My son Peter and I were talking this past summer about One Million Acts Of Kindness and the good I was hoping that would come from it. We talked about how I was going to try to convince people to achieve a personal goal of one million acts of kindness in their lives. A goal, which I believe, can have powerful positive changes. At the end of our conversation, Peter challenged me with the question, “I get it dad, but what’s the ultimate goal”? I replied, “Each individual performing one million acts of kindness”. He said “Yeah, but what’s the ultimate goal”? I was somewhat perplexed but told him I would have to get back to him with an answer. What could possibly be more of an ultimate goal, than a person performing one million acts of kindness in one’s life, I asked myself. Over the course of the next few days it came to me, I called to tell him of my answer. I told him “With an individual embracing such a prodigious goal, my wish was that one person would choose to dedicate their life to a charity of humanitarian aid like Mother Teresa”. As I spoke those words, the thought came to me that that was not a big enough goal. I continued on, “No, I hope that one-thousand Mother Teresas are created”. 

**The Kindness Bus Tour resumes its daily journey and blog on January 6^th 2010

A friend of mine has a sticker on her car that tells one to “Visualize Whirled Peas”. At first glance, it seems like just a fun play on words, but given more thought, it has a much more profound meaning. It usually takes an event for an individual to say, I want to try to help this troubled world. I want to be an example to the world by finally doing something about it, by doing for others while being a positive influence in the world. Getting others involved in your passion is a great way to spread your personal kindness. This is how we as individuals can work for world peace, starting with our own lives first and spreading our message to others. Spread your message across this awesome nation of ours. Live your life like the entire world is watching, because they are. Is there ever going to be a point in your life where there will ever be a lasting world peace, or will you do nothing about it and just visualize whirled peas?

As we near the beginning of another year, the time of year for resolutions and goals of self-improvement, one of the greatest goals each one of us can embrace, is setting a goal of becoming a “Kindness Millionaire” in our lifetime. With all of the “I Can Make You a Millionaire” infomercial DVDs and books, which seem to end up just collecting dust on a shelf, “You Can Make You a Kindness Millionaire” is a goal which will be more rewarding than most any other goal you set for yourself. Change yourself from within. Feel great about who you are by doing for others. Create a new lifestyle by transforming yourself into a person who sets a priority of creating happiness and security for others. Show the world just how good of a person you really are.

This is the resolution you need to keep.

“One person can make a difference”, is an oft used phrase to call attention to helping a person become inspired in getting involved in a much needed way. It is a phrase, which we all know but to which we need to pay more attention. As many of us live our lives, we become caught up in just living our lives. We become too busy to notice that much of our life has passed by without doing more than just living our lives. All of us need to do much more to help others. It is probably the most important thing we do. Call attention to this present moment becoming a new starting line in your life, where you realize just how important you really are. You are the only one who can make the difference in your life and the positive change you wish to make in this troubled world.

  “One person can make a difference, You are it”.

Holding onto long-held negative beliefs can destroy from within. Whether because of stubbornness or perhaps one’s pride being injured. Early on in my travels, I met a man who had carried in his heart for thirty years, that he had given up on being kind to others. I do not like to talk in a negative light about others, but he was by far the crabbiest person I have met in a very long time, perhaps ever. He told me of how dumb of an idea it was for me to try to spread kindness to others, that it was just a waste of my time. I thought at the time that he was just testing my mettle, but he had convinced himself long ago that carrying this with him, somehow justified in his mind that he was getting even. When he explained the reason for his actions, it seemed so trivial to me, but yet of monumental importance to him. This long-held judgment of another has been a thirty-year sentence for him. I wished him the best and told him that talking to a professional could possibly help. It is so important to forgive.