The Kindness Diaries

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