I strive to lead a very principled life. After I had little people, I looked for ways to enable and ennoble them; teach them good principles in a fun way that would build their character and their sense of self-worth while also helping them learn that there are (good and bad) consequences in all things. I wanted them to learn how to look for the “good” in the world around them and then contribute to it. I figure we have one shot at this life…let’s live it to the fullest, laugh out loud at least 10 times a day, and look for ways to ease the burden of someone else. I still shake my head at the one family night we had where I gave them each a bag full of pebbles and told them I wanted them thrown at people during the week. Let me ‘splain…I first taught them that I was saying the word “rock”, but I was spelling it R-A-O-K…and that these letters were my acronym for Random Act of Kindness. I wanted them to empty the bag by giving (not literally throwing) a RAOK to each person they found that week to whom they could provide a kindness. I encouraged them to write down in a notebook/journal every day the stories of their RAOKs. I asked them to throw as many as they could and then bring their (hopefully empty) bag and their stories to the family meeting the next week. Each was asked to share as many stories with the rest of us as they wanted. The resulting RAOK throwing stories were amazing… helping a younger boy at school tie his shoes so he wouldn’t trip; whispering to a girl that her underpants were showing above her waistband so she wouldn’t be teased… the simplest things were SEEN and ACTED UPON.
With that in mind, I received an email today from my youngest daughter that simply said:
Within the body of her email, there were no words of explanation, introduction to or qualifications for her choice of subject. She had simply pasted a link to Citizens Awareness Vanguard (CAV) blog. Curious, I followed the link to their blog post from 7/16/2013 which was captioned, “21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity.” Because this post had had such a profound effect on my daughter to prompt her email to me, I scrolled through the 21 pictures that were posted.
I have no idea the political affiliation or leanings of this group. I deliberately didn’t look because I did not want to know before I wrote this. Instead, I want to place this CAV blog into the very basket full of “Humanity” that they depicted and thank them for one of the most wonderful pictorials I have ever viewed. The pictures that CAV has posted clearly demonstrate that people around the world are paying attention and acting upon opportunities to throw RAOKs; some of these people were even risking their own safety to serve a stranger.
The genesis of my blog today started with the single line, “This kind of just made my day worth it” and is ending with my faith in humanity being bolstered. I express my profound gratitude to every person who throws RAOKs; to CAV for the courage to recognize and share the pictures of people caught in the act of throwing a RAOK; and to my daughter for knowing the positive impact reading it would have on me. I encourage you to check out the 7/16/13 CAV blog post and then toss a few RAOKs of your own.
I hope this makes you smile (think & act); and as always,
Vicki
A Kidable Life 