Wednesday 26 August 2015

Conversations with a Superhero

I really struggled over this post. I couldn't think where I wanted to go with it. Then in defeat, I decided I'd just repost the story of Aki Ra, who is truly a superhero in his quest to rid Cambodia of landmines. It occurred to me, I probably need to mention LeBron James, the basketballer who just gave $42 million of his personal wealth to send 1000 underprivileged kids to college.

Then the names came flooding - J.Cole, the rapper, consistently gives his time, money and encouragement to make a difference to many causes; Jackie Chan, whose charitable works, charities he runs and generosity in giving his time and influence (as well as money) to causes is so great you need a book to list it all; that barber, Courtney Holmes, who gives free haircuts to kids, as long as they read to him in the chair; Sheik Umar Khan who worked with the ebola patients until he the week before he died of the disease himself; Elizabeth Blackburn, who stood up for what she believed was right for the good of mankind at her own personal detriment; Jean Moulin, and other Resistance fighters - the list is endless.

These are everyday Superheros. We don't have to have tonnes of money, or even raise money to donate (though that is always needed). We do, however, need to do our bit. We need to start thinking how we can make a difference. It can be big, it can be small. We can help someone we know, or strangers we'll never meet.

So the conversation with a superhero is the moment you ask yourself, what am I doing to make this world a better place?

Linking with #Blogtober21 on Superheros

16 comments:

  1. Great post to make me think. I need to do more charitable work and get out of the "dealing with two little people" zone. It is great to hear of people with wealth sharing it to help others. One of my besties set up a site called 52 lives and she saves one life a week and crowd funds to make this happen. People want to help and it is great to see how even donating even a little with others can make such a difference

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  2. Absolutely... and what amazing stories.

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  3. This is such a great post Lydia. It's so true that there are so many people out there who do amazing things and don't have half the recognition they deserve and it always encourages me to be a better person and help those whenever I can. Great post! - Tasha

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  4. What inspiring stories and yes, you're so right, together we can make a difference!

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  5. So inspiring to hear about the work that people do for others. X

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  6. So true. I've always wondered what goes through the minds of those who make squillions of dollars yet do nothing with the money and influence they wield.

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  7. Totally agree with this. If everyone were to do their little bit, just a little bit, wow, just imagine waht all this 'good' combined could do. xx

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  8. There are some amazing people in this world. I do believe every little bit counts x

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  9. I agree! Thanks for linking up at NanaHood.com Teresa

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  10. I only found out who LeBron James when watching Trainwreck. He was great in the movie and I've just found a deeper respect for him. Thanks for making me aware.

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  11. Great post and couldn't agree more.

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  12. Love this post Lydia. Such inspiring people you've mentioned, but as you say, we can all do little things to help others.

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  13. Interesting how some of these famous people don't advertise just how much they do for their community... Love it

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  14. Very relevant post Lydia given the current feeling of helplessness that seems to be everywhere (particularly in light of the many conflicts and refugee crises that are coming to a head). I want to make the world a better place but to be honest I could do so much more. It's up to me to change that...

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  15. I like how you've made me think that we can all be a superhero in our own way ...

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  16. Every day people doing extraordinary things - even if those things are small steps in making the world a better place. Thank you for linking up this insightful post to #convocoffee xx

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