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Sunday, February 22, 2009

LIFE'S LITTLE GOODIES: There IS Good News Too

>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    

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