"All great things are done for their own sake."   - Robert Frost

That was my "aha" on Thursday afternoon when I finally deposited my letter of hope behind the telephone poll in Grapevine, Texas: the same place where I found the letter of hopelessness months earlier.

Before writing the letter I wondered if I should use my note to explain what I was doing and that I was writing on behalf of the House of Shine. You know, a small plug for me and the community that we've created.

And then I thought maybe I would just sign it from someone at www.houseofshine.com.

Or maybe place a Shine sticker on the outside of my yellow envelope.

Or even more mysteriously a sticker reading, The Yellow Envelope Project.

Somewhere along the line I decided against all of it.

Almost instantaneously I realized this letter was not about the House of Shine or about tracing the note back to me in order to make me look good. It wasn't about gaining exposure or accolades or increasing readership or "getting discovered".

It was about lifting someone else up, just because it was a nice thing to do and because it made me feel good. I decided quickly that even the slightest trace of self-promotion would have cheapened the entire gesture.

Pure motives. Nothing ulterior. No ego.

There was something freeing - even exhilirating  - about knowing that I was writing that letter for its own sake and nothing else.

"All great things are done for their own sake." - Robert Frost

Shining off until...