The heart of a stranger

I would always says that even if you lie about your deepest and truest feelings to everybody else around and pretend you don't give a rat's ass about the things that unfold around you, the one person you can never lie to, the person it'll be a crime to lie to, the one person you should never lie to is none other than yourself. One driving force in my life has always been the desire to be famous, be a household name you know, be rich and wealthy and influential just like Oprah. A very wise man once said "there is no smoke without fire", this desire to be rich, famous, blah blah blah was unleashed by the death of my father. I thought to myself "when i die i want the whole world to mourn my death". I didn't want to die like my father who had a quiet ceremony while the rest of the world went around their business oblivious to the passing of not just my father but the passing of a great man.

Being ambitious isn't bad, we always hear about stars using their star power to change people's lives, like Angelina Jolie, Oprah Winfrey who spent 40 million dollars on The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for girls in South Africa, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie for recording the album "We Are the World" which as of 2009, sold more than 20 million units and raised over $63 million for humanitarian aid in Africa and the US. In fact, it wouldn't be wishful thinking to say that all celebrities are involved in humanitarianism or some charity one way or another.

What about the people that don't have $40 million to splash on building schools? What about the people that are not popular enough to be used as the face of UNHCR? Well that's why i wrote this blog today, because i just suddenly realized that it didn't matter if i didn't become a household name, i realized i didn't have to be popular, i realized that my death didn't have to be so public for me to be able to help other people, anyone can make a difference, anyone can make a change, anyone can change the destiny of another persons life, anyone can leave a mark on not just one person but around the world. Today, i will name some very few people who by the help of my very dear friend technology I'm able to tell their story on my blog of very few readers.

1) 54 years old Paul Vandenbosch "donated a kidney to a woman whom he did not know and has never met to save her from kidney failure, spare her the ordeal of dialysis and help to restore her to health and a normal life.Most organs for transplants are taken from people who have died but every year more and more people agree to donate organs while they are alive.Dr Vandenbosch has never met the woman who now carries his kidney, and has no particular desire to do so. "I am glad to have heard from her that she got it and that she is doing well. She sent me a card and she is fine. But I don't need her gratitude to make me feel what I have done is worthwhile. I don't need her to give me a hug. It is an internal action, that I have done something altruistic.

2)A Nigerian lottery winner gave all her prize money to a street beggar an hour after being given the cheque. Forty-six-year old Rosemary Obiakor from Lagos won over three million naira (about 20,000 US Dollars)and gave it to a mother and son she saw begging on the streets.The beggar gave some cash to other poor people on the street before disappearing with a promise to open a food shop.

3) Taylor Marie Crabtree (age seven) started a business called TayBear Company. She makes and sells hand painted hair clips at local stores. Taylor was going to buy teddy bears for children with cancer. She said the kids probably have a lot of sadness in their lives and she wanted them to have something special to hug and to hug them back. Taylor wanted them to know that even strangers care about them. She set her goal at 500 teddy bears.Taylor has been touched by so many people on her journey. While selling hair clips, one woman began questioning her about the project. She was very suspicious about just where the collected money was going. Taylor gladly talked on and on about the little steps she has taken and her goals for her project. The woman's suspicions turned to sadness. She became teary eyed and stopped Taylor in mid sentence. She then leaned down and hugged Taylor and then told her that her eight year old son had died just five months before from cancer and that he would have been very proud to have had one of her teddy bears.

Looking down at the ambitions of other people because they are not huge and popular and not household names is just so not cool. Regardless of age, gender, political disposition and geographical location we can be the ones to let the love and joy of living permeate into the lives of people and individuals who have lost hope in life. We not only change the course of their destinies but we also feel happy and fulfilled that our random act of kindness has placed a smile in the heart of another person. No genuine act of kindness no matter how small is ever wasted.