When Ordinary People Achieve Extraordinary Things...

           Wow, is all I can say after hearing Jody Williams's "I believe" talk. Her talk was actually the first one I clicked on to listen to, and I'm so glad I did. After listening to other talks, I kept coming back to her talk, and her message. It's amazing how a belief in something, and being up to a challenge can have such a huge impact on the world. Giving a voice to the marginalized, oppressed, or injured because it's the right thing to do is something I hold very dear to my heart. Doing something "because it's the right thing to do" resonates with me, and is something I strive for in my everyday life. After listening to this I believe talk, my eyes have been opened, and heart renewed.  http://thisibelieve.org/essay/7/ 

I believe in Random Acts of Kindness

          It was my sophomore year of high school when I joined Setons, an all women's prayer, share, and care group on campus. A group that over the next three years would see me at my worst, lowest points, and at my highest, happiest moments. I came to love this group of girls like family and looked forward to our monthly meetings filled with laughs, tears, and licorice. In those meetings I learned the power of a hug, a hand squeeze, and the power of kindness. The leader of our meetings, a teacher at my high school is one of the most loving, compassionate, and selfless people I have ever met. She taught this group of girls the importance of always finding the good in a bad day, and that small acts of kindness went a long way.   

          Every year one meeting was special. That meeting was called the RAK (random acts of kindness) meeting. No classroom, whiteboard, or locker was left untouched by the Seton girls those nights as we went from hallway to hallway decorating lockers with candy, and writing on the whiteboards in each teachers classroom telling them what they meant to us and my high school's community. That next morning we'd all wait with excited hearts for our first class of the day, and to see the teachers' faces as they saw the board. And the fact it was a secret made it that much better. It wasn't about the recognition for what we did, it was about making someone else's day. No strings attached.

          My senior year, a fellow Seton member and I took it a step further, and the two of us took on the senior class as RAK fairies. On weekends we'd make 300 posters for lockers, and with the help of teachers, would put them up late Sunday nights. Walking into school Monday morning and seeing our classmates faces was priceless, and over the course of the year we kept it a secret, working by night to make our classmate's mornings, birthdays, or holidays just a little bit brighter. 

      

         I believe in smiling at strangers. I believe it's the  little things that make us happy, a hug, a random text, a letter. I believe in doing something because it's the right thing to do. I believe in seeing the good in every situation. I believe in the love people have for each other. And I believe that those random acts of kindness show that love.