I'd like to introduce you to Leon and how one simple act of kindness can spawn a slew of others.
When Leon decided to kill himself,
He was literally at the end of his rope.
But before he slipped away from us,
He had one last thought.
What if I did something so crazy,
So out there,
And gave this life one more chance?
With nothing to lose,
Leon filled up his motorcycle's gas tank and set off from his LA flat east to New York.
The clothes on his back,
One tank of gas,
A smile on his face,
Everything else he'd need would have to come through kindness.
His goal?
To ride across the world.
Talk about a quest,
No big deal,
Right?
Jeez.
In his book,
The Kindness Diaries,
Which,
Coincidentally,
One of my students picked up and I didn't even recommend it,
So that's just really cool,
So she's reading it right now.
Leon goes into detail in The Kindness Diaries of how he just accomplished this amazing quest.
Inevitably,
His story made him an international celebrity,
And his thought experiment became just the evidence that people around the globe needed to prove the world's benevolence.
People all around the world offered him gas,
Food,
Clothes,
Entertainment,
And a roof to sleep under.
The only place he had to sleep on the street was.
.
.
New York City.
New York City.
Bummer.
If I'd known that Leon needed a place to sleep,
I'd of course just say,
Come up an hour north of the Hudson Valley and I'll offer you a warm bed and some nice coffee and a meal.
When Leon and I sat down finally for an interview,
I was in awe,
And he was back in LA in his flat,
And I was in New York.
I was just in awe of his story,
And his very upbeat and optimistic character.
This guy almost killed himself,
I thought,
And the world could have never benefited from his quest.
That could have been a terrible shame,
And thankfully,
Leon chose to live,
And live he is.
Leon's story teaches me that kindness breeds kindness.
Around the same time that I interviewed Leon,
I learned that two of my friends,
Heather and Jessica,
Had lost their battle with cancer.
Heather was like a sister to me in high school,
And Jessica and I were accountability partners to help the other transform education.
The last time I saw Jessica,
We both spoke at Apple on the art of transforming education,
And the last time I saw Heather,
We reminisced about the time that we made a wall of photos of the many mullets we saw on our day-to-day trips.
Like most people,
After I learned about their passing,
I wondered what I can do to help.
I also needed to respect the grieving process,
My own and of course,
My dear friends who had lost their wives,
Daughters,
And a friend.
So,
I made the simple choice of donating my hair to help another warrior in need.
And a couple of years later,
I finally was able to do it.
I just got it cut yesterday.
And while I do miss my man bun,
I'm happy to know that my hair will go to someone in need.
A warrior who is on such a beautiful hero's journey,
Who will receive the recognition that the world loves and cares for them.
Like Leon's story teaches us,
Each of us play such an integral part in this world,
And we all have a choice to be a negative force or a positive one.
When we choose to be a positive force,
We elevate the world's collective conscious,
Which means when we spread kindness,
Kindness exponentially grows and grows and grows.
One smile sprouts another.
Our attention then focuses on the positive in this world.
As you continue on your own hero's journey,
Join me in trying this.
Ask yourself this simple question just once today.
How can I spread kindness?
Perhaps pay someone's toll behind you.
Pick up the tab for the person in back of when you're in line.
Perhaps consider donating your hair.
Or you know what?
Just smile and establish eye contact and say hello to all that you meet today.
We live in such a magnificent world,
And I thank you for creating it with me.
I wish you all an absolutely beautiful day full of love,
Light,
And adventure.
Oh,
And one last thing.
Reach out and tell me a story in your life where kindness bred kindness.
