Good Life Project - Orly Wahba: The Kindness Boomerang

Episode Date: November 7, 2016

Orly Wahba is a teacher, entrepreneur, and community activist passionate about inspiring and motivating people to make the world a kinder place.Orly began her career as a middle school teacher, empowering children to embrace unity, build self-value, and use their power to influence the world for good. Trying to reckon with the death of two kids in her school, and guide her students through it in 2011, Orly founded Life Vest Inside (LVI), a non-profit organization with a mission to empower and unite the world with kindness.Through LVI, Wahba encourages people to embrace the incredible power of giving and recognize that in times of hardship, kindness, like a life vest, keeps the world afloat. LVI gained international acclaim when Orly’s award-winning film, Kindness Boomerang, went viral, receiving over 100 million views and eventually landing her a spot to speak at TED2013 on the magic of kindness.OWe got curious about where Wahba's unrelenting devotion to kindness and respect came from. What were the foundational experiences and stories, the moments of both struggle and revelation? How to did she write, film and produce her Kindness Boomerang video on her own, and why does she believe it resonated so widely?Turns out, Orly's earlier life was filled with polar opposites, deep familial love, and also profound social isolation and loss. This led to a years-long spiral after a fire in her childhood home splintered the family into different locations. Emerging from this dark window, she felt compelled to help others, especially kids, experience the world from a place of acceptance and generosity. We go deep into this journey in today's episode.Orly's forthcoming book, Kindness Boomerang, is available for pre-order now. As Orly's global community grows by the thousands, more people are experiencing the grace and connection of kindness with activities, events and more. Their 5th annual Dance for Kindness Worldwide Flashmob is happening November 13, so you still have time to get involved!+++++++++Order your copy of Jonathan Fields’ new book, How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science and Practical Wisdom, today! It’s available at booksellers everywhere. And, you can download the first chapter and invest in your copy now.Also, big news - the book is now available as an audiobook! Get it here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My greatest thing that I can do is to help people see the beauty in themselves. You know how I say my job? It's falling in love with people more and more each day. I love people. I love people. I don't care what you believe. I don't care if you believe what I believe. You don't believe what I believe.

You're from this religion, that ethnicity, this location. I don't care. You're a human being. I love you. And I don't just say those words. I really, really feel it. Imagine being a kid coming home and finding out that your family, who had been struggling at the time, was now in a totally different place because your house burned down and the entire family

had to separate, had to split up into dispersed households all over the place. Well, that's what happened when today's guest, Orly Waba, was a kid. That led her, instead of falling apart, to deepen into a sense of astonishing resilience and lead with this unshakable ethos of kindness and generosity. She ended up becoming the middle school teacher that every kid wishes they had and every parent of every kid who's ever been through middle school dreams of having as a teacher. And an experience while she was teaching led her on a journey of discovery that ended up taking her out of teaching and starting her own foundation called LifeVest

Inside, which is based on spreading kindness throughout the world. As part of that, she got an idea in her head to create a video, tapped her former education, actually, she went to school for film, and went back and basically did the entire thing herself. She shot it, produced it, edited it, put it up online, and it absolutely exploded. It's called The Kindness Boomerang. You've probably seen it online along with millions and millions and millions of other people. And she's got a forthcoming book called The Kindness Boomerang as well. That's really wonderful.

I sat down with her because I wanted to go deeper into her story. I wanted to find out what were the formative moments, the big awakenings. And I was absolutely, I was blown away by this astonishing commitment, almost a ferocious commitment to kindness. I wanted to understand what was underneath that, what is driving that, and where Orly is headed with it. So really excited to share this conversation with you. I'm Jonathan Fields. This is Good Life Project. with it. So really excited to share this conversation with you. I'm Jonathan Fields.

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So we're hanging out, sitting here in our makeshift studio in my apartment in the Upper West Side. And you're up to some amazing stuff in the world. I'm fascinated by what got you started. Where are you from originally? I'm from Brooklyn, born and bred. Got it. Still in the same place that I always was. You actually are from the place that now everybody is like moving to.

Exactly, by the way. That's exactly. And Brooklyn is so underrated, huge. So there's many different parts of Brooklyn, obviously. Right. It's like New Yorkers know, like the first question I have in New Yorkers mouth when you're like,

I'm from Brooklyn is what part of Brooklyn, like where in Brooklyn? Yeah. Because is it true that it's the fourth largest, like Brooklyn alone is the fourth largest city in the United States. So I should so know that. And it's terrible that I don't. I have to Google that right after this.

I'm pretty sure I saw that somewhere. All right. So what part of Brooklyn? So I'm by Coney Island, like five minute drive from Coney Island, she said Bay Area. Oh, so you've seen like a ton of change in your neighborhood since you grew up. Oh, definitely. So tell me about you as a kid. Me as a kid. Wow. My family, just laughing thinking about it. Only the stuff that you can actually share. Yeah, exactly, right? I was always, since I was a little kid, and I remember being, you know, little kid as

young as four years old. And everybody, I mean, my family's called me like, oh, yeah, you're a dreamer, you know, but sometimes using it in the negative connotation, I dreaming of changing the world. But it's really actually, that's something that's been part of me ever since I can remember. A lot of it has to do with my dad. My dad has a very strong faith base. He infused into me the fact that anything and everything is possible. And I remember him putting me to sleep each night.

He encouraged me to believe in myself. And I felt like there was something major I was meant to do. Major I was meant to do in my life. I didn't know what it was going to be, but I knew that it had to do with bringing people together. But I felt that. I really felt that ever since I was a little kid. And I used to speak about that. Like, I always wanted, in a sense, looking at the various animosity that would go on in the world, whether it be religious animosity, you know, or whatever else. I knew that I was meant to be a part of bringing that change into fruition. And that was really a part of me, but I was also a pretty shy kid.

The shyness, I think, came about after going through certain middle school things that kids go through, sort of being left to the side and becoming a little bit insecure. I was really super insecure in becoming a little bit insecure. I was really super insecure in high school, super insecure. So how do you reconcile these two things? Because you're somebody who's like socially cautious, it sounds like an insecure and at the same time, there's a voice in your head, which is saying, I'm here to do something big in the world. So for me, so that voice was there since I was young. And I remember when I was in third grade, I was not great at school. It was really hard for me.

And actually, just even going to school was super tough for me. And I was put in resource room to learn in a much smaller setting. And of course, it was a little bit uncomfortable because I knew that my friends knew. And I felt really self-conscious about it. So explain what's resource room. So resource room, basically, you're taken out of the larger classroom and put into a smaller group so that you could learn in a much slower pace. Got it. And the teacher, my third grade year, I was eight years old. One day gave us a poem and she said, I want you to take this poem and I want you to decorate it. Take it. So I took it,

put it on like a piece of pink construction you know, construction paper and decorated it. But I also read it, obviously. And I read it once, twice, 10, 15, 20 times. And that poem really spoke to me. And it's a poem by Walter D. Wintle. And it goes as follows. It says, if you think you can't do it, you can't. If you think you dare not, you don't.

If you'd like to win but think you can't, it, you can't. If you think you dare not, you don't. If you'd like to win but think you can't, it's almost as since you won't. If you think you'll lose, you're lost. For out in this world we find success begins with a fellow's will. It's all in a state of mind. Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later the man who wins is the one who thinks he can. I remember this since I'm eight years old and it stuck with me and really guided me because it really did speak to me. I was told very often, oh, you can't do this. Oh, you can't do that. Oh, you want to try and change this? Who do you think you are? Or, oh, you're not able to learn that. You're not smart

enough. You're whatever. And that poem really did speak to me and helped me to build that confidence. That confidence sort of got shut down in my middle school years, going through some hardships with friends and sort of being left to the side. But I always loved people. So coming into high school, I was. I had a lot of insecurities. I did still believe. It was like imagine having all these thoughts and ideas in your head and in your mind and in your heart, but no capability to express them.

I just didn't have the words, the ability to express them. I was so shy that I wouldn't even raise my hand in class. Super, super shy. But I always loved people. And I always knew it was meant to do something. I didn't know how it was going to come into be. And really, I found my greatest strength through the greatest tragedy in my life, through one of the greatest hardships.

And sometimes I find that to be a common story for people. It either helps them tap into a strength that they never knew existed, or unfortunately, sometimes it could turn them down a different road. But for me, it helped me tap into that strength. And in my sophomore year of high school, sophomore year of high school, as it is, is a really tough time. I said, that's sort of the age where you're trying to still figure out who you are and your voice in regards to everything. And in my sophomore year, beginning of the year, we had a fire in my house and

we lost everything. Thank God we didn't lose the thing that is most important, which is the people. But I saw what it did to my family, my parents, and they were going through a really rough time. My dad had lost his business at the time, and it was one of those years where one thing continued to snowball into the next, and into the next, and continued to just spin out of control.

And I didn't want to be an extra burden on my parents, so I didn't share with them. We were all sort of living separate at the time, not super separate, but we were living by my grandparents in a really tiny apartment about the size of this studio, like really super small. I'm like super small. And my older brothers that were sort of that stronghold for me,

there was no space for them, so one was living by my aunt, the other one was in the city. We were in this, you know, tight quarters and I had my two younger sisters and I felt like I needed to be strong for everybody. For my family. And then when it came to my friends, you know, they didn't know what to say to me. So even if I would bring a subject up, you know, they'd change the subject. Now I understand why. It was really hard. Like, what are you supposed to say to me. So even if I would bring the subject up, they, you know, they change the subject. Now I understand why it was really hard. Like what are you supposed to say to someone? Yeah. And also when you're a sophomore, like not many kids at that age are equipped with

sort of the skillset to understand how to have that conversation. A hundred percent. And so, you know, in the beginning I made like everything was okay. I was a very, always been a firm believer. Everything happens for the best. And I always had a strong faith base, but it came to the point where, you know, when you keep so many emotions inside for so long, you can't lie to yourself for that long. It will come crashing down. And December of that year, it came all crashing down. It came back from a high school seminar and went to sleep one night, just didn't wake up the next morning. And I was like in a state of sleep for two months. I wasn't in school.

I would be up for really super short during the day. Really short periods of time. And the times that I was up, I was just crying. I was in a very dark depression. But what hurt me the most was that during those two months, not one person came to visit. Not one person called to check up on me. And it sort of felt like, well, if I wasn't here tomorrow,

would anybody even notice? Would anybody even recognize it? And the fire took away the physical stuff, you know, those physical memories. But that sort of made me feel like I would be erased. And I was the kind of kid, if you were absent from school, whether I knew you or didn't know you, you know, I would take notes down on, like, carbon paper, you know, old school fashion times. And it just sort of made me feel really alone,

and I couldn't even see the people that may have been there for me. I couldn't see them, and I was angry. I was angry at everything. I was angry at the world. I was angry at God. I was angry at everything. I didn't even want to go back to school. I wanted to drop out of school. And I was super studious at the time. And I was forced to head back into school, but I wasn't the same kid. I remember coming in, I was, you know, dressed in like all black and sitting in the corner, writing morbid poetry, not even listening to the teacher. That was me. I was that kid.

I didn't feel like there was any reason to smile about anything. And one morning, I remember it was the end of February, I woke up and I was in the bathroom washing up to go to school. And I looked at myself in the mirror, and I really looked at myself in the mirror, like a hard, long stare. And I didn't see that four-year-old kid staring back at me that kid that dreamed of changing the whole world and that I think is what shook me up most and really scared me I said I can't let this be my

end I have no idea how I'm going to be able to pick myself back up not a clue but this can't be my end and it was at that moment that I made a promise to myself. I tell you, this is a promise that guided me ever since. It guided me into my work that I did, you know, in teaching for seven years, guided me to the work I'm doing with LifeVest Inside, and it's guiding me to things that I still don't know yet are still on the horizon for me. And it was a promise to be there for people the way that I wished somebody would have been there for me. To see people the way I wish somebody would have seen me.

And those next two years of high school were really tough. I mean, it was sort of like I was walking alone. Like, I didn't really feel like the friends that I thought I had, I really had. And walking alone in high school is never an easy thing. But it afforded me the greatest opportunity in the world, something I would never ever take back. It gave me the chance to do something that we oftentimes don't get to do as adults even. And that's to fall in love with me for me. Not because I wanted that group to, you know, think I was cool or I wanted to be in that group of friends or that situation. It didn't matter. I got to fall in love with me for me. And what happened was that I started to find my voice,

but it only came to a head in my senior year of high school. Like I told you, I was that shy kid who wouldn't even raise my hand. Senior year, the beginning of the year, we went on a seminar with the kids in our grade and the teacher leading the circle, we were all sitting in a circle and he was talking about obstacles and I did something I never did before. I raised my hand and I had something to contribute and I always did have something to contribute, but the words just wouldn't come out. And at that moment they did. And the weirdest thing, the kids that I used to be intimidated from were listening to me,

and even weirder, coming up to me afterwards and asking me for advice, and what I found was that the more I gave, the more I healed, and the more I gave, the more I healed, and I became obsessed in love with this concept and this idea of giving that I knew was inside of me my whole life. I always loved giving. That's sort of where my strength came from. And I sort of came out of my shell completely. I remember my mom, she's like, what in the world happened to you? I started speaking in front of crowds of hundreds of kids, mentoring at-risk youth, getting involved in literally every after-school activity and project. I started getting involved in directing theater. I wouldn't even ever,

ever be in a play. Cause I was so super, super shy. And it was like, I found, I tapped into this voice that's led me to where I am today. And as you know, for me in my,

my senior year film was always something I loved always because it was about sharing a story. I always wanted to be a writer. That was something like I wrote in my eighth grade graduation yearbook. You know, what do you want to be when you get older? It was a writer and a basketball player. Simultaneously. Yeah, exactly.

Right at the same time. So I love writing and I also love film because it has an ability to communicate with the masses in a way and sort of share a message. And that passion ended up coming forward. You know, we never know when the different pieces of our life come together, you know, the different puzzle pieces, it seems like it's a big mess. But every single experience we go through, we go through it for a reason.

And the beauty of life is actually figuring out how those seemingly disconnected pieces, how they end up fitting together. That's the journey. Do you have a sense for what it was? What was going on with your family when you were sort of moving through this window of darkness? Because it seems like you have a really tight family. I do. And I love my family so much. And so were they all going through their own struggle simultaneously? Because I have to imagine if you have such a tight family and you see your kid, your daughter, and clearly, I'm sure they were aware of there's a lot of struggle going on with you. What was happening around the way you were interacting with that in the family?

The truth is, everyone was going through their own struggles, and you're only able to see it really after. Because when you're going through a struggle, you can't see past what you're going through. What was happening is I was continuing to dig myself into a hole and deeper and deeper until I had no idea which way was up or which way was down. And everyone was going through their struggles. It killed my parents. You know, when we speak about this now, it killed them to see me going through that. I remember they had sent me, they wanted me to go and speak to somebody. And I was always the kind of person, I really had a hard time trusting that people really cared. I really did, I had a hard time.

So going to, let's say, speak to a psychiatrist, I didn't really open up. Or I was sort of playing the game because I was like, all right, you don't really care what's going on. Again, this is me as a 15-year-old kid. So they were trying to find ways to help me because I wouldn't share with them. And I would just break down and a lot of times really cry alone because I was very strong. I didn't want to be that burden to them. But yeah, they were going through their struggles. My dad, I only found out some years ago that things were so tough because it was six years until I got back into my house.

Six years until we were together as a family. So we're talking about a sophomore in high school. I came back when I was like a junior in college. You're a whole different person. We were moving around to different places, you know, with my grandparents' apartment and then the following year,

you know, we were in another apartment and then my parents were in Jersey and I was by my grandparents. One of my sisters was with them and the other sister was by my aunt. And it was really being separated during a very pivotal time in your life. And that I knew killed my mom because we are a very close family. And like my aunts, my cousins, they're like my second mom and my siblings.

You know what I mean? But my brother was going through lots of struggles he had gotten kicked out of school at the time so he was going through his own things and my other brothers got married that year and I was going through struggles with that because it was like I didn't want to give him up as my brother and I sort of felt like oh he's being taken away and he was living by my aunt's house and I felt like oh he's a brother to them and he's no longer a brother to me. So I felt so alone. And my sister right underneath me is six years younger than me.

So I was 15 at the time. She was nine. The other sister is 13 years younger than me. It's a big age gap. So I just sort of felt really just in the middle, really not knowing where to go. But like I said, I only found out some years ago, there were times where it was hard for them to put food on the table even. But the beauty, my father, my mother, they're so super strong. My dad really is just, he's a beacon of optimism.

He never, ever made us feel like we were lacking anything, ever. And no matter how hard times got and how many times people have hurt him, you know, because he's such a kind person. The thing he always says is it's all good. And God is big. It's all going to be good. He has such a strong faith base that he instilled that in me since we were kids. Like I remember some of the best memories I have is being kids like Friday night, you know, going to my parents' bed and they would tell stories and stories of character, stories of strength, stories of kindness, stories of empowerment. You know, you realize that now, but those things have an effect on your development as a person. So yeah, everybody was

going through their struggles. It's difficult to say that I knew what everyone was going through because I was so much in my own planet. Yeah, everybody's just doing, I mean, you've got to be so inwardly focused. And there were so many struggles that happened. There were crazy tragedies. That wasn't the only thing. It was like a snowball of so many years. I remember the day that we moved into the house. We were going to lose the house. That's how bad just finances were. And when we finally moved back into that house, the house that I'm still in today, we moved in. There was not even floors. There was no bed. There was nothing. It was like we would get splinters when we would walk on the floors. But moving in, I remember my whole family being there.

We were all in tears because it was such an emotional day because it sort of culminated this entire period of this just struggle. And being back in that place, knowing how close we were to losing it, it was very emotional. I remember crying myself to sleep that first night being there and just saying how grateful I feel to have made it through and to have my family with me, even though at the time when I was going through the struggles

when I was 15, I didn't feel like anyone was there, even my family, not because they weren't, but because I couldn't let them, you know? Yeah. Y'all need a pilot? Flight risk. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping.

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There's a lot of layers. There's a lot of layers. But also, I mean, it's so clear that there's such a strong focus on who you are as a person that's come, I have to imagine, from your parents and from your family. That sort of seems like it's probably the glue that allowed you all to come back together at some point. When you hit senior year and you went on that seminar and for the first time, you're like, this is the moment where I'm raising my hand. This is the moment where my voice gets set free. Do you have any sense for what made you say this? It's now? The truth?

Again, I think it was, like I said, those two years of really giving myself a chance to fall in love with me for me. I wasn't focused on seeking validation from others. And so often, everyone is, you know, it's all about how we look, how we come out off to people. I was just being me. And I was okay in my skin. And it didn't matter to me whether somebody would accept me or not accept me. And I feel like that's why I was able to come out. I was able to tap into something that from there, it was like a snowball. And something cracked open. It was something cracked open. It was like all those feelings from when I was a four-year-old kid. I knew it was going to be something big, and I knew it had to do with bringing people together. My greatest thing that I can do is to help people see the beauty in themselves. You know how you say my job? It's falling in love with people more and more each day. I love people.

I love people. I don't care what you believe. I don't care if you believe what I believe, you don't believe what I believe, you're from this religion, that ethnicity, this location, I don't care. You're a human being. I love love you and I don't just say those words I really really feel it and I feel that the reason why sometimes animosity exists is because people don't truly love who they are so think about that for a moment if you really love you it's not about arrogance and people always confuse arrogance and confidence. And they're two completely opposed things. If you truly love you, then loving others becomes easy.

When you feel secure in who you are, you're now willing and able to accept others for who they are. That's where the magic lies. That's where change lies. I always say we want to really change the world, help people believe more in what they believe in. Because if you really do believe, you're okay with other people believing differently. And I think that that was the greatest strength. It was being able to accept others and help them see that beauty. That's my,

that's why I went into teaching. I didn't want any kid to feel like they're not being seen. You know, in school, so many people talk about the issues in school, and they talk about bullying, anti-bullying. I hate that terminology. I really don't like it. Because all of the negative issues going on in the world, there are many sort of band-aids for them. So there's the anti-approach, bullying, anti-bullying, depression, anti-depression, war, anti-war, drugs, anti-drugs. Utilizing something negative to fight against something negative. This is not a math equation. It's not bringing you something positive. It's understanding the root core to why that issue actually comes into fruition. And that's what the work that I'm doing is all about. It's asking the continuous question of why. Why is that issue there? And keep asking why,

and why, and why. And what you find and what you discover that it stems from a lack of self-value and self-worth. People not recognizing and realizing that they do in fact matter, that they're significant, that they're unique, that there's something they could bring into this world that no one else can. And that while they might be one in seven billion people in this world, the number that matters the most is that they're one. The moment that you open up the gates and you help a person see their value and recognize that they could become a giver in their own right, that giving doesn't just have to come from your pocket. Everybody has something unique and significant that they can give. Now you open them up to all the world of possibilities that lay before them. You empower them to pursue achieving things that they never thought would be possible.

And that's when we come up with new innovations and new discoveries and new ways of solving so many of the world issues by simply empowering each person to know that they are part of the solution. Without them, it just doesn't work. Every person is significant and unique. So you decided then also that your starting point is going to be going back to almost like the window in your life where the real struggle started,

which was middle school kids. Yeah. And you ended up being a teacher. Ended up being a teacher. I always loved kids. You know, I went to college for film production because, again, it was about... Oh, no kidding. Yeah, I love film.

And I remember when I graduated, I started actually a small film company. I went to Brooklyn College for film and I won like my thesis project, won an award. And I started a small film company. I wanted to do this film. And I said, I'm going to do a film that's going to reach the world and then I'll go into teaching. And I ended up having a great opportunity right after I graduated to sort of teach. It was only going to be a six week position. The school fell in love with me.

I fell in love with the school. But teaching was one of the most, those seven years were the most transformative of my life. Because it wasn't, you know, it wasn't about teaching the facts and figures. I always said, you know, the things I was teaching more than anything was love and belief, love of self, belief of self, which leads to love and belief in others. And it wasn't something, it wasn't like, oh, we spoke about kindness, you know, one day a week or once a month or once a year. It was something incorporated into every single classroom discussion. My greatest goal was helping kids be able to see that everyone else, even the kids that are like the popular kids, have the same struggles.

They just come off differently. That the person, and again, being bullied or the person that is considered the bully, and again, not loving that terminology, really, they're going through the same struggles. It's just the way in which they're expressing themselves is different. And helping to show that to the kids. And the greatest tool to empower, because really, the core of everything is really about empowerment. That's really where it stems. That's where the strength is.

That's the secret sauce, I would say. Greatest way to empower is through kindness. Because when a person's engaged in an act of giving, an act of kindness, why is it that a person feels so good when they engage in kindness? Why do they feel so good? Because in that moment, they're catching a glimpse of their value and they're being validated for the right reasons. It's not about what society tells us should validate us. It's not about how much money we have or how many friends we have or how many people like our

Instagram picture or whatever. It's the lives that we touch. And in that moment of giving, we begin to recognize that that's our true sense of validation. Happiness only comes from within you. And it's the simple things that every person can do. How does this go down when you're in a room with middle school students? Because your average middle school student is massively inward focused because you've got so many social struggles and all you care about. I mean, middle school is about social pecking order to a large, you know, and I've heard middle school teachers kind of say like, this is, our job is just to get them through this. Like it's survival. It's not flourishing. It's not thriving, which I always, I understand that lens because it is very often such an emotional tumultuous, like

just trying to figure out which way is up window for kids. And at the same time, it saddens me to hear that lens as if, you know, like, our job is just to shepherd kids through and make sure they get through, like, not too beat up so that then they can get to a place where they start to explore themselves and, you know, discover and realize. How do you work the conversation about kindness into it in a way where it doesn't sound like, oh, the teacher's telling us about kindness again, but actually, how do you get them to embody it? That's a great question. I mean, first of all, I would say, I don't think it's just about seeing them through. I think middle school, in my opinion, is such an important time

because that's laying the groundwork to actually strengthen them. I've seen kids come in from the beginning of the year to the end of the year with a tremendous amount of confidence. And confidence leads to other things as well. Not just social, like feeling socially connected, but also academic success. And I've seen them flourish in that sense. But to answer your question, it was never about talking about kindness. Like, hey guys, you know, it's important to be kind. Right.

Because. It doesn't do anything. That doesn't do anything that doesn't do anything and even with what i'm doing with the organization in general it's not about the word kindness i always say if i was going to use one word to describe this organization that word would not be kindness it would be empowerment how do you teach kindness it's not something that you're like, you have to do this. And in my classroom, it was never, you have to do this and you're not supposed to do this. It's about, again, those two words, love and belief, instilling it into the classroom discussion. So with whatever subject matters that you're teaching, this is very much what we're doing

in terms of the educational curriculum that we developed, within the class discussion of the material, of the facts that they're learning, we had these conversations about character, about values, without talking it as, you have to be this way, or you don't have to be that way. It's very subtle. And I say this because it's super important, because that's the only way to get through. It's not about saying it outright. It's the subtleties of it. And it's also modeling it. So for example, let's say somebody would come into the class, they had a very, very low confidence, which would affect their social skills as well as their academic success. First, number one, is I built an atmosphere in the class of a friendship. I consider these kids to be like my best friends.

We were super, super close. We did so many things together. It wasn't just the hours in class or during school. I would take them to go do various projects after school. We'd go out for their birthdays. And again, it was about making them feel inclusive. So taking the kid that maybe is like, you know, considered to be like the most popular kid

and then the kid that is considered to be sort of the outsider. And because I had the respect of the kids, because had I have the respect of the kids, because I respected them, I spoke to them like they're on my level and they know that I had trust in them. So within the first day of class,

already they got to know who I was. I trust you guys have my 100% trust. And I will go to bat for each of you. But it was understood that if you lose trust, that's where it becomes difficult. So there was a real sense of connectivity within the classroom from the very, very, very beginning. And within the topics that we were learning, these concepts of character and values was very much embedded. On top of that, Fridays we would leave to have, it was called in Hebrew, because I taught Hebrew studies, we called it Sikha Donut Day.

Sikha is having a conversation. I would bring, you know, every Friday we'd bring snacks in, and we'd have a conversation. Now little did they know, it very much connected to what we were learning, and we would talk about things that have to pertain to them, what's going on in their life and how the things that we're learning within our classroom, what message, what lesson could they take from it? That's answer answering a question that's going on in their life.

They had journals that they would write after we would learn a specific subject matter. I said, you know, we're learning this because it's, it's, it's answering a question that's going on right now in your specific life. So they had,

uh, you know, an activity to do what, to take one specific thing we learned and show how that was answering something that was currently going wrong in their life. What was the lesson that they could take from it? It wasn't just about the facts and figures. Once you connect it to their every day,

they're excited to learn. So I had parents come to me and say, Orly, I don't understand. Why does my kid only want to do work for your class? Why do they get so super excited? I would have a kid, for example, a student that was failing. When I say failing, I don't mean getting 60s. I mean getting 30s, really struggling.

And those were the kids I loved connecting with even more so because the kids that are getting hundreds are going to get hundreds with or without you. But the kids that are struggling oftentimes, the reason they don't like learning is because it's hard for them. I knew what that was like. I had those struggles as a child and a fifth grade teacher of mine was able to connect with me that suddenly, boom, things flipped for me. And I went in one year from being in the lowest class, my sixth grade year, to being in an honor class in one year, just because something clicked. Everyone can learn. It's just the method in which you teach them and helping it clicked for them

and empowering them. So even if they would fail a test, instead of being upset, or I would sit with them and I would let them know how proud I was of them. What do you mean you're proud? I got a 50. Yeah, but look what you got a 50. You got a 30 last time. This is amazing. Don't give up. I'm not interested in numbers. And that was something that kids all knew. I don't care about the numbers. I care that you know that you're doing the best that you can. That's what matters to me. So I've had a student, this girl was having such a hard time. She went from literally the 30s, like I was telling you, to having a 91 average by the end of the year. A 91 average,

teaching other kids in like, you know, circles when, you know, they would learn and study for tests. It all had to do with confidence. And it's not easy to do that. I think that's the most important job of a teacher. A teacher can either make a child's life or really, unfortunately, can really destroy it. Our classroom also, our atmosphere in the classroom was all positivity. We would paint the walls. Oh, I drive the administration crazy.

We do so many. I'm thinking like the administration, which is especially like New York City schools and stuff like that. There's generally like, this is the way you do it. Here's the curriculum. Like, it must have been an interesting relationship between you and the administration. It was. But the truth is, I really connected them.

Our students, and I would teach some of the lowest classes, when they would be tested, standardized, they would be scoring because I didn't teach them, oh, I'm going to teach you only part of it. They had to know details. It was not, I was not an easy teacher in terms of them getting to know the material, but it was a way to teach them. It was about preparing them. And we were able to get through the subject matter, but it was infusing these messages within it. And that's what the educational curriculum we've developed is. It aligns with the core curriculum where you can actually infuse these subjects, these concepts. So it's not just one day speaking about it, but it's every day

because kindness cannot be another subject in a notebook. It's got to be incorporated into the person, completely embedded. So we would do different activities. We had a wall in my classroom called the wall of inspiration. I was very into decorating the classroom, bright colors. My office is the same exact way. And giving the kids a chance to show their creativity on that as well, where, you know, we had the word believe and we had these other various words, live, laugh, love, hope, inspire, empower. And we would have projects that would come and we would paint and, you know, either after school. So they'd stay after school to hang out and do these things or during lunch. And I'd involve them in the process. And I've had so many kids that told me, you know,

Orly, there were so many times I came into your classroom and I was going through really a rough time in my family life or with school, whatever it may be. So many different stories I have like this. And I couldn't necessarily listen at that moment in class, but I'd look up at the wall of inspiration and I knew that I would get through. Like, you can't tell you how much that wall has helped me. Something simple, but it was things like this on a regular basis. I would take the students, we would go visit the old age home every Friday. I took a group of students and it started with a small group and then grew and then grew and then grew. You know, we'd go to the old HMI and teach them how to sort of interact. And we'd go to 7-Eleven afterwards or, you know, do those sort of fun things. Because again,

it's not about hitting them on the head, you have to do this. It was creating a certain atmosphere where it was fun to hang out and do these things to the point where they didn't need to go to the 7-Eleven in order to want to go and visit the senior citizens. Or we'd give out tickets in class. I was giving out the tickets in class, and we'd do a raffle. The raffle was not for a game. It was for a prayer book or a book about inspiration. And they were so excited to win it. But it's a process, and it's not hitting someone on the head with it. And like I said, it's difficult for me to explain because it was so subtle. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here.

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Tell me how to fly this thing. Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and you is? You're going to die. Don't shoot him. We need him. Y'all need a pilot. Flight risk. Because at that age, I remember me, I was terrible with my mom.

You know, you never think, oh, yeah, your parents, they don't know what they're talking about. And right now, my mom, me and my mom, we're best friends. She's my best friend in the whole entire world. And it was always about encouraging the kids to be best friends with their parents and understanding that they really do have their best interest at heart. Even though the things they're telling you, maybe you're thinking, oh, that's that, you know, they don't know what they're saying. That was something I encouraged a lot in my class. And it was so vital and so important. Because it's true, your parents always are going to have your best interest at heart. And if students at that age, have that respect, or learn to get that respect for their parents, you know that they're going to be okay moving

into the high school scene. Because they have that it's super, super important. I could tell stories upon stories of wins that have happened through super, super important. I could tell stories upon stories of wins that have happened through the years of teaching. And one of my most valuable possessions that I own, you know, God forbid tomorrow someone was going to come and take everything I have. This is the one thing I would keep. It's five books of letters from students over the course of my seven years teaching that are like busting at the seams, five books of letters. That's these letters that I look to and I turn to when I question my value and worth. And by the way, it's not like a, you know, a video game. Once you get to the, oh, I have a confidence. It's always there. No, we all go through those moments where we question

our value and our worth. And we wonder if we're really making a difference. Everyone does that. Everyone. No one is absolved of that. We all have our insecurities. But it's important to be able to have something to go back to, to remind ourselves that we do in fact matter and that our work does matter. So you're doing this for about seven years.

I was teaching for seven years. And then I started the organization officially in September of 2011 is when I left my job teaching to start the organization. And the organization is called? Life Vest Inside. Right.

And there's a story behind how that got started. There's so many stories. But I could tell you the story about the name of how it came about. So this was back in the year 2007. I was teaching at the time. It was January, mid-January. And I was going away with my family.

I went to vacation. And we had a stopover. And as we were changing planes, I was listening to my voice messages. At the time, there was a young girl in my community who was very, very ill. Six-year-old girl. I didn't know her personally, but just like everyone in the community, we were all praying for her and sending positive vibes. And as I was listening to my messages, I get the voicemail that she just passed away. And I was really completely

devastated. But the thing I thought about at that moment was my seventh grade students back at home. You see, they lost a classmate of theirs only three years prior when they were in fourth grade. And literally right before winter vacation, they started opening up to me about it for the very first time and asking questions that are not easy to answer. Why do bad things happen to good people? You know, things of that nature. How do you make sense of it? And I just started to be able to get through to them. So I said, what am I going to do? I know when I get back home, they're going to hear about this. How am I going to be able to explain how something yet again so tragic and devastating happened? You know, how do you stay afloat in a world that sometimes seems to be pulling you downward? How

do you find that order within the chaos? And I get onto the plane and the stewardess ended up putting me in a seat I wasn't supposed to be in. But as I mentioned earlier, I'm a very firm believer that everything happens for a reason. And so I'm sitting down, I literally had tears in my eyes with all these thoughts running through my mind. How do you stay afloat? I'm looking up, and how do you stay afloat? And I looked to my left, and right there on the wall of the plane was a small sign that said on it three words that I didn't know at the time would change the course of my life. And it said on it, life vest inside. And I looked up and I smiled,. I said, I got it.

The message I took was your life vest, your ability to stay afloat in a world that sometimes seems to be pulling you downward. It's inside of you. It's through the kindness that you give to others and through the kindness that others give to you that we keep each other afloat because we're not going to be able to stop the mishaps and the curveballs and the hardships from coming our way. They're going to come. But what we can do, what we have the power to do, what's in our ability to do is to throw somebody a lifeline, a life vest of kindness, that even though they're still surrounded by those waters, they're still surrounded by those troubles, that vest is the difference between life and death. It's what keeps them afloat and gives them the hope

that it's going to be okay. And when I got back, I started a journal. As I was telling you earlier, that the kids would write a journal entry called Life Vest Inside, that after every topic we would learn, I asked them to find what was the message to you within this topic. And we started doing these acts of kindness cards.

Each card had a different act of kindness in it. On the back of it, it said, please perform the act and pass the card to someone else. Let's keep the kindness going. Because kindness, through the small things that we do, like I said earlier, empowers us. And I wanted them to begin to recognize their value and their ability to impact change, even if they're kids and people tell them they can't. I remember people telling me that too, but I believe strongly that it's the kids in this world that are going to change this world. To never ever lose sight of that.

Never lose sight of your dreams, of your beliefs. To keep holding them, even when people tell you it's impossible and you're crazy. Follow your passion and follow it with all of your heart because that's what should guide you. So we did various projects, you know, acts of kindness cards, different activities to really empower the kids to recognize their value.

That was what the main focus was. And then a couple of years down the road during a classroom discussion where I said, you know, I have a dream myself. Imagine if we made these cards in so many different languages and we made thousands of them and we got them out there. And it was in a class discussion where I was having them actually write down their dreams for the future. Because I put together for them like a yearbook that I gave to them. I always used to have them write themselves letters to their future selves that I sent to them years after. That's one of my favorite things to do.

And it was then that I, in a sense, started dreaming bigger. And in that summer, I created a pamphlet with Life Asest Inside. I wrote like a little segment about what LifeVest Inside means and the idea is that kindness keeps the world afloat and that our greatest LifeVest, our ability stems from inside of ourselves, that we are our greatest strength and that when we give, we receive in a tremendous way. And the following summer, I shot the film Kindness Boomerang. So everything comes full circle to your film also at that point. 100%.

So you start this thing and then you're building in the classroom and it's becoming its own entity at this point. What was the thing where you were like, this needs to be a film? Well, what happened was I decided I wanted to start Life Fest Inside as an organization about spreading kindness, but not just about spreading kindness, about empowering people and helping them get from inspiration to action, because it's easy to inspire people. The question is, how do you make the bridge? And that's what the organization is all about, helping to make the bridge so that the inspiration doesn't just fade. And then everyone goes back to how it used to be. And so it started with me, you know, figuring out,

okay, I have to have a website. I wanted to create images that had to do with kindness. I said, wait a minute, Orly, you have a background in film. Why don't you film this? And I had the summer off from teaching. I was super nervous. It had been seven years since I'd done film. I was so not confident in my capabilities, but something inside of me was speaking. And it was that four-year-old kid that was speaking to me really loudly. So I said, I got to do this. End of June came, school finished. I said, I have two months. Let me do this. I sat down and started writing kindness experiences for my life. Moments that left an imprint. I had hundreds of them. I remember the wall on post that's on my wall. It was like a scene out of A Beautiful Mind.

And I said, imagine if I made that each one of these was able to connect one to the next to the next to show the fluidity of kindness and how it can easily pass. And so all these moments, all the scenes from within that short film were based on real life experiences I went through. August came, mid-August. I put out a call for, you know,

auditions. We had about two rehearsals. The following day, we shot the film on September 1st of 2010. And I'll never forget that morning being on the streets of Red Bank. It was completely dead silent before everybody got there. And sort of connecting with myself and knowing, I didn't know where this was going to be. I didn't start the nonprofit yet, but I like, I know that something major in my life is about to change. And I knew it was going to reach people. I didn't know how, but I was super excited. And that energy was really embedded into the script. You know, the scenes within the script, and it shows one act of kindness going from one person to the next and coming back full circle. They're small little scenes. Each person's on the screen for maybe 10 seconds. But I love working with actors. That's my happiest moment. And I decided to write a

backstory for each character. What was supposed to be a line of each ended up being me staying up all night, pulling an all-nighter literally, and writing a page long about each character, literally crying with every single person I wrote because each person had a piece of me in it. And I think it was that energy that was infused to that evening that was then infused into the actors that really made the film go as crazy as it did. When I decided to put it up, I didn't put it up for a year because I went right back into teaching after I shot it. And that's when I said, wait a minute. Again, that four-year-old dream was dreaming bigger. And I said, I got to take this leap of faith. I love teaching. Nobody ever thought I would leave teaching. I was like the crazy teacher was jumping with the kids and having so much fun. And in December, I went to the school and I said, I have to take the following

year off. I'm planning to take one year off to see what would happen if I put my all into this dream. To not let it just be a dream that I will in the future say, oh, I could have, should have, would have. But actually not be afraid to fail. And I took that following year off. Put the film up online. It was October. September starts the school year. I was like, how come things are not moving?

I'm a very big perfectionist. And I said, enough with being a perfectionist. Just share this with people. I don't put it on YouTube. I didn't know anything about social media. And it just went off. I thought that that was a natural thing to happen. And all I was doing for those few months was responding to people.

Tens of thousands of comments coming on on the video. And literally responding to every comment do so till this very day and connecting with people in a way like never before people from every different religion from every different culture from every different background all speaking the same words of kindness and even mediating because you would have sometimes there would be fights that would ensue you would think can a fight ensue on a video about kindness? Some people would say, you know, oh, this is what we believe in our religion. Then you have another person coming and attacking them.

And I would come in to mediate the situation. What ended up happening is that these two people that were so against each other in the beginning, this is what I love seeing the most, would end up seeing the other perspective and becoming close. And people that, you know, had negative image in the beginning, sort of becoming like diehard fans. And it was wild and amazing to see how just a few words of kindness, how helping to show a person another perspective, not telling them that they should change what they believe. You have to always acknowledge what a person feels. But being able to show them another side, it was wild. And from that film, everything really grew. All of the various initiatives

of the organization. Again, the philosophy of the organization, helping people go from inspiration to action. It's about inspiring first, engaging in a way that they can incorporate that change into their daily life without them having to turn their world around in a way that they can make it their own. And then once you have that trust, it's about educating. And what we're saying on the Educate platform, whether it be within our curriculum, within the schools, or whether it be within companies or within adults, is you matter. And once a person is empowered to understand their value and what they could bring to the table. And actually the fact that they can bring something to the table. Now they become a leader in their own right, where now they're able to

inspire a whole other slew of people to take that same route, bringing change into their own local communities. So what we're doing in a sense is increasing the pool of givers in the world. It's not just about knocking on the doors of people that have funding. And, you know, those are the givers. Now everyone is a giver. We're increasing the pool of givers because if everybody sees how they can give, wow, how fast we'll be able to, you know, really address all of the vast social issues plaguing society today, but making everyone feel like they're an instrumental part because they are. Yeah. It's so powerful. By the way, if you're listening to this and you're wondering, don't worry, we'll link to the original video, Kindness Boomerang, in the show notes,

so you'll be able to check it out as well as Life Fest Inside. So as we sit here today, that video, which, so when did the video actually go live? It went live publicly uh october of 2011 okay and last i checked it's like 24 million views on our channel and then it's been uploaded into so many channels it's been on facebook at hundreds of millions of views so it's like so well over that and um i know it was embedded in your ted talk and so now and over that window of time you've grown this organization, Life Fest Inside, to be really, it feels like, have a global impact,

developing curriculum, having events. You're developing curriculum for schools now, which is really interesting, because it's like you keep bringing the different worlds together. You know, like you started with film and then went into education and then found a way to bring film back. All the passions come together. To create your own thing.

And then now that you're building this, you're developing curriculum to expand. So it's not just, you know, like Orly is the crazy teacher in this one particular school who can light kids up. It's like here's a curriculum to help teachers across the world. Exactly. Create stuff like that. Exactly. And it's been an amazing journey, honestly. Again, it's not just about the film, which is on the inspire level or the educate, like the curriculum. It's about the whole spectrum.

It's about really helping a person make that shift. And to do that, you have to be able to understand the methodology I'm using within the organization is really the same methodology I'm using when I was teaching. It's not about hitting someone on the head with it. It's the subtleties, the network of individuals that have connected through the organization the ways in which they share stories of how the organization has saved their life has helped them find jobs has helped them find purpose has inspired them to bridge the gap with relationships that they've had friction has empowered them to recognize their own strengths, has helped them find their voice. I mean, I can tell you hundreds of stories,

and it's not because I'm saying, hey guys, be kind. It's because it's feeding into the core of why so many different social issues come into existence. And that's reminding people that they are enough, that who they are matters. That is the essence to so much. And like you said, whether it be through films, through social media, through events that we're doing, through technology, you know, which we have various technology type initiatives. And there's so many initiatives that I could speak an hour

just about all about the initiatives. Through education, through our representative program, it's so vast. I mean, looking at what you've created in a remarkably short period of time, it also, it sounds like, wow, she must have built a real big team and raised all this funding.

There's like this huge engine behind it. But in the short conversation we had before we started taping this morning, I'm like, you're doing this with very little help. But you're seeming to make an astonishing impact on such a vast level. It's been super tough. And pursuing your passion is never easy because you have people telling you're crazy and then you have the the hardship of keeping it afloat when I left my job teaching five years ago I basically I invested all my savings into this I've invested every dollar of my savings into the organization I've not taken a dollar these past years I haven't been able to I live with my

parents still I'm not ashamed of saying it because if I I haven't been able to. I live with my parents still. I'm not ashamed of saying it because if they didn't give me that capability, I wouldn't be able to do this. It's not easy to literally not put a dollar into your account. But what's hard is also keeping the organization sustainable. There's so many people that have the misconception that we're this huge, massive, multi-million dollar organization that doesn't need that support and i have a hard time asking for that support that is where my weakness lies it is it is a

hard thing for me uh i don't know why i'm trying to break through understanding it i mean i wonder if it's that you're so wired to give it's really hard to put yourself in a place where it's your turn to receive but you know i talk about a lot about receiving and it's important to receive because you know why? Think about how good it is, how good it feels when you give. So when you don't receive, it's like you're robbing someone of the ability to give you. And so, you know, very often the advice we give to others is the advice that we're giving to ourselves.

It's the lesson we need to learn. And I do, and I know that it's a lesson I need to learn. And it's definitely been hard because as you can imagine, the demand for what we're doing is growing so vastly. But one thing I was able to do and I'm so proud of, and I'm going to say that because it's important to acknowledge the things that we're proud of also. So this past summer, I was able, recognizing and understanding that in order for this organization to continue growing, it's important to get this organization to a place of sustainability. I did something that was not my area of comfort. And I really had an opportunity this summer to take the time to understand the finances of the organization and see where we actually within the organization have the ability to bring in revenue that will help us become sustainable. That's not just

dependent on donations, which we're not receiving. So I've been able to find, figure out that formula, which is amazing and has made me feel more confident than ever that I know we're going to get to that place. I know. I don't have a doubt. Failure is not an option. I'm going to continue. So that's something that I'm going to try and focus back on again. I did a significant amount of work with that and seeing what we need and knowing and being able to speak to it now that I know what we need and why we need it. So that once after this event that's coming up, we have an event in November. So it's so super intense from now till then. You know, just bringing on people, hence my voice totally being lost. Going back to that, because to me, getting the organization to a sustainable and

healthy place, to have it run on its own accord, that is key. Because the world can't afford for it to not. We need this right now. And I know that from seeing the people's lives that it's been impacting, we have an amazing track record of success with each and every one of our initiatives. Imagine if we had a little bit of funding. And also just seeing the state of the world and how much it needs this message. How do you be kind to yourself along the way? It's very tough. And it's something I have to continuously remind myself because I know that that's a message I send out to the world as well. It's important to be kind to ourselves and think about the life vest. When you go on a plane and they tell you, right, put your mask on

and then help somebody else put their mask on, there's a reason. It's because if you're feeling weak, you're not able to give from a place of strength. You know, people sometimes misinterpret kindness and giving. There's two types of giving. One that comes from strength and one that comes from weakness. One that comes from a sense of abundance and one that comes from a sense of sacrifice. If your giving, when you give, feels like you're sacrificing your time or whatever and you feel sacrifice, that means that that giving, it's an indication that it's coming

from a place of weakness. It's better not to give from that place because then you'll come to actually resent that giving. Giving from a place of abundance, that is healthy giving. So I'm going to tell you a story. You know, a lot of people think, oh wow, Orly, you must, you're, because I am on very high energy all the time. Right now is even, this is me on a low level of energy. Like I'm usually on, I'm on a super high level of energy. People are like, you must always just be on this. I said, no, you know, that's a misconception.

That's not true. There's times where I can crash or feel like low. And one of those times was just yesterday. And I'm not ashamed or embarrassed to say it because it's important for people that are also talking about all the good they're doing to also talk about the struggles. So little people talk about the struggles. You know, people compare themselves to others. Oh, wow, they're so far ahead. How can I

possibly do? No, no, no. Everyone, even the most successful people that you look at, they think they have it made. How are they doing it? They have struggles. Yesterday, I was at an all-time low energy. Came into work, like had no voice. I've been pulling a few all-nighters, like 6.30 a.m. working days and like just continuing to push myself. Because when you're doing work that feels good to also do, you can sometimes forget yourself in it. Because you know you're doing good work. So it's not like you're working. And I know I'm not even taking anything from it. So I'm continuously giving and I love giving. But yesterday I felt really low energy

and I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders, honestly, that there's so much to do. And I know I have to just do this small thing. And every person's like, oh, but it's only a small thing you need to do for me. It's only a small thing. But all these small things add up to a lot of things. And it came to a point in the day and I said, I never leave work at 6 p.m.

And I said, I have to go home. I said, because anything I'm putting out right now is coming from a place of weakness. It's coming from a place of sacrifice. And I'm not putting that out into the world. It's not something that has to be spoken. It's an energy that's felt. And so I left work at 6 p.m. But I got to tell you a story that happened to me on the train

as I was coming home. So I'm on my way home and I'm feeling like, oh my goodness, I was hunched over walking onto the train. Just not knowing how am I going to do this. I was so tired. And I sit down in a seat and I take out my computer and I start working but like like easy working you know getting work done that's going to make me just feel more calm and I'm like typing

away like super fast and I'm a very focused person so I'm doing something I'm like totally zoned in and then maybe I don't know 30 minutes into the into the ride or 20 minutes I look up and I see this older woman standing there in front of me. So I said, excuse me, miss, do you want to sit down? I'm so sorry. She said, no, I'm getting off in a couple of stops. I see you're typing away. You're working real hard. I closed my computer, put it away. I said, no, work is important, but people, people are more important. Put it away, got up. I said, please do me a favor, sit down. And we started getting into a conversation. The energy level that I felt getting off of that train, it was like somebody lit a fire under me. It was like, I can't even tell you. It refocused things for me in such an amazing way. And sometimes when we stop and slow down

and take those breaks and be a little bit kind to ourselves by saying, I'm going to go home right now. You know what? I'm going to sit down. I'm going to just, I'm going to watch a movie right now. I'm going to give a little bit to myself. What happens is when we come back to that work, we're infusing it with a lot more meaning. And very often in those moments of taking a break, we create these interactions. These interactions come to us. They're there all along, but we're not able to see them just because we need to put our chin just a few inches up and

see people. That's the power of giving to ourselves. The amount of energy and the passion and the focus is so much greater that it totally supersedes that, those few minutes or that half hour, that day. Yeah. So I want to come full circle with you. So the name of this is Good Life Project. So if I offer that term out to you, to live a good life, what does it mean? To live a good life means to recognize gratitude, to have gratitude for the things that you do have. To be able to see the beauty in you and be able to help others see the beauty in themselves. I think that that to me is really what captures what a good life is all about. Thank you.

Thank you. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. If the stories and ideas in any way moved you, I would so appreciate if you would take just a few extra seconds for two quick things. One, if it's touched you in any way moved you, I would so appreciate if you would take just a few extra seconds for two quick things. One, if it's touched you in some way, if there's some idea or moment in the story or in the conversation that you really feel like you would share with somebody else, that it would make a difference in somebody else's lives, take a moment and whatever app you're

using, just share this episode with somebody who you think it'll make a difference for. Email it if that's the easiest thing, whatever is easiest for you. And then of course, if you're compelled, subscribe so that you can stay a part of this continuing experience. My greatest hope with this podcast is not just to produce moments and share stories and ideas that impact one person listening, but to let it create a conversation, to let it serve as a catalyst for the elevation of all of us together collectively, because that's how we rise. When stories and ideas become conversations that lead to action, that's when real change happens. And I would love to invite

you to participate on that level. Thank you so much as always for your intention, for your attention, for your heart. And I wish you only the best. I'm Jonathan Fields, signing off for Good Life Project. We'll be right back. Flight risk. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch, getting you 8 hours of charge in just 15 minutes.

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