This trip is the culmination of years of planning and passion. One Million Acts of Kindness. Easy to say, not as easy to do. I’ve come to believe that I can make a difference in people’s lives if they realize just what makes an act of kindness, how easy it is to do, and what its impact could be on others. My web site, One Million Acts of Kindness provides much of the background for the project.
Not long ago, I began to see that this may be the start of something big. After a recent article in the Sun-Times about the project, I was working in the front yard when a truck pulled in the driveway and my friend Aleas turned out to be the driver. I hadn’t seen him in over 4 years and he just wanted to stop by and tell me what a great thing he thought I was doing. I asked him to write something for me on the bus in Spanish, which he did. Translated, he wrote, “Your happiness is in your hands.” A great thought and a permanent slogan to have on my trip.
Also, a woman in Gates Mills saw my message and decided to change her life and help handicapped kids. She said she had given it some thought for a long time, but this was the incentive she needed to make a go of it. She is now going in a new and exciting direction.
This was all before the trip even started. It got me to thinking, hoping really, that I may stir some feelings in people to take their lives in a new direction. What if I could plant a seed that would help someone find the ability to change their life to pursue a cause! What if that created a contagious passion that would spread to others? And so on, and so on…. Is there another Mother Theresa out there? I’ll bet there is.
