By Jon Stokely
Limestone School, grade 8
Step 1: Look for the best in others. This you can do by simply not judging someone by a first appearance, because they could be having a bad day, or going through something we know nothing about. So look for the good things in a person not the bad. Step 2: Dare To Dream – Set Goals – Keep a journal. Keep your eyes on something in life you want, a college, a dream, or a simple thing you want to accomplish in life. Write these things down in a journal, and do what you can to proceed towards your goals. Step 3: Choose positive influences. When you look up to someone, make sure the person, people or group you look up to make a positive change in the world, and not a negative one. Step 4: Kind Words & Actions = Huge Results. The smallest action could make the biggest change in a person’s life, because all they could be looking for is a simple “How are you” or “Are you ok”. Those words could make the biggest difference in a person’s life, and could possibly even save it. Step 5: Start a chain reaction with family and friends. Do something kind, and if people see the reaction you get, you could inspire them to do the same, and just like that, you have started a chain reaction.
I personally accept challenges 1 & 4. I have personally made some bad choices when it came to judging people, and I now realize that I probably should not have. After seeing this film I want to try and treat people better, because you might not know if that person could be dead the next hour. If they are, how would you feel about how you treated that person while they were alive?
With challenge number one, you can do what simply is so surprisingly hard for our society today, instead of judging people by their first impression, words, actions, or just by the way they dress. Get to know them FIRST before you decide how you feel about them, and like they said in the presentation, give someone about three chances before you decide if you want to be their friend or not. Because they could just be having a rough day and going through something we are completely oblivious to, and it could be affecting their mood for the moment.
With challenge number four, it doesn’t have to be a large action, it could be small and simple. Opening a door, pick up a book or pencil, a person dropped, for them, help them with homework, or you could just simply make the biggest difference by asking the person “How are you today?” Because all a person could be looking for is somebody who cares, and that is all some people want or need. Someone who cares enough to be a friend. You could be that person, as Ghandi once said “Be the change you want to see in the world” so if you want to see something get done, don’t wait for someone else to do it, get up and do it if you want it to happen and be that change!
So all I’m really saying here is a quote from my favorite song, “Looking for Angels” by Skillet. “Be the person that makes the difference to make a change, be there to help someone along the way”. Because you don’t need to be a superhero, a celebrity, millionaire, or something huge to make a difference or an influence in someone’s life. Sometimes, all you really need to do is care.
