HOW To Make A Difference: The 365/365 Challenge

As 2013 rapidly approaches, millions of people turn their thoughts to New Year’s resolutions. The annual ritual of losing more weight, saving more money, and drinking less diet cola is upon us. If statistics are to be believed, 80% of those resolutions will die a natural death by the end of January. Only 5% of those resolutions will be achieved by the end of 2013. Certainly those statistics paint a bleak picture about society and change.

This writer does not believe in resolutions. I do, however, believe in challenges and goals. I have never met a challenge I wasn’t willing to meet head on, and that is why I spend a great deal of my time challenging myself to move beyond my comfort zone and push my own personal limits.

I did exactly that at the beginning of 2012. When I first started writing for an online site called HubPages, I read about the 30/30 Challenge. Started who knows how many years ago, the challenge consists of writers writing thirty articles in thirty days. I accepted the challenge, and completed it, and then set a new challenge for myself. I decided to write 365 articles in 365 days, and as of the date of this writing, I have eight articles to go by January 6^th in order to be successful. Mark that one in the “sure thing” file because I’m going to accomplish it. If Las Vegas covered odds on that sort of thing, the odds of me completing the 365/365 would be a sure thing…no odds at all would be offered. Not bad at all!

And of course, that got me thinking about new challenges, and since H.O.W. (Humanity One World) is a pet project of mine, I crafted a new challenge that I thought you might like to join me in.

H.O.W. began back in November and has been growing stronger ever since. It began as a movement of like-minded writers who believed in raising awareness about social issues, and it was hoped that by raising awareness we could in some way make this world a better place in which to live.

Have we been successful? I know for a fact we have raised awareness. Certainly not on a national level with millions of citizens talking about it, but we are growing and will continue to grow. Patience and perseverance are our strengths, and we will continue onward and upward. We have members who span the globe, from the United States to Australia, England to South Africa, and many countries in-between.

With that introduction out of the way, we have now arrived at the challenge. What is the 365/365 H.O.W. Challenge?

I propose that we each do one random act of kindness each day for 365 days. One full year’s worth of kindness multiplied by the number of participants. Say we have 200 writers willing to accept the challenge; that means that by the end of 2013 we will have performed 73,000 random acts of kindness for our fellow man and woman.

73,000!

I know what you are saying; you are saying so what, right? You are saying who cares! With seven billion people on this planet, how can 73,000 acts make any difference? A valid point for sure if it were only 73,000 acts standing alone. However, what if each act of kindness was received by that person and in turn they turned around and did a similar act of kindness for someone else? What if they did two random acts of kindness in response to the original act? If that were the case, then we would be looking at possibly a quarter-million acts of kindness….or more!

But maybe I am being too optimistic; what if none of the recipients went on to reciprocate? What if those 73,000 acts of kindness died on the vine and never spouted their own seeds?

My response to that question is that no act of kindness goes unnoticed. No act of kindness dies on the vine, and every act of kindness is one step closer to a world we have dared to dream about.

To most observers, each individual act would not seem too special. Holding a door open for someone else; raking leaves for a neighbor; these are things which, in the grand scheme of life, are hardly worth mentioning. Smile at a stranger; give fifty cents to a homeless man; hardly the stuff of legends, right?

I know….we won’t be seeing these stories on your local news. “Man give homeless woman fifty cents; news at eleven.” No, that won’t be happening for sure, but what will be happening is a small, psychic shift away from complacency and towards humanity. Every single time we do something for one of our fellow human beings, without any hope of reward or recognition, we are adding another brick to the house we want to build, a house of compassion and empathy….a House of Love for Mankind!

Are you still not convinced of the value in this challenge? Then maybe the challenge is not for you. J

Well then join me in taking the challenge. We will begin January 1, 2013. Stick notes up around your house, reminding you of the challenge. Put notes in your car, and print 365 on your bathroom mirror. Doing this will not come naturally for many at first, but once we have established the pattern it will become a habit.

And what a habit that would be! Two-hundred people who have developed a habit of doing acts of kindness for others daily; how cool would that be?

Now if you really want to get involved, tell your local newspaper about the H.O.W. 365/365 Challenge. Steer them to our website and encourage others to join us in our movement.

I am sure there are some right now who are saying it will never work. That’s fine; don’t do it! Just don’t sit around whining about the state of the world if you are not willing to do something as simple as one act of kindness each day.

Humanity One World….it has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

2012 William D. Holland (aka billybuc)