Inconvenience Yourself Day
It seems as though nowadays everything imaginable has its own “day.” Let’s just take the month of February, for instance. February 1st- National Dark Chocolate Day. February 6th- National Chopsticks Day. February 20th- National Comfy Day. I could go on… But one “day” that you might not be as familiar with is Inconvenience Yourself Day. Celebrated on the 4th Wednesday of each February, it is quickly approaching on February 22nd this year. It’s a day focused on putting others’ needs above your own and inconveniencing yourself in order to help others. You can read more about the history of the day here.
This got me thinking about all the ways we put effort into seeking out convenience in today’s world. No time to chop vegetables? Welcome to the convenience of pre-cut bags of broccoli and cauliflower. Too busy to go shopping? How convenient that there’s Target drive-up, and with Amazon Prime you can have almost anything dropped at your door with next-day delivery. Too inconvenient to run to the bank? Just snap a picture, and using an app you can deposit your check in minutes. What if we traded in just some of that convenience, to actually inconvenience ourselves in the name of improving the lives of our friends, neighbors, teachers, and even strangers?
I’m typing this post with my two-month-old daughter lying in my lap, still in the throes of early postpartum life. The other morning, as several inches of freshly fallen snow covered the ground, and while our three year old was throwing a tantrum and the baby needed to nurse, my husband and I were trying to determine how we were going to get out to shovel our driveway. Just then, we noticed movement outside. It was our next door neighbor, moving up and down our driveway with his snowblower, solving our dilemma. It was the absolute greatest gift in that moment. Was it an inconvenience to him? Most likely, as we all have places to be, to-do lists to check off, and far more fun and exciting things to do on a Saturday morning. Yet I sit here several days later, still with the utmost gratification for his kind action.
This got me thinking of ways my family and I could “inconvenience” ourselves for others. Some ideas I’ve thought of so far include:
Making a meal for a neighbor dealing with illness, surgery, a new baby, etc.
Cleaning out closets and then posting the unwanted items to a local Buy Nothing Facebook page
Picking up a stray piece of trash while out for a morning walk
Sending a hand-written note to a friend or family member to let them know you are thinking of them
Emailing a teacher to let them know how much you appreciate their dedication to your child’s learning
Re-shelving a book at the library that is out of place
Looking a cashier directly in the eye at check-out to say thank you
Taking a minute before whipping out a ziploc bag to determine if the item can be stored in a more eco-friendly way
The actions can be as big or as small as we like. Sometimes the smallest actions have the greatest impact. Furthermore, explaining this day to our children is a wonderful opportunity to start to get them thinking about ways they can help others on a daily basis. Are there any of the above tasks that they could help with? I personally find I sometimes underestimate what my child is capable of. They might just surprise us by coming up with an idea of their own.
With Inconvenience Yourself Day quickly approaching, how can you inconvenience yourself in order to make someone’s world a little brighter? What if every day was Inconvenience Yourself Day?