Our daughter texted us last week with a link to a story about a guy who rode his bike around the world. 24,901 miles. 🚴♂️
Not to say that I’m in awe, but on my next trip into our garage, my bike, or maybe I should say the refurbished bike I bought last year from a neighbor….well, I thought I saw it glare at me. Maybe I’m just being spooked because of Halloween. 🎃
24,901 miles
Al Merritt is 83 and a Vietnam Veteran. It took him 10 years to ride 24,901 miles…. the circumference of Earth 🌍….and he did it without ever leaving his neighborhood in Carlsbad, California.
Using GPS, Al had been tracking his miles. When he reached 21,000, he said,
“I think I’ve got a shot at making it!”
Around the world in 80 days
My mind drifted back to the 1956 film, Around the World in 80 Days. Remember David Niven? (And that’s Shirley MacLaine, below)
There’s a remake out, if you’d like to take a peek.
3 degrees of separation
Between 1983 and 2003, a group from Harvard Medical School studied nearly 5,000 people. They found that one person's happiness spreads through their social group from friend to friend to friend…. up to three degrees of separation, and that happiness effect can last up to a year. Do you remember that song - “If you're happy and you know it, tell your friends!” Keep in mind, that study ended before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok were born. So the people in this study were having what I would call, ‘real’ social interaction….but that’s just my opinion.
Al wasn’t part of that study. But if Harvard had documented his 10 year ride, they would probably have discovered that his happiness spread far more than three degrees of separation. Every day Al waved and smiled to everyone he passed, flashing the peace sign and calling out hello. ✌
Block party
The neighbors celebrated Al’s milestone with a surprise block party, a trophy (see the photo above), and a medal 🎖. He made the CBS8 local news. Neighbors were happy. Al was happy. All because Al shared his trip and his kindness with those around him.
You don’t have to ride around the world to spread kindness, but if you wait for all the lights to be green 🚦, you’ll never leave on your kindness trip. Don’t worry about the right time to be kind or the right place. Just start. Even though the treads are still perfect on my bike, I think I’ll get it out of the garage. Care to join me? And sing along…..’if you’re happy and you know it, tell a friend.’
OK, I won’t make you listen to the whole song! By the way, if you’d like to check out my other articles, there’s a link at the bottom of this post. And if you have something you’d like to share or would like me to write about, just hit Reply and let me know. Have a great week. See you next Monday!
PS - Check out all of my articles in the library.
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May your week be filled with kindness! 💜
Around the World in 10 Years