I See Trees of Green, Clouds of White...

This morning when I was walking from the Metro into my office, I saw a woman with a little tote bag picking up random pieces of garbage and putting them in her bag. My first thought was that she may have been homeless or a little off her rocker, but she was clean and nicely dressed, and clearly heading to work for the day.
It took me a moment, but I realized she was simply taking a few moments to clean up her environment, and to make the world around her a more beautiful place for everyone.

This really struck me.
I mean, how often do I see garbage lying somewhere and turn my nose up in disgust? But how often do I actually pick up that garbage? You can guess how often -- never.
How often do we see things we don't like in the world -- but how often do we actually take the initiative to make those things better?

Obviously not everything is within our power, but oftentimes we do have the ability to change something for the better and we just choose not to.

It's still not likely that I will be picking up garbage with my bare hands, but this morning was a little reminder to do what little I can to make the world a better place. If we all pitch in, just a little bit, how much better do you think things can get?