One Million Acts of Kindness

Family Kindness

tim — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:05:22 +0000

I love when families do things together and I especially love it when they happen upon The Kindness Bus.
Parents, Todd and Laura, with 2 of their 5 children, Quinn and Anika, rode up just as I had finished my riding for the day. They loved seeing all the wonderful lessons to be learned, written on its body. “We teach kindness to our kids every day,” Todd said. It was a nice way to get back on the road again after 3 weeks in the east.
School is out for the summer. Spend as much time as you can with your kids, participating in activities and sports, any way possible to engage them in conversation and connection. Teach them about kindness every day.

Father’s Day

tim — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 16:00:32 +0000

On my short detour through Cleveland, Ohio, I was able to spend some precious time with my two sons, Alex and Peter. My daughter, Lizzie is in Colorado.
The sum of all the goodness you can teach and show to your children can be summed up in one word that they use to describe you: pride.
This should be the most important word in a father’s vocabulary when it comes to describing the feelings a child has for a father.
Today’s photo contains a 7 piece panoramic pictorial of The Kindness Bus. It is a perfect reminder to all of my children. Since beginning The Kindness Bus Tour, the word, pride, has been used in my children’s vocabulary more than ever.
Happy Father’s Day to all of the dads out there.

Fathers Do Matter

tim — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 15:57:37 +0000

Tomorrow is Father’s Day. The following is one of my favorite blogs that I wrote a few years back. The photo is one of my favorites as well:
The photo in today’s blog was on a bus shelter I drove by a couple of years ago. It had such an impact that I had to circle the block to get a picture to capture its powerful message.
Fathers do matter! Having positive male role models in children’s lives is imperative.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has done extensive studies on the powerful impact a father has on his children, starting as early as birth. The website is well worth reading.
Traveling across the nation for the past several months and talking with thousand of people I have come to realize just how important a positive message can be to children, when imparted by a father. One of the most important learning lessons is the witnessing of the love a father shows to his wife. Parents interacting in positive ways in front of their children, will have healthier, more emotionally stable children, it is a proven fact.
Fathers matter…and of course, mothers matter too!

Home

tim — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:50:06 +0000

Home is where the heart is…make your home everywhere!!

A Private School in Sheep’s Clothing

tim — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:47:23 +0000

There is a private school in the hills north of San Francisco that has done the incomprehensible.
I thought I hadn’t heard what a mom of one of the students told me, correctly. Possibly, because I didn’t want to believe what I heard. Here are the key allegations.
1.) Her son has been bullied by another boy at his school. (OK got that.)
2.) Her son is also being cyber-bullied by that same boy. (There’s a pattern here.)
3.) Her son has been physically hurt by that same boy. (Now we’re talking crime)
4.) The school has been made aware of the incidents. (You’ve done just what you should have, mom.)
Here is where the story takes a despicable turn. The part I didn’t want to hear.
The parents of the bully, soon thereafter, wrote a sizable check to the school, a very nice, sports car sized, check to the school….to which the school said….yes….thank you!….what bullying?….we didn’t see any bullying!
Oh yeah…and the parents have done the incomprehensible as well.

What was learned here?
1.) Nothing by the bullying son, unless you want to count paying your way out of a lesson.
These two poor examples of parents should take whatever monies they may have, and send all of their offspring to a boarding school in a faraway land and have the least amount of contact with them for their own good.

2.) The boy who was bullied will hopefully learn a long term positive lesson that he can use for the greater good for the rest of his life.
3.) The private school in sheep’s clothing will be hearing from the California Department of Education in the very near future.

Applewood Centers

tim — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 11:23:58 +0000

I met Naeome and Lawrence while out riding. They loved the looks of The Kindness Bicycle the moment they laid their eyes on it. Naeome’s interest comes from her love of children and her job at Applewood Centers. It is her birthday today and seeing The Kindness Bicycle was a great “gift” to her.

Applewood Centers is a leader in improving the lives of children in Ohio by providing high quality behavioral healthcare and out-of-home services for children and their families. They foster solutions for children, youth and families. In the early days, they schooled and cared for about 25 children. Today they serve nearly 6,000 children and their families each year. What a valuable resource for kids across the state of Ohio. Thank you to Jim Weingart for tracking me down and showing such a huge interest in my mission.

One Final Excerpt

tim — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 11:22:51 +0000

The CNN article which went “live” nearly a week ago has had a big viewership.

Evelio Contreras of CNN captured a couple of the quotes written on The Kindness Bus, perfectly.

It’s a living memorial, he says, of the people who took the time to write on it.

But it also speaks to the future, when days are long and he needs a reminder to keep going.

He likes the simplicity of one note that a 3-year-old left with the help of his mother: “Just be nice.”

And the wisdom of a 92-year-old man who was married for 60 years: “Tell your love, you love her every day.”

“Even on a cold day,” Votruba says, “It warms the soul.”. Those few lines capture the nearly 90 years of difference in age of two individuals who wrote on The Kindness Bus, four-plus generations, and the message remains ageless and pure simplicity…the importance of life can be summed up in two words…kindness and love.

Whitney Point, NY

tim — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 11:21:59 +0000

Traveling through New York State, I had to make Whitney Point top on my list for a visit. This town has done so much to support the efforts of One Million Acts Of Kindness over the years. I also needed to express my gratitude for the 3rd annual celebration of One Million Acts Of Kindness day celebrated here each April 27th.
Kim Downs and Sandy Atwood of Whitney Point Preschool and Daycare are two of my favorite people to visit with as I travel the country. It is such fun catching up but hard to fit all the stories in in such a short amount of time. These woman are doing great things with the school and are planning on incorporating the Ring Our Country with Kindness (ROCK) ride as a wonderful visual in the school.
Thank you to everyone in this wonderful village.

Words and Actions

tim — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 11:21:12 +0000

This is the third of three articles I am writing about the recent CNN article.

Excerpts below, are in quotations.

I had no idea, the long lasting damage words or actions can have on an individual. The memory of these issues are still adversely affecting individuals, decades later.

“These are issues as I’m driving across the country I’m hearing so much,” he says. “I’m having firsthand conversations with people losing loved ones because of suicide. I’ve had adults break down and cry 30 to 40 years later because of something that happened in high school.”

Words can hurt as much as your actions.

Words can comfort as much as your actions.

Choosing the latter is the only option.

Reminders

tim — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 11:20:14 +0000

This is the second of three articles I am writing about the recent CNN piece, with my notes below.

The following are excerpts from that piece:

“He sets at least four alarms each day to remind him to think about others and what he can do to spread kindness. Small gestures can help folks get into the habit of being kind, he says.” ”If you want to say a prayer, or a moment of silence,” he says, that’s what you should do. “Whatever you need to do to honor someone.”

It is so easy to get caught up living life, that we often don’t remember goals we have set for ourselves. Most of us have phones that we can set daily alarms which remind us of something uniquely important to us. I have four daily alarms that remind me of the following:

7:11AM – Get up and help to make the world a better place.

12:34PM – Try to help as many people as I possibly can today

3:43PM – I have a moment of silence to honor the 343 Firefighters and 72 Law Enforcement who lost their lives on September 11th.

5:55PM – Embrace gratitude. Give back, at the very least, as much as you have been given.