Tag Archives: Kindness Matters

Mahalo Nui Loa for Support

Gratitude, Inspiring People, Social Change • Tags: , ,

Picture taken while on vacation July, 2012. ©dswalkerauthor.com

I need to focus on gratitude today. I am grateful for any and all who interact on Twitter, who one plus my Google posts, who like and share my posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.  I’ll always be grateful to those of you who have reached out over the past two years, especially to those who still do, and to those who reached out to M. too. I’m grateful for new followers. And, I am grateful so many are now speaking out about the need for more kindness, understanding, and acceptance of differences in this world. I am glad leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. lead the way for change.

There are still times when I feel like one small voice in the universe. Ironically, it is the people trying to get me to promote my book for their profit that make me feel small. It does little to convince me to pay them for promotion since neither source has given me evidence that doing so will yield results. Of course, I want to sell more books. What author wouldn’t, but book sales are secondary for me these days.  I cannot afford to put my money down a black hole with two kids fast approaching college age. Nor, am I young enough anymore to forgo sleep to spend hours doing self-promotion.

Frankly, at this point I am focusing on the second novel and continuing to promote more understanding and kindness in this world.  I do this by speaking out about why it is important and through my writing here and at Special-Ism.com.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. —-Martin Luther King, Jr. Alabama 1963

Amalia Starr and I will also be co-hosting a Twitter chat on October 16, 2012 from 3:00 PM til 4:00 PM EDT about ways we can all support each other to help overcome the bullying epidemic. I hope some of you will join us. I will be posting more details about it later this week.

Fellow bloggers, I hope you understand that while I do not always comment, I still skim posts. I will always respond if I see you or your family are having trouble with bullying or anything else where I might be able to help or to at least offer support. I interact more on Twitter these days because it is faster, so if you are on Twitter please send me an @dswalkerauthor sometime. I try to RT and support my friends as much as I can.

Mahalo nui loa (thank you very much) for your support and understanding.

Life? Do We Learn From Our Past or Are We Condemned to Repeat It? 2

Bully Free, Differences, Education, Famous Quotes, Gratitude, Inspiring People, Life Lessons, Parenting, Setting Good Examples for Our Children • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Quote

Most of us know some variation of the famous line by George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Yet, we keep repeating past mistakes again and again.

Those We Admire

Most of us admire people like His Holiness, the fourteen Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr. and others who showed the world that there are gentler solutions to problems facing society. So, why do we continue to support meanness by failing to speak up when we see it and when we know it is wrong? How can we teach our children to learn from their mistakes if we fail as citizens of the world to learn from ours?

Mistakes

You may be asking yourself, “What mistakes?” Only you can answer for yourself. Let your heart be your guide.

I firmly believe mistakes are our best teachers. I hope so anyway since I have made more than I like. However, this post is about our future, our children.

The Way We Fail

We are failing the next generation when we say things like:

  • What’s the big deal?
  • Bullying has been around forever.
  • Kids will be kids.
  • That kid had it coming!
  • That kid is strange!
  • Don’t play with that kid!
  • I don’t like their parents.

or

When we say:

  • The school is responsible.
  • The parents are responsible.
  • I blame the Internet.
  • I blame social media.
  • That kid just needs a spanking!
  • That kid should be expelled!
  • Those parents should be sued!

or

When we are silent.

The Truth

The truth is everyone in society plays a part. Look around you! Work toward becoming a more compassionate person and setting a better example for our children by speaking up when your heart says:

  • This does not feel right!
  • Why would this be okay?
  • Should we really do that?
  • What happened to liberty and justice for all? That is what it says right? Not liberty for the majority, or just some, or just the ones who are like us?

Make a Difference

Refuse to believe those who say:

  • What can I do?
  • I’m just one person!
  • No one will listen to me!
  • What is the point?

Here’s what you can do if you do not trust your own voice:

  • Support those in your community who speak out if you are not comfortable speaking out yourself.
  • Contact someone you admire who is speaking out and let them know that you are grateful for their voice.
  • Tell your children why it is important to speak out and to back up other children who speak up if they do not feel they can do it themselves.

Inspiring Quotes From Those We Admire

Because we all share this planet earth, we have to learn to live in harmony and peace with each other and with nature. This is not just a dream, but a necessity.  ~ Dalai Lama XIV

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.  ~ Dalai Lama XIV

A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.  ~ Mahatma Gandhi

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.  ~ Mahatma Gandhi

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.  ~Nelson Mandela

There is no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children. ~Nelson Mandela

I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.  ~Mother Teresa

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.  ~Mother Teresa

Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.  ~Martin Luther King, Jr., The Purpose of Education

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’  ~Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream, 1963