In the wake of so much sadness, confusion and anger, it can
be hard to see the goodness and love that still exists. We are being bombarded with messages of hate
and fear on the television, newspaper and social media. Unless you are aware of
the possible effects, the constant hum of despair and negativity can easily steal
the hope and faith you have in the world you live.
About a week ago Kayden
came home from school excited about a guest speaker they had who taught a
powerful message. This man’s name is
Leon Logothetis. Leon’s story began as a
well off stock broker who was unhappy and went in the search of something
more. He documented on camera his trip
around the world on a yellow motorcycle named Kindness One on a quest to
“ignite goodwill and transform lives.” Now
our family is not a huge television watching one, however, I found myself
intrigued with Leons documentary which is showing on the Netflix series The
Kindness Diaries. In this series, the footage is put together showing Leons
journey to travel around the world relying completely on the kindness of
strangers. Every drop of gas, every meal
and every bed he sleeps in is graciously given to him by complete
strangers. Now I have only seen the
first 5 episodes so far but I have found myself encouraged, uplifted, smiling,
laughing and even crying during these half hour episodes. Not only am I touched by the
goodness and love that is very much alive but by what strangers are willing to
share and the lessons they teach through their kindness.
I have to be honest, as much as I love helping people, if a
strange man came up to me randomly on the street and asked if he could spend
the night at my house, everything in my bones would be screaming NO! However,
even many of these people who had that same inner voice were willing to reach
out in other, safer ways whether a meal, a tank of gas or a fencing lesson (you
have to watch). What has stood out the
most in these first 5 episodes is that those that seem to give the most have
the least. One man that Leon approaches
in Pittsburg when asked if he would be willing to put Leon up for the night at
his house, looks him in the eyes and says he doesn’t have a house, he is
homeless and lives on the street. Even
with so little he invites him with open arms and a loving heart to stay in his
area on the street curb with a couple of friends to share what little they
have. He introduced Leon to his friends,
gave him his old lawn chair to sit on, fed him what little food he could find
and made a bed for him on the sidewalk out of the few pieces of bedding he
possessed. This is true kindness, true
love, true goodness and truly a beautiful heart.
Now it would be unrealistic to believe that a person could
solve all the problems of poverty, war, greed, corruption etc. that exsists in
our world, but as Edmund Burke said “the only thing necessary for the triumph
of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Rather
than make the excuses that as one person we will never make a difference, we
need do for one what we wish we could do for many. We may never directly see the effects our kind
words and actions have but I believe that they will change somebody’s life
somewhere and will have a forever trickledown effect. Continue to look for opportunities to spread kindness
and listen and learn from the lessons that come with them.
Alana Regier
http://alanaregier.blogspot.ca
