“Do the work that is nearest,

Though it’s dull at whiles,

Helping, when we meet them,

Lame dogs over stiles.”

– Charles Kingsley –

It’s an obsolete idiom. But I can’t think of a better metaphor that speaks of kind work than helping someone or some animal in distress, getting them to a greener field in the field just over the hedge in the near and brighter beyond.

Waste little time each day looking out over the horizon for some great thing to do.

Listen for the lame nearby, and lift them to greener pastures.