>The diner owner knew the young man was in trouble just from his
>look, so he pretended to pick up a $20 bill off the floor and handed
>it to the hapless man, saying, "Son, you must have dropped this."
>
>That young man, now a successful businessman, recalled, "That
>fella just knew I was in trouble and helped me in a way that didn't
>embarrass me."
>
>Has that single act of kindness had a lasting affect on the
>businessman? Yes! For the last 22 years he has handed out $100
>bills to needy looking strangers. Last year he gave away $25,000
>this way. The diner owner's single act of kindness has rippled
>through the lives of many people for many years.
>
>When Taylor Sevin was nine years young, she lost her daddy to
>cancer. She wanted to do something to help fight cancer so other
>children wouldn't have to feel as sad as she felt. Through a letter
>writing campaign and school events, she raised over $5,000 for
>cancer research and donated it to the Lombardi Cancer Center at
>Georgetown University. Since then, the Lombardi Cancer Center
>has been renamed to the Taylor Sevin Laboratory. Sometimes a
>child has a bigger heart and more daring than adults do.
>
>When U.S. air space was closed on 9/11, 53 flights from all over
>the world were diverted to a small town in Newfoundland. Over
>10,000 stranded passengers and flight crew members were shuttled
>to meeting halls, churches, high schools, and other places set up
>as temporary shelters. Families were kept together, the elderly
>were given refuge in private homes, and all were kept track of so
>none would turn up missing. They were all provided with food, cots,
>blankets, phones, email access, taken on site-seeing excursions,
>and given everything they needed to make their misadventure as
>pleasant as possible.
>
>Impressed with such generosity, a U.S. doctor, one of the people
>stranded in Newfoundland, has set up scholarship funding for the
>small town's high school students. The individual sacrifices of time
>and material goods that the town's residents showed to strangers
>has resulted in a brighter future for the town and its children.
>
>When Marshall Levit was 14 years young, he noticed a large parcel
>of land next to his synagogue was going unused. His imagination
>pictured a garden there that would feed the poor and homeless.
>
>This 14-year-old took his religion’s dictum to feed the hungry very
>seriously, and despite the skepticism of the adults in his world, he
>went to work at turning his vision into reality. He persuaded the
>synagogue to donate the land, he organized volunteers, and he
>solicited donations of seed, garden tools, money, and expertise.
>Marshall's garden became a reality.
>
>For eight years now, the garden that Marshall started has fed the
>needy and stocked local food banks with fresh fruit and vegetables.
>
>Marshall's garden grows more than edibles though, it has grown a
>community of volunteers that take pride and comfort in knowing
>they are doing their part to better the world. In a word, Marshall's
>garden grows...love.
>
>If you watch the news programs, you'd think this world was nothing
>but misery, greed, and hatred. The truth is, there is good news too.
>In fact, there is more good news happening than bad news, you just
>don't often hear about it because it isn't sensational, as the news
>media defines sensational.
>
>The people in these true stories, young and old, all had one thing in
>common. They wanted to make a difference in the world, and a
>difference they did make. It's easy to let the big picture overwhelm
>us so that we think there's nothing we can do. It's wiser and more
>noble to see the little things that we can do, and to do them.
>
>The bad news is on TV and the radio, the good news is found with
>the regular folks like you and me. Never think you can't make a
>difference in the world, because you can if you want to. You can
>make a difference in big ways or small, such as you choose. It all
>starts with a small spark of desire to see this old world become a
>gentler, kinder place.
>
>Do you have that desire? If so, do something real. Wishing things
>were better may give you something to do, you might even feel
>good about yourself for having noble wishes, but wishing alone
>does little good.
>
>Taking action does good, for others and for YOU. You don't have to
>save the world, your contribution doesn't have to be of epic scale.
>You only have to better a wee, tiny corner of the world to make a
>difference, to inspire others, and to start a ripple of goodness that
>grows to a magnitude far greater than you may ever know.
>
>You are somebody. Believe that. You can make a real difference.
>Believe that too. The world is waiting for that which only you might
>do, however great or small. Know that with certainty. Whether you
>help make the world better for one person or thousands, each is
>important, just as you ARE important. You are incredibly important!
>You're here on earth because you are important.
>
>Now, what will you do with that knowledge?
>
>"No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped
>possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born."
>- Dale Turner
No comments:
Post a Comment