2011
You would have to have been holed up in your home with no access to news or the Internet to not have heard about the homeless man with the golden voice. If you’re thinking “say, what?”, watch this short video before reading further:
To quickly sum up the story, a videographer from The Columbus Dispatch took the above video of Ted Williams, who was homeless. He held a sign claiming he had a God-given talent of an amazing voice, the videographer captured him doing his “radio voice” on camera and boom, Ted Williams became an overnight Internet sensation. Ted has appeared on national news programs like the TODAY Show, and Quicken Loans and the Cleveland Cavaliers have offered Ted a job AND a home.
You can spend hours reading the many stories about how Ted’s life has been dramatically changed in the best way possible this week, so I don’t want to retell those stories here. What I do want to touch on is how Ted’s story should remind us how a little help can go a long way. Think about how long it took the Dispatch videographer to shoot and upload that video to the Internet. That minimal time has completely transformed the life of someone who was previously living on the streets.
Wouldn’t we all be so lucky to say that we played a major role in profoundly changing someone’s life? Put education, money and professional achievements aside. You want to know how you really achieve greatness in this world? You help other people. When I hear about amazing stories like this, I get giddy thinking about the day when I’ll have the opportunity to produce this kind of happiness in someone else’s life.
Maybe you’ll never cure cancer or rid the world of homelessness, but you can make it a top priority to be as helpful to others as possible (and this isn’t limited to charitable acts). Don’t do it solely to gain recognition or reap rewards, but I promise your life will become more enriched if you take others along with you on your road to success.
If you want another dose of inspiration, check out what Mark Horvath is doing with InvisiblePeople.tv and We Are Visible.
So, what are you doing to help others?
