To all my friends in France,

It is with heavy heart that I read of the tragedy that struck in Nice during the celebration of Bastille Day—French Independence Day. It is so hard to accept the senseless loss of life, especially the children. Our natural inclination is to get angry, to fight back, to take our anger out on others, to seek revenge… I feel that too…

If we do that, we stoop to the terrorists’ level and that is not us. We feel useless… unable to make a difference with such an extreme problem. Fighting back physically leaves no winners. What can we do that will make a difference? How can we have an impact on the problem?

One way to fight back that each and every one of us can do is with random acts of kindness. In showing our love, appreciation, and gratitude for others, we strengthen the ties that bond us. By expressing ourselves through random acts of kindness, we can spread positivity. What can you do, you ask? It’s simple. Smile at a stranger, give a Euro to a street person, give your seat to someone on the Metro, stop and speak to someone whom you see everyday and have never stopped to speak to, give a lost person directions. Have a generous heart and give freely where you can.

Random acts of kindness are our response to random acts of terrorism. The terrorists’ hearts are frozen. Frozen hearts are melted by love, by being seen and witnessed as a human being. By touching these hearts, the ice will begin to thaw. People need a reason to live, hope for the future, see something brighter ahead. Terrorists see their bright future in the afterlife. They need a reason to live here and now and to be present in life, not in some fantasy story they are sold. They are calling out for attention and recognition which they find in devastatingly negative ways. People need to see a better way. No one gets into heaven with random acts of terrorism. No one. We are all spun from the same cloth. Kindness strengthens our fibers and tightens our weave.

We all need to fight back to build our strength and show our unity. Start now with random acts of kindness. Make it a way of life. Here is our challenge: 10 random acts of kindness a day. Every day. Make a difference in the lives of others. You may thing that small acts add up to not a whole lot, but in fact each small step forward moves us closer to our goal, a unified world. Share this with your friends so they too can be a part of the solution. Change starts with you. Change starts today.  Get on with it!