If Just One Person Smiles At Me...

Thank you Alicia for inspiring me to write this!



This morning, I posted the Pulitzer Prize winning photo of a young Sudanese girl laying on the ground with a vulture in the background. It was taken by photographer. Kevin Carter, who fifteen months later took his own life. I just logged in to find a comment by my friend, Alicia, expressing sympathy, and saying that she wishes she "could just scoop that little girl up under one arm and Kevin under the other, and hold them tight and care for them, and let them know it's gonna be okay."



What a beautiful expression of love!



Along with Kevin's photo, I also posted a photo of a quote by a suicide victim who took his life by jumping off the Golden Gate bridge. It is an excerpt from his suicide note where he stated that if just one person smiled at him he wouldn't kill himself.



Now, flashback to ten years ago when my son, Zach, and I had just gotten back from a trip to town. He was just five years old at the time. We got into the house and he asked me why I had so many friends? It took me a minute to find and compose the perfect answer for a five year5 old, and I had to because this was all about social interaction and a golden rule I wanted him to adhere to.



And, this is what I said:



"When I smile and say hi to someone, it's because I really care about that person. I may not know them but to me they are my friend because the world is a lot better if it's filled with your friends. Did you notice how not everyone says hi back, and some people smiled really big as if they hadn't seen me in a long time?



When I say hi to these people, maybe it was the nicest thing that anyone has done for them in a long, long time. Maybe by me being nice to them with this little smile and a hello, I made them happy. Maybe one or two of them were having really bad days and maybe they were gonna do something bad because they thought nobody cared. But, by me smiling at them, they knew that someone cared about them..."



Of course, my boy was asking why I say hello to just about everyone I pass in my daily life. And, to a five year old it would seem like I was friends with everyone we passed.



Okay! Back to Alicia's response, and the reasons I post "depressing" stuff like that.



It's not to make you sad!



No! I post this for the same reasons I am motivated to produce some of my most important videos - so that you are reminded that each of us as individuals can make our world a better place. So that we know that no matter what's happening in our lives - it can always be worse. We all have something to be truly thankful for and somewhere along the way, most of us forgot this.



Kevin, the little Sudanese famine victim, and that guy who jumped off the Golden Gate bridge all have one thing in common and I hope you get this right now! Their lives had to have meant something! If nothing else, even to illustrate the point I am trying to make right now, which is that each one of us has inside our hearts the ability to stop things like this from happening! You are the one that can make our world better!



"But Danny, the world is screwed! Too far gone! There is nothing I can do to make things better! Why would I want to help this messed up world - all I ever got out of it was crap!"



I've heard it all, and it's thinking like this that makes the world what it is!



I also posted a photo with a quote stating that if you are reading this you should be thankful because there are literally millions of people in this world who do not have the resources to learn how to read. So, whether you agree or disagree with what I'm saying here, you even reading these words is truly something to be thankful for. And that, my friends, is the first step towards making the world a better place.



Nope! I refuse to believe that the tragedies in our lives are for no reason!



It's okay to cry when you see or hear about tragic events. But, wouldn't it be better if you could stop a future tragic event from happening?



Think about it.



Be thankful for whatever littlest thing that you are blessed with and share that with those you meet every single day!



Smile! Say hello to strangers! If you have an extra few bucks, an extra can or two of food, a coat, blanket - whatever - do you realize how much that would mean to someone who doesn't have anything? Even the simplest act that doesn't cost you a dime - that smile - could be the one thing that completely changes someone's life!!!



"If one person smiles at me on the way, I will not jump."



A better world begins with you! Because if just one of you do a kind act that results in another kind act, and so on and so on...



You don't need to be a genius to know that somewhere along the line - you saved someone's life.



Pay it forward!