I recently had a friend pass away, and one of the things that I admired so much about her, was her tireless devotion to caring for others, whether it be someone sitting alone at lunch or someone having a bad day. She was a ray of light in an ever-encroaching darkness and living more like her would certainly make the world a better place. Doing that is no easy task however, it takes hard work to love those the world forgets. It starts with the little things many take for granted, to be nice to others it doesn’t take large obnoxious acts, it can be a passing smile or fist bump to someone who is killing it. When I’m having trouble thinking of how I can make a positive impact on others I look to Philippians 2:2-3 which states “then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather in humility value others above yourselves”. From these verses I draw strength that allows me to go out and be ray of light to others. Caring starts with a smile and it has profound implications for our world where people constantly yell and curse each other. After simply implementing smiling as a tactic in my high school, I have noticed people are more friendly as I see them and it seems as though this small act has already bought me some new friends. There is a boy in my PE class who is somewhat distant with many in my class and after a couple smiles we are now engaging in regular and spirited conversation and I am able to get to know him better. I walk into the Gym and I get a smile in return along with a newfound friend. I have also found that after leading with a smile, that asking a question and engaging completely with the response, has gotten me closer with others as well. Many times people ask a question without really wanting to know the answer. When I show that I’m actually interested in their life, they are pleasantly surprised and this is another tangible way that one can show a devotion to caring for others. The last way I work to show kindness and caring throughout my life at school and in the community is to follow up with those i’ve interacted with. Not only do I get to reap the rewards of friendship based off of this caring, but those who’ve received those kind acts are elated to interact again as I have hopefully instilled a feeling of caring towards them. I’m glad to have known my friend who passed because she helped to show me kindness and I can spread that caring with others that I meet. This is how kindness and help to change our world. It doesn’t take much, a simple smile or conversation and that person can go and do likewise in their life, caring is infectious and spreads better than any rumour or any bad thing.