Life Vest Inside

Written by Michelle Fairchild

The Story Behind Life Vest Inside

Image from the Kindness Boomerang video

You may have seen a video called Kindness Boomerang.  I watched it after a friend posted it on Facebook.   It was masterfully filmed and begins with a construction worker helping a young boy who fell off his skateboard.  The young boy in turn helps an elderly woman carry packages across the street and she in turn offers change to a woman for a parking meter.  The small acts of kindness continue between more individuals until it comes back full circle to the construction worker.  The video was touching, inspiring and I absolutely loved the song called “One Day” by American Jewish reggae star Matisyahu. You can view the Kindness Boomerang video at the end of this story and see for yourself what I mean.

After watching the video and feeling the warm glow generated by it I also couldn’t help but be intrigued by the words Life Vest Inside that both introduced and ended the video.  What, I wondered, is the story behind those words?  My search led me to a web site for Life Vest Inside and eventually to corresponding with Orly Wahba, who is the creator of the non-profit called Life Vest Inside.

Orly, a young woman in her late twenties, explains that Life Vest Inside is born out of the idea that in a seemingly chaotic world with its bumps and curve balls, kindness keeps us afloat; it makes us believe once again in ourselves and helps us see the light at the end of the tunnel. She said, “People always question me and ask, ‘What does Life Vest Inside mean? How does that relate to kindness?’ Here is her story.

In January of 2007 Orly was boarding a plane to set out on a family vacation. During an airport stopover, she checked her voicemails, and received tragic news: a young girl from her community, 7 year-old Stella Laniado, had passed away from leukemia.

As a teacher in Brooklyn, New York, she had already encountered grief in her classroom – just three years prior, her students had lost a classmate. Now, just as they were recovering from the shock and pain of that tragic death, another one struck. Orly knew they would be devastated by the news. Hence, her first reaction was panic: How would she help her 7^th grade students make sense of yet another tragic loss?

Thoughts and questions flooded her mind. How do you find order in such a chaotic world? How do you stay afloat when so many of life’s events seem to pull you downward?

Orly Wahba, founder of Life Vest Inside

Hours later, she boarded the second plane for her connecting flight. As she sat dazed and disheartened, she looked to her right and a small sign caught her eye: “LIFE VEST INSIDE.” Orly describes how her eyes fixated on those three small words and how she felt an instant comfort. She explains how a life vest has the ability to stay afloat regardless of how much one may push down upon it. “Our life vest, our ability to overcome our hardships, to make it through comes from ‘inside.’ Through the kindness we bestow on others, through the kindness others bestow upon us – we help keep each other afloat in the stormy seas of life.”

Orly believes wholeheartedly that kindness changes lives, it helps us rise after we fall, and at that very moment on the plane she made a conscious commitment to spread that message to the world.

In 2010 Orly began diligently working towards launching Life Vest Inside (LVI).  The Mission statement of LVI is as follows: By creating an exciting and accessible kindness experience, we will become more aware of the opportunities that surround us and recognize our potential to change the world, simply by changing ourselves. The Vision statement is By living kindly and believing in the inherent good of each individual, change is POSSIBLE!

She shares that charity work and community service are invaluable tools for bettering our world, but kindness is more than good deeds or volunteerism alone. Kindness is empathy, compassion, and human connection; it’s a smile, a touch, or a comforting word. Even the smallest gesture can brighten a dark day or ease a heavy burden.

LVI is working to cultivate the awareness that individuals can effect real and positive change in the people around them, simply by ‘living kindness:’ by embodying empathy and compassion in our day-to-day lives. LVI seeks to spread kindness and goodwill through the sharing of Acts of Kindness Cards, connecting people to various inspirational media through film and the internet, and further through the implementation of LVI’s educational curriculum called Social Emotional Learning Program.

LVI sharing the LOVE in Times Square in December 2011

LVI’s educational component is intended to combat the various social and emotional issues plaguing the youth of today’s time. Bullying, substance abuse, peer pressure, and suicide are just a few of the many issues that teens and tweens are dealing with on an everyday basis. While there are programs developed as anti-bullying, anti-drug, and so forth, these programs only deal with the problem once it becomes a problem. LVI acts to prevent such issues from materializing.

Through their vast and in-depth research, LVI has found that these social issues stem from a lack of confidence and self worth. Based on scientific evidence captured by Dr. Mark Holder and other leading specialists in his area, it is proven that by teaching empathy and practicing kindness, ones self-esteem naturally increases. Further, a child with increased self-worth will be less likely to fall prey to issues such as peer pressure, bullying, substance abuse and the like. LVI seeks to empower children and the future of tomorrow by showing them that they are powerful beings with the ability to effect change and contribute positively to society.

The Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs created and implemented by Life Vest Inside are fun and motivating experiences for Junior High and High School students, and the results can be definitively measured. The programs: (1) Develop self-awareness and self-management skills to achieve school and life success. (2) Use social-awareness and interpersonal skills to establish and maintain positive relationships. (3) Demonstrate decision-making skills and responsible behaviors in personal, school, and community contexts, just as defined in Learning Standards of multiple State Boards of Education.

Orly shared a particular story with writer Renne Beyda, who writes for a publication called The Jewish Voice.  I had the opportunity to read the article and that story, and it stayed with me.  Orly had been returning home from school and had a few extra Random Act of Kindness cards with her after distributing them to her 8^th graders.  She noticed some people cleaning the streets and it appeared they were part of some mandatory community service program.  It was a hot day and she considered the men and women might be thirsty.  She ran and got drinks for them and when she started handing them out she got some strange looks and they asked her what she wanted from them.  She explained she simply thought they might be thirsty.  They were grateful and asked if they could do something for her in return.  She said no and then it struck her that she should also hand out the Random Act of Kindness cards to the worker.  It so happened that she had eight cards left over and there were exactly eight workers.  She explained about the cards and randomly passed them out.  Everyone was silent as they read their cards.  One man clutched his card tightly and asked in a loud voice “How did you know to give me this card?”  He then explained that he hadn’t spoken to his parents for several years, but had been continuously thinking about calling them for the past few weeks.  “My card says call your parents to tell them how much you love them.  How did you know?”

Image from the Kindness Boomerang video

The Kindness Boomerang Video

Orly shares this about the creation of the Kindness Boomerang video that is becoming a sensation around the world: “When I sat down to write the script for The Kindness Boomerang it was the words of Margaret Mead that echoed through my head: ‘Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.’

“I’ve always believed in the good of others and the potential of each person to make a great difference in this world. Some call me naïve, some call me a dreamer, some call me foolish. They ask me how after reading the news headlines, witnessing the pain, tragedy and destruction that occurs on an every day basis brought about by the greed and hatred of fellow human beings, that I can even attempt to believe in the good of all people. To those people I say, YES there are bad actions, but there is no such thing as a bad person.

“If you really look at each person as individual you will find that they too once believed in the good of others. But, you will also find that somewhere along the road of their life they got burned, they got hurt because of their belief and slowly but surely they became cynical and eventually they became afraid to believe. To insure that we protect ourselves, sometimes we create walls, masks, barriers. On the outside we have a rough exterior, sometimes to the point where we begin to believe that the facade is our reality. But, deep down in our heart the belief still flickers, it may not be as bright, we may not even see it, maybe we don’t want to see it.

“Kindness is something we all know to be important, but we tend to forget it somewhere along the way. Until one day, when we feel as though things can’t get much worse, we bump into someone else and for no reason whatsoever they touch us with kindness. That small touch ignites the feeling hidden deep within us once again and we begin to feel something we haven’t felt in a long time and it feels so good. If we’re lucky we take a moment to notice these precious moments and allow those moments to peel off a layer of cynicism, allowing some light to enter. Perhaps, the next steps we venture will be with a new perspective, one that makes us more aware of those around us, one that makes us even for a fleeting moment to believe once again in the good of others, to trust.

“The Kindness Boomerang was my attempt to remind the child within each of us, the innocence we once had, to remember that change is possible – to remember that kindness is possible and within our very reach. Open your eyes, become aware of your surroundings and you will be surprised by the amazing opportunities that lay before you. Your act may propel others to follow because kindness, like the domino effect has the power to spread rapidly. Who knows perhaps the kindness you perform today will magically find its way back. So put your heart out there and touch the life of another with kindness.

“Each scene was taken from a real life experience that I’ve had with complete strangers. Little do they know the effect and impact they have had on me. Go and create your own scenes, stand back and watch how magically one kindness leads to another.

“But most importantly remember that kindness is not about the big things, it’s about the small things that are right in front of us every moment. So get out there and seize the day – because there is no day but TODAY!

“So, what ‘If everyone cared?’ – let’s try it out and see where it takes us.”

Does this story inspire you to take action on your own dream?  (The first step might be sharing it here in a comment.)

Is there something you wanted to do when you were only six years old?  (Sometimes those early dreams still linger on and can inform us about a great purpose for our lives.)

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Michelle Fairchild is married to a middle school science teacher and is also mommy to identical twin daughters, who are very active 5-year-olds that keep her dancing.  She is a writer and artist who has a business called Red Boa Productions. She also works for a non-profit foster-adoption agency in Northern California.  At Heart she is a soulful and sensitive intuitive, a courageous creator, a resilient visionary, a self-esteem fluffer, a marvelous music mixer and one who offers up bridges of connections to her fellow travelers. She believes that We Are All Meant to Shine! You can learn more about Michelle’s vision and read more of her writing on her blog The Red Boa

Tags: Acts of Kindness Cards, community service, compassion, courage, creative action, Education, empathy, features, human connection, inspiration, inspirational women, inspiring women, intentional creativity, Kindness, Life Vest Inside, michelle fairchild, Orly Wahba, Social Emotional Learning, spirituality