Jude Vereyken: Need a little inspiration?
I watched a "CBS News" story by Steve Hartman published on March 8 about a man in Arkansas who for years walked five miles to work each way walking for two hours a day and in all kinds of weather.
That is until a wonderful woman stopped and asked him if he needed a ride. After getting to know him she began driving him whenever she could. You see, the man is legally blind.
Since she could not always be there, she started up Mr. Bill’s Village on Facebook in hopes of finding a few other driver volunteers to keep an eye out when Mr. Bill is out walking. Well, guess what? There are now 1,500 volunteers scouting the area to give him rides.
It gets even better ... a local car dealer wanted to gift Mr. Bill a car but since he can’t drive, the car was given to that wonderful woman who took the time to offer him his first ride!
This story really inspires me … first off, the legally blind man who walked for years in all kinds of weather to work and back each day. Wow! What tenacity, what an inspiration he is, what strength and determination he has! To be legally blind and not let that fact stop him from doing what is important for him to do — work, earn a living, contribute to society!
I could not fathom walking the six miles I have to go to get to my office each day in any kind of weather and I’m fully sighted. Mr. Bill is amazing!
And then there is the woman who took the risk to offer Mr. Bill his first ride. How many times have I seen someone walking in my lifetime? And how many times have I offered rides? Probably zero. What courage she had in the harsh world of today to take that risk and how wonderful for her to have made such a good friend in doing so. She inspires me, too.
And to have not just given him one ride but lots and to have such care in her heart to have invited the community to join her … and all those 1,500 people who are now part of Mr. Bill’s Village! And the car dealer who gave a car to celebrate the cause … wow!
What a wonderful world this can be … can’t it?
With all the ugliness, hate, violence, and negativity out there in out-there-land around us, it’s so very important to remember it can be a wonderful world, too. And, all it takes is a little kindness, a little compassion and a little care to go out of our way to notice the good around us, to give some good to someone, to reward the good we see, to make a good contribution to the community.
We get so much back when we do. And we might just end up being an inspiration to others by our actions. Which might just help the good keep on going on!
I appreciate Steve Hartman and "CBS News" for bringing importance to stories of good that provide inspiration to us. We see so much distressing stories in the news that it’s easy to forget there really is a lot of good right in our own backyards.
Mr. Bill and his village remind me that humankind is, in fact, just that: kind, caring beings capable of doing good.
In truth, there is far more good out there than bad … the good however rarely makes the news. So, when we turn on the tube, pick up our phones and scroll what we see is out of proportion bad stuff. You know, we would not likely have advanced this far as a species if there really was only little or no good in the world around us.
So, I guess it’s up to each one of us to pause and notice all the good, to remember it’s out there especially when the world seems rather bleak, to celebrate and draw attention to it, to share it with others, and thank our lucky stars for it and those who brought it to us.
We all need some good old inspiration to keep us going when times are tough. And times the last several years certainly have been that ... and sadly it ain’t lookin’ like that is gonna be changing any time soon.
Therefore, I challenge you to take a really good look around you today! Just what and who inspires you?
— Jude Vereyken, LMSW, CAADC, ACSW, is a clinical social worker/owner of JD’s Midlife Tools For Living Practices LLC. Jude can be reached at jude@midlifetoolsforliving.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Jude Vereyken: Need a little inspiration?
