Today, tomorrow, and everyday thereafter, we choose how we view and interact with the world around us. Often we are not even aware that this is a choice. We roll out of our beds and into our daily routines. We spend the day pursuing our goals and facing our many challenges unaware of others around us. Life can be consuming.
Smile4Marli was inspired by the life of one inspiring individual, Marli. Marli’s demeanor is quiet and genuine, her spirit – bold and compassionate. Whether facing adversity or celebration, Marli always wears a smile – a constant, contagious, and sincere smile. She recognizes the impact of a positive attitude. Marli is known to sit quietly beside a disabled classmate – just to offer them companionship. Marli nods politely to recognize the shy child overwhelmed by life – acknowledging that they indeed mattered. Marli patiently endures the rambling of acquaintances that want to share their view of the world – recognizing their need to communicate. Her patient, positive compassion is amazing and inspires all of us who witnessed the effects of her kindness. Marli transformed her immediate world through a positive attitude and simple acts of kindness. She aspired to change the world in more grand ways, but was denied the opportunity. At the age of 15, Marli was taken from this world in a tragic plane crash. The crash also took the life of a dear family friend, Dean. Today, as we (family and friends) attempt to deal with the holes in our hearts, we again turn to Marli as an inspiration. In her memory, we are kicking off a global campaign to transform the world through simple acts of kindness.
Shortly after her passing, Marli’s high school band initiated an annual award recognizing the band member displaying a positive attitude and a contagious smile. The award was titled “The SMILE award for outstanding positivity & spirit.” Marli had touched their lives. This award resonated well with us and led to us initiating the Smile4Marli campaign. The campaign motto is “The Spirit of Marli Inspires Lives Everywhere” – which can be abbreviated as SMILE. Thanks Titan Band!
We believe in this motto because we learned from Marli that lives are truly affected through shared kindness and compassion. Our hope for ourselves and for those of you reading this story is that we recognize opportunities to spread hope and compassion through simple acts – sometimes as simple as a smile. Our goal is to share her spirit with the world. This global aspect of the campaign is important to us because Marli truly dreamt of traveling the world and sharing her smile. She had written a bucket list that included visiting all seven continents. Marli marveled at the simple joy of interacting with people regardless of language, cultural, or physical barriers. Her acts where not extravagant, but they were effective.
As part of the “Smile4Marli” campaign, we ask you to conduct simple acts of kindness wherever life takes you. We’ve created a website, Smile4Marli.com, where people can learn about Marli and this campaign. We also maintain a Facebook group where those affected by acts of kindness can document their stories, where friends can deliver challenges to conduct simple acts of kindness, and where simple products can inspire compassionate acts. We hope to highlight how through daily choices, everyone – regardless of background, monetary worth, or location, can make a positive impact in our world. Join us and Smile4Marli!
We recognize that it is difficult to choose to see the goodness in the world. It is even harder to choose to be compassionate to others, and it is almost inconceivable to recognize that our simple acts of kindness can transform the world. Let’s transform the world together.