Kindness Spotlight on Orly Wahba
Kindness Boomerang
In the stormy seas of life, kindness,
like a life vest, keeps the world afloat.
As a middle school teacher, Orly wanted to help her students experience the joy of kindness. She developed a set of kindness cards and handed them out to inspire her students to perform acts of kindness in their own lives.
As she saw the positive impact on their attitudes and success in school, she realized the potential to have a world-wide impact by spreading messages of kindness. To follow her dream of making a difference in the world, she founded the non-profit organization Life Vest Inside, “because kindness keeps the world afloat.”
She explains that Life Vest Inside turns mere inspiration into action. "We equip people worldwide with the necessary tools to build their self-confidence and recognize the amazing potential they have to make a difference in the world. By utilizing the transformative power of kindness, we empower and inspire people to become a catalyst for positive change."
Orly realized that when we are kind to others, kindness comes back to us like a boomerang, and she developed this video - based on real life acts of kindness.
"Kindness Boomerang - "One Day"
Life Vest Inside Resources
The Kindness Cards that inspired her students are available on her website, along with other tools to support students - and the rest of us - to find joy in living lives of kindness.
Orly's Book
"Kindness Boomerang," contains 365 daily acts, one for each day of the year, accompanied by inspirational quotes, personal stories on the power of paying it forward, and tangible steps to change your outlook on life.
The Daily Kind, a brief email with an inspirational quote, affirmation for the day, suggested act of kindness, and uplifting media, is sent Monday through Friday. A large selection of inspirational films demonstrate how fun and easy it is to be kind, and empower people to become a catalyst for positive change.
Kindness School Curriculum
To expand the impact of her kindness work, Orly developed an SEL (Social Emotional Learning) kindness curriculum for grades K-5, which offers lessons on themes of kindness, compassion and empathy, introducing students to the fun and satisfaction of practicing kindness.
Students who performed acts of kindness with their peers, families and in the community had greater academic success and higher self-esteem.
Dance for Kindness
Ten years ago, Orly began a world-wide Dance for Kindness event to celebrate World Kindness Day in November every year. The participants freeze in positions of acts of kindness, then, when the flash dance music begins, they break into a joyful, choreographed dance
By participating in a worldwide event, students share the experience with others from around the world and learn that kindness is a common thread that unites us all. Dance for Kindness has taken place in over 310 cities, 76 countries with over 90,000 participants.
Project Hope
This is a worldwide digital database of anonymous audio messages of hope for people experiencing challenges from physical health, mental health and other life situations. Project Hope Exchange is a joint initiative of Life Vest Inside and Adversity to Advocacy.
At Project Hope Exchange, they collect 30-second audio messages from individuals who have survived some kind of adversity to share with others who are currently facing the same challenges. Each message ends with an uplifting message of overcoming the challenge. People have listened over 12,000 times to one or more of the over 500 messages from the 43 categories of adversity.
We hope you have been inspired by Orly's ideas and her uplifting energy.
Click below for extra inspiration:
An interesting interview with Orly
What are your thoughts?
We'd love to hear about times when other people were unexpectedly kind to you. or times when you surprised someone with your kindness.
Please leave a comment below.
Help us spread the message of kindness.
If you know others who might appreciate these ideas, please share below.
We are enjoying this journey with you!
Love from our hearts to yours,
Pat and Larry
