughts with us.

Good Intentions?

Lately, I’ve been thinking on whether a person or a group having good intentions is enough, especially when those good intentions don’t always have good consequences. Remember, that saying, ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’?

One classic example of a good intention gone wrong was when Asian carp was introduced into American waters to keep them clean. What was not anticipated is that these fish are so aggressive that they began to feed upon the native fish species, threatened the ecosystem and grew so big that they jumped up in the waters causing boating accidents!

Let’s think about something that happens to us almost on a daily basis in India. We stop at a traffic signal and a child or children might approach us for money. Their eyes and their bedraggled look is enough to make us feel guilty about sitting in the comfort of our car, while they have to beg for food. We want to help – a good intention. So we whip out some money and hand it over to them. What often happens is that the kids have to turn this money over to their ‘boss’ – part of a begging mafia. Have we helped the child or perpetuated a crime? Have we eased that kid’s hunger or our own guilt?

I think the best solution is not to give the child anything in a situation like this. I’ve found the best way is to take the child to a nearest eatery, buy her something to eat and make sure she eats it. I know that this is not always possible and it’s a short term solution, but it somehow seems a better idea to me. And of course, while you are doing that engage the child in talk. Make him or her feel like you are interested in them. I know a friend who has used this method several times to get the children into a shelter and finally into school.

Coming to our day to day lives, do you go through a phase when most of your good intentions don’t get converted into action. Is there a ‘good intention heaven’, I wonder – a place where all our good intentions go after they die? If there is one, it surely must be full of mine.

For the last few days I’ve been meaning to do a host of things – write every day, walk every day, start art journaling again.. make some calls…! Then there are blogging goals  to be met and books reviews   to write. The list goes on. I’ve had a lot of good intentions, but, I can’t seem to get off my but(t)s!

I have tried various methods to shake off these  bouts of lethargy but they didn’t seem to work. I’ve found there’s only one way to do it – don’t have regrets about what you haven’t done, but take one intention at a time and work on it.

Corinne writes at Everyday Gyaan , reviews books at  CorinneRodrigues.com and encourages writers and bloggers at Write Tribe . Connect with her on Facebook  and Twitter.