“It’s
not enough to have lived.
We should be determined to live for something.
May I suggest that it be creating joy for others,
sharing what we have for the betterment of humankind,
bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely.”
― Leo Buscaglia
The Power of Helping Others
Not an Ordinary Story
By Jelena Potrebic
Serbia, Europe
April, 2019
Have you ever felt the urge to help?
It was a calm Sunday night. The month of October. I’m sitting at my desk writing, as I usually would. But something was different that evening.I noticed my words would slip from the paper and plunge into a vortex of my thoughts. I realized my mind was longing for expression of some kind. I stopped everything I was doing at that moment and followed my intuition. Stepped away from the desk, and set down on the floor. I had no idea where this is leading me… Yet, in couple of seconds I was in my meditative state. My eyes closed so smoothly, so naturally, I haven’t even noticed.
I started thinking about the meaning of life on this planet. I’m a human being standing on a piece of land. What could I do that would really be significant?
My time here is limited. But it’s not scary. I’m calm. I started thinking what makes me happy. I usually avoid the word happy. I prefer the feeling of gratefulness and peacefulness. I think that’s happiness. Seeing my family joyful, seeing my friends cheerful, seeing people smiling and all beings on this planet thriving and walking carefree on the path of life – that’s what makes me feel grateful to be alive. The ability to experience those things, to feel every cell of my body being fed from this fount of inexhaustible energy, to sensate the rush in my mind filling each and every part of my soul.
I immediately knew what I had to do. My aspiration is to see people like in my visions. The idea of helping others was shining so vividly in my mind. I want people to feel the blessings of empathy, to experience kindness and a full heart after they’ve helped someone in any way possible.
A kind word, a helping hand, and a warm hug. Sometimes that’s all it takes.
In a whirlpool of thoughts one syntagma came to me really sharply.
***The good people movement!***
I wrote it down on a piece of paper and started researching about it online as soon as possible. And I found Kevin Tunnell and his movement,The Good People Movement. The rest is history.
Kevin, did I freak you out with my message back then in October?
(laughing!!!) “Yes! You definitely caught me off guard and it was pretty weird to say the least! I say that because when you initially shared what happened during your meditation and how it led you to me, and The Good People Movement it was almost like we had the exact same thing happen to us at different times. I’ve shared my vision of The Good People Movement with others, but never the details or the part about meditation. It was only weird because we clearly shared something without even knowing one another, and we live on different continents, and have lived completely different lives. I didn’t know anyone in Russia until now! So it started out being creepy, and ended up being pretty cool once we talked more and explained how it all happened for each of us.”
You mentioned that the idea of starting the Good people movement also happened to you during your meditation. Can you tell us how?
“I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to do something to help people and make a positive and meaningful difference in the world. Early in 2018 I started to suffer from anxiety and had my first anxiety attack. At that point I started really meditating with intention. From there I started to have realizations of things that I needed to do in my life in order for me to feel better. It was in one of those meditations that I got the idea of starting a movement that would promote positive interactions between strangers.
During that time there was a lot of tension between people and it was all over social media and the news. The division and tension seemed to be getting worse everyday. Everyday there was a new hate driven story being broadcast and shared. It started to effect me and my relationships to the point where I was angry with people that I considered friends. It all stemmed from the negativity being promoted. I knew that I needed to take some action and do something because I was tired of just talking about it and being angry or sad or some negative feeling. I initially wanted to just make shirts that said Good People, but I know it had to be more than just a clothing brand. I was inspired by my mother, who does a random act of kindness everyday, and that’s where I got the idea of creating a kindness campaign and asking everyone who wears the shirt to commit to doing at least 1 random act of kindness per month. Then, if we can get people sharing their good deeds and start to see that kindness can heal the pain and tension that is both in us and between us, that’s when the real change will happen. I knew it was important for me to do this, so I got started, and here we are today!”
They say helping one person might not change the world, but it could change the world for one person. How do you feel after leaving people better than you found them?
“I’ve learned that it’s more healing for the giver than the receiver when a genuine act of kindness is done. Giving with no expectation, and knowing your kindness made a difference, creates a powerful positive feeling for the giver, and it’s important to have those positive powerful feelings inside. We show up differently in the world when our actions are driven and influenced by powerful positive feelings as opposed to powerful negative feelings. I wanted more of the good feeling and less of the things that were stressing me out. Kindness, forgiveness, and gratitude have been at the forefront of my focus since then and my life has changed as a result!”
We have two hands. One for helping ourselves and one to help others. Are we doing enough as people?
“I think we have become conditioned to think that someone else will do it. As individuals we feel like our efforts are insignificant, and that results in less people taking action. We get used to not helping and stop paying attention altogether. In situations where people need help I don’t think as humans we do enough, but the problem is we are unconscious to our contribution to issues of the world. We focus all of our energy and attention to negative things with no positive follow-up to counteract what’s happening. Sadly it’s an illusion out of sight out of mind, so we ignore the pain around us, when in reality we aren’t far removed from being in a position where we might need help. If we can simply shift the way we think and just be nicer to one another and ourselves then things would be different. The distractions and stress that most people face on a day-to-day basis has blinded us and removed us from our true essence as people. We cared about each other as children, but we hate each other as adults. That’s a major problem, and there’s definitely not enough being done to fix that. We have to fix it.”
We don’t need a reason to help people, but what are some ways we could do more?
“The biggest thing that I see is that we don’t care about each other. We have to wake up to the fact that how we treat each other matters, and words do hurt. We are taught to think words don’t hurt, and that hurt feelings is a sign of weakness. It’s the untreated emotional pain from childhood and throughout life that we’ve been told to ignore is the real issue, not each other. We need to stop hurting and start healing and helping. It’s important for us to be contributors of happiness and love to the world, instead of being destroyers of it.”
- Be Kind
- Speak kind words to others and to yourself
- Love yourself and other
- Help People
- Do the right thing
- Be aware of how you impact people
What are your plans for the future with the Good people movement?
“My goal for The Good People Movement is to become global movement with people all over the world committed to doing random acts of kindness. As a brand my vision is to bring Good People to the forefront and out of the shadows. I love wearing this brand because it is an accurate representation of who I am and who I strive to be. It feels good wearing something that promotes kindness and positivity. Strangers are nicer to me when I’m wearing Good People Gear, it’s a good feeling. Overall, my vision is to unite people of all different backgrounds at a higher level of consciousness. #goodvibes We are all people, and we have to put all of our differences aside, (we have more similarities than differences) and really come together. The Good People of the world will be the ones that shift the energy and change the world!”
Have you felt it?
Tingling with excitement?
Ready to do your part?
Join the movement at thegoodpeoplemovement.com and do something good today. For yourself, for your loved ones, for every other being on this planet. We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone. Express the goodness laying in your heart. You will be enthralled by the changes that will ensue. And remember: “Small acts, multiplied by millions of people, can change the world.”
Together we truly can achieve more!
Support and follow The Good People Movement!
Instagram: @thegoodpeoplemovement
Facebook: @thegoodpplmovement