Kaila Proulx

Lend a {Healthy} Hand #54: The World Needs More Love Letters!

Earlier this week I had one of the most inspirational experiences of my entire life.

As I shared last fall, I was chosen to be a Fitzpatrick Institute fellow on my campus and was entrusted with brining two speakers on to campus for the Fall and Spring semester. In the Fall, if you remember, I brought in Caitlin Boyle from Operation Beautiful and the Healthy Tipping Point blog and on Monday, I held my second event.

Monday marked the day that Hannah Brencher, a featured TEDTalks speaker and the founder of MoreLoveLetters.com came to campus and left a room of people empowered, inspired, and contemplating what they could do with their lives to make the world a better place. Her message 100% aligned with the mission behind the Lend a {Healthy} Hand project and that’s why I wanted to share some of the insight she put forth on the blog today. But before I get into all the wisdom she imparted, go listen to Hannah’s TEDTalk so you can get a feel for who she is, what she stands for, and how she is truly making the world a better place.


Pretty incredible, right?

The premise behind Hannah’s movement is that everyone needs a little encouragement every now and then….a reminder that they are loved, valued, and needed, and that their presence here on Earth is important. By reaching out to others through letter writing, human connection is revitalized and individuals going through the darkest of times are lifted out of their despair.

But that’s not the only power behind this movement of caring for your fellow human beings. Similarly to the Lend a {Healthy} Hand movement, often times the person writing the love letters benefits just as much as the person receiving them. What we most want to say to others to reach out to them and make them feel better, is usually what we are looking to hear and need for ourselves. It’s through simple acts like those in the MoreLoveLetters movement and the Lend a {Healthy} Hand project that truly makes the world a better place.

Through helping others, we in turn help ourselves and truly FIND ourselves. One thing I loved that Hannah said is that everyday you should head out into the world to make history. This doesn’t mean changing the world in one day or making a HUGE impact. What it means is knowing that each one of your actions affects someone else and thus becomes a part of their history. So be mindful of the choices you make…make them positive and meaningful. By turning your focus outward and in a way, forgetting about yourself for a bit in exchange for thinking about others you can find yourself and become more in touch with your hopes, dreams, and goals.

We were put on this Earth to serve others. Life is about human connection and by doing for others on a daily basis you are serving your soul in the best way possible.

So keep these things in mind on a daily basis. The biggest difference you can make in a day can come from the smallest action of kindness towards your fellow man. If you do for others, you are living as fully as you can and putting yourself on a path to maximizing the potential you have as a person.

A few other nuggets of wisdom I took away from Hannah…

-Find your passion. Not just something you love. Something you would suffer for or without.

-Sometimes people just need to know that their life is worth living and that someone out their cares for them. YOU can be that person.

-YOU WILL FAIL. It’s inevitable. You will fail over and over again, in numerous ways, at all stages of your life. But in that breakdown, you will find yourself.

-We all have a story to share…yes, that’s true. But don’t just talk…go out and LIVE your story. Take action!

-Find your identity by looking outward.

-Surround yourself with people who believe in you. There will always be ‘flower cutters’ in your life. But who you CHOOSE to surround yourself with can make all the difference in how far you go.

-Failure doesn’t make you a failure.

I pretty much walked away from the night aspiring to be Hannah when I grow up. But seriously, TALK ABOUT A ROLE MODEL! I am so honored to have met such an incredible mover and shaker in the world. Someone that exudes light, positivity, and compassion. I am so lucky to have connected with her and I can’t wait to be able to meet with her again in the future! She is going far in no matter what she pursues and I can’t wait to read the book she is currently writing (due out in January 2015!).

I feel like I could write SO much more on the night, but I don’t want to detract too much from all the awesome #healthyhelp that was submitted for this week’s round-up! So let’s get into it!!!

Yoojin returned a lost credit card…

Cristina: I have been showing my boyfriend’s roommates how to make their own vegan chili!

Jess W: I worked an extra shift for a coworker who couldn’t make it to work.

AND

Sent a good luck card to a friend who has a big test coming up!

Emily: I’ve been taking one of my friends hiking with me this week to help her start exercising more regularly. She’s loving it and I love having someone to chat with on my hikes!

Natalie: Helped some colleagues at work with a hard project that required some extra hands!

Faith: I baked cookies for a friend having a bad day.

Ashley: My dad helped me prepare for a phone interview I had!

Nikki: I put someones cart away!

Kaylin: Motivated my boyfriend to go to the career fair at college this week. Go get ‘em!

Paige: Let some teammates come cook at my apartment since all the dining places were closed for mardi gras and no one else has a kitchen.

Tori: I brought over some hot cocoa and marshmallows to a sweet neighbor who helped shovel our driveway.

Rebecca: I lent my friend a pencil in Math class!

#HealthyHelp from around the world….

Ellen’s Oscar selfie generates big bucks for great causes

Marathoners honor WWII vet in middle of race

Stranger’s kidney donation helps two lives

Employees shave heads, raise $2.1 mil for charity

The Malala Fund spotlights need to educate child refugees

Harry Launches New Event For Wounded Servicemen

This 8-Year-Old Is Making Sure No Kid Is Denied A Hot Lunch

Have you ever heard of More Love Letters?

Would you consider writing your own ‘love letter’ to someone in need?

What will you do this weekend to help someone else?

Remember! Only a few more hours to enter my Oh She Glows cookbook giveaway!!

Kaila Subscribe on the side. Follow me on Twitter. Ask me on Formspring. Follow me on Pinterest. Like me on Facebook.Follow me on Instagram. Todays’s Healthy Help: Nominated my mom for a contest and won her a gift card! Never too early to start Lending a {Healthy} Hand for next week’s round-up! Tell me what you’ve done to help someone else lately!

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