Random Acts Of Kindness

Since my last two blog posts, (which you may view here Blog 1 Blog 2), I have made my hollow and cavalier promises into things more concrete and worth of time. Many weeks have passed between what I write now and what you have last read of my experiences. During those weeks I took the opportunities given to me and went hands on the projects I wrote about. It’s extraordinary thought how much the human mind can accomplish when setting one’s goals. It is even more extraordinary though how much more the human mind can accomplish in numbers. I have put a great amount of care into all the stuff I did to get involved with the community. I wouldn't feel right however without including the people that aided me in my journey. Therefore before starting you readers, who have so graciously chosen to read my blogs, on inspiring events produced by your fellow members of society, I will first thank those who deserved to be thanked. For everyone who is mention in this blog I seriously could not have done any of this without you. All of you guys have proven just and have involved yourself in the campaign to human kindness more than I have.

My You And The World project revolved around human kindness. I wanted to do something deeper than helping an old lady cross the street or paying for someone’s food. I wanted to be kind to people’s emotions. Nowadays there are tons of problems in the teenage world merely because we are all too immature to be nice to one another. Part of my project gave people the occasion to change that. I created a Google-Doc page where people could go on and just give positive reviews about their friends. So far the whole thing has been a real success and I see smiles in the hallways all because of things I’ve said on the Doc. I encourage everyone to go on and say a couple of things for yourself. The link to it is right here.

Other things I did included unveiling everyday forbearance on people’s parts. You’d be surprise on how people strive to do good in this world. I feel that knowing you made someone happy that day is a gift in itself but I really wanted you guys to see how all of your classmates interacted with each other. It is seriously heartening knowing that we live in this community where we all take pride in helping one another. If you want to see the documented pictures/photos click here.

As a christian I take self pride very seriously. In order to accomplish my goals in this project I had to actually go out and start doing acts of kindness. I don't believe in tooting your own horn or trying to make yourself look good. Pretentiousness is something I don't look fondly on. So instead, I decided to observe my neighborhood for good deeds that other people did. I even made a journal to keep track of things. On April 5, I witnessed my 4 year old sister let my brother use the TV in the livingroom even it was her turn to use it. On April 9, I saw a man drop his wallet while walking to the store. Before I could register to go and pick it up for him a stranger walked by and gave it to the man himself. So inspired by what happened I went home that day and talked to my older brother. He then turned around and followed in the stranger’s footsteps. On the 10th of April he came home and told me that he did his best to be a good samaritan in his school. On April 12th I saw my friend Brandon lend my other friend William a pen. It was all these little things that really made people’s day better.

My process hasn't ended yet for I am still trying to expose the generosity people have in their hearts. The distance that I have accumulated already though has been kind of great. At first there was a few problems but after I solved them everything went smoothly. One of the most pronounced problems that I had was trying to figure out what to do. It was hard trying to figure out the whole meaning of kindness. At many times I was trying too hard, but what I noticed was the whole point of being benevolent was not to be selfish. All I was doing was going out in the world and showing off all the good things I’ve accomplished. What I really needed to do was to show off all the good things other people accomplished. That is how I came out with such a community reflected project. It wasn't about me, it was about everyone.

I have a hard time controlling my emotions and mostly only the bad emotions come out. I haven’t been the most selfless person in the world and I am still not. The thing with this project though is that it helped me so much to be a better person. I wasn’t the only one impacted by all of this. The chain reaction of friendliness made tons of people’s days better I could really feel all the positive energy radiating from everyone.

I don’t see myself as a leader and I don't see myself as a follower. I don’t see myself as an observer and I don’t see myself as an unveiler. Samaritan is too high of a title and libertine is too low of a title. Instead I see myself as a vindicator. I do things for a purpose and only do things if they are worth it. I saw the chance to make people see how our world still had people who cared as worth it. I don’t think I’ll ever stop doing this. It starts chain reactions, that eventually when big enough, could really revolutionize the world in tranquillity. I encourage everyone everywhere to walk alongside me. If you recall my research on Pay It Forward  in my last two blogs then you will be proud to know that I am trying to start a Pay It Forward Philadelphia. Please email me at jperaza@scienceleadership.org if you are interested.