An 8 year ride for kids

Put an end to Bullying & Adolescent Suicide

In year 3 of this mission, I introduced a bicycle ride to my travels to raise
awareness about issues kids are having to deal with at far too young an age.
Bullying and Adolescent Suicide are two of these challenging burdens most kids
will unfairly have to overcome throughout the remainder of their lives. At rides
end we will have ridden enough miles to traveled the perimeter of the earth, twice.
My mission on this ride has but one focus: To save kids lives.

One Final Excerpt

June 11th, 2013
The CNN article which went “live” nearly a week ago has had a big viewership.
Evelio Contreras of CNN captured a couple of the quotes written on The Kindness Bus, perfectly.
It’s a living memorial, he says, of the people who took the time to write on it.
But it also speaks to the future, when days are long and he needs a reminder to keep going.
He likes the simplicity of one note that a 3-year-old left with the help of his mother: “Just be nice.”

And the wisdom of a 92-year-old man who was married for 60 years: “Tell your love, you love her every day.”

“Even on a cold day,” Votruba says, “It warms the soul.”.                                 Those few lines capture the nearly 90 years of difference in age of two individuals who wrote on The Kindness Bus, four-plus generations, and the message remains ageless and pure simplicity…the importance of life can be summed up in two words…kindness and love.

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Whitney Point, NY

June 10th, 2013

6-10-13Traveling through New York State, I had to make Whitney Point top on my list for a visit. This town has done so much to support the efforts of One Million Acts Of Kindness over the years. I also needed to express my gratitude for the 3rd annual celebration of One Million Acts Of Kindness day celebrated here each April 27th.
Kim Downs and Sandy Atwood of Whitney Point Preschool and Daycare are two of my favorite people to visit with as I travel the country. It is such fun catching up but hard to fit all the stories in in such a short amount of time. These woman are doing great things with the school and are planning on incorporating the Ring Our Country with Kindness (ROCK) ride as a wonderful visual in the school.
Thank you to everyone in this wonderful village.

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Words and Actions

June 9th, 2013
This is the third of three articles I am writing about the recent CNN article.
Excerpts below, are in quotations.
I had no idea, the long lasting damage words or actions can have on an individual. The memory of these issues are still adversely affecting individuals, decades later.
“These are issues as I’m driving across the country I’m hearing so much,” he says. “I’m having firsthand conversations with people losing loved ones because of suicide. I’ve had adults break down and cry 30 to 40 years later because of something that happened in high school.”
Words can hurt as much as your actions.
Words can comfort as much as your actions.
Choosing the latter is the only option.

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Reminders

June 8th, 2013
This is the second of three articles I am writing about the recent CNN piece, with my notes below.
The following are excerpts from that piece:
“He sets at least four alarms each day to remind him to think about others and what he can do to spread kindness. Small gestures can help folks get into the habit of being kind, he says.”         “If you want to say a prayer, or a moment of silence,” he says, that’s what you should do. “Whatever you need to do to honor someone.”
It is so easy to get caught up living life, that we often don’t remember goals we have set for ourselves. Most of us have phones that we can set daily alarms which remind us of something uniquely important to us. I have four daily alarms that remind me of the following:
7:11AM – Get up and help to make the world a better place.
12:34PM – Try to help as many people as I possibly can today
3:43PM – I have a moment of silence to honor the 343 Firefighters and 72 Law Enforcement who lost their lives on September 11th.
5:55PM – Embrace gratitude. Give back, at the very least, as much as you have been given.

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Pride

June 7th, 2013
This is the first of three articles I am writing about the recent CNN piece. It is the biggest takeaway of the article.
The power of pride children have in their hearts for their parents is the highest honor for the parent and life lesson for children.
The following excerpts, as a parent, are the most important to me.
“He returned to his home near Cleveland, and the single father told his children that he planned to sell all his belongings and drive to university campuses across the country to talk about kindness. Daughter Lizzie, 23, says she and her siblings were taken aback but not surprised. They always said Dad was kind.
Not interviewed for the article, because of scheduling conflicts, was my 27- year-old son, Alex, who commented online: “Very proud of you dad! Keep up the good work.”                                                   “It was a different step than most people take in their life,” his 25-year-old son, Peter, says. “I was proud that he left and he was going to do something he felt was right and needed to do.”
I am the luckiest man on the face of the earth. -rv

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A Very Nice Piece…..

June 6th, 2013

A very nice piece, below, by Evelio Contreras of CNN, features One Million Acts Of Kindness
http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/06/living/evc-man-spreads-kindness/index.html?hpt=hp_bn11

Thank you Evelio, for seeing this great piece through to the end.
More features to follow, later this summer.

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Kindness from A to Z, Antarctica to Zimbabwe

June 5th, 2013

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Living on a bus which measures 7′ x 12′ for nearly four years, without air conditioning, and without heat once the engine is off, has tested my resolve at times, to say the very least. The paybacks however, have been beyond any expectations I would have ever thought possible.
To be able to talk with people from all parts of the world about having an individual lifetime goal of One Million Acts Of Kindness has been the most rewarding to me. Knowing that by talking in person or to someone virtually, about something so important and that they are then spreading this message of kindness to family and friends in their country, inspires me to forge ahead with this ten year mission with increasing enthusiasm.
Introducing The Kindness Bicycle to my travels two years ago and riding for issues children have had to address at far too young an age, has offered comfort to those who have had to experience issues such as Bullying, Adolescent Suicide, Domestic Violence and Childhood Sexual Abuse. I also rode The Kindness Bicycle to honor Heroes: Wounded Warriors and Police & Fire Fighters killed in the line of duty. It is these Heroes who protect our liberties and freedoms and in most every case, serve as role models for our children. This Heroes ride culminated with the visiting of all 212 Firehouses, 76 Police Precincts, 4 Veterans Hospitals and many other First Responding Agencies, with over 1,300 miles alone, in the 5 boroughs of New York City.
In less than a year’s time, I will have ridden a distance of 25,000 miles for children, the very circumference of our beautiful earth.
Each and every one of us has a global reach with the Internet. I encourage you to help spread the goodness of your personal passion, as much as you can, to a world waiting to be comforted by its message.
Today’s photos show One Million Acts Of Kindness’ presence at McMurdo Station, Antarctica and on a home in Zimbabwe.

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Thank you to Betsy Blankenbaker, of the House of Loveness, for her great work in spreading the word of One Million Acts Of Kindness to the children of Zimbabwe.
Her blog link is below:
http://house-of-loveness.blogspot.com/2013/04/my-first-trip-to-zimbabwe-in-2008-there.html?m=1

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