Noteworthy line: We are taught that the hero’s journey is the journey from weakness to strength, but I am here today to tell you that those stories are wrong. The real hero’s journey is from strength to weakness. And here is the good news that is nested inside of the bad news: Most of you are about to make that journey.

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2. “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

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4.  “You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices can come from a deep sense of who you are. ”

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6. “It’s easy to take a gun and annihilate your opposition, but what is really exciting to me is to see people with differing views come together and finally respect each other.” 

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8. “When we treat children’s play as seriously as it deserves, we are helping them feel the joy that’s to be found in the creative spirit.”

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10. “I believe that at the center of the universe there dwells a loving spirit who longs for all that’s best in all of creation, a spirit who knows the great potential of each planet as well as each person, and little by little will love us into being more than we ever dreamed possible. That loving spirit would rather die than give up on any one of us.”

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Our friends at Soul Pancake made this terrific video of Zach Sobiech the singer and songwriter of the viral song, “Clouds.” Sobiech passed away on Monday after a fierce yet graceful battle with osteosarcoma, a rare cancerous bone tumor that typically develops in teenagers. He was diagnosed in 2009. By 2012, the cancer spread to his lungs and pelvis; he was told he had only months to live.

Faced with having to say goodbye much sooner than he hoped, Sobiech turned to music, and wrote “Clouds,” the video for which has over 4 million views to date. Throughout the video, the footage of Sobiech in the studio is interrupted with messages, and one of them says, “His response is to embrace every day with hope and joy.”

In, “My Last Days”–the video above–Sobiech leaves us many important and inspired messages:

“I only have a few months to live, but I have a lot of work to do. I want everyone to know, you don’t have to find out you’re dying to start living.” 

“Death is just another thing on the agenda. Yeah, it’s scary, but the only reason it’s scary is because you don’t know what’s next, or if there is a next. So, it’s kinda like sitting in the dark. And so, you can either choose to be freaking out in the dark… or you can just relax and fall asleep, and just be happy and content with everything.”

“I want to be remembered as a kid who went down fighting, and didn’t really lose.”

He will be.

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Mission: End homelessness.

Founded by Hannah Taylor at age 8.

The Ladybug Foundation

When Taylor was five years old, she saw a  man eating out of a garbage in the middle of winter. The sight filled her with sadness and the repeating question of “Why?” Hannah wondered whether homeless might end if everyone shared what they had. Three years later, she created The Ladybug Foundation, an organization that asks businesses for spare change to give to the homeless. To date, it has raised over $2 million. The most simple and powerful part to the story is the beginning. When Taylor’s mother noticed how bothered she was by learning that some people have no home, she told her, “Sometimes when you worry and feel sad about things, if you do something to change the problem, your heart won’t feel so sad.” Sounds like good advice for anyone.

2. Free the Children

Mission: End child labor

Founded by Craig Kielburger at age 12

Planet S Magazine

While he was looking for a comic in the paper, Kielburger found the story of Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who was sold into slavery at the age of four. When he was freed at age ten, he became an activist for children’s rights all too soon before he was murdered. According to the Free The Children website, Kielburger was inspired by the sizeable voice that came from a small body such as Masih’s. His charity was born after he gathered a group of seventh grade classmates to free children, empower children, and help them believe that a lack of years cannot keep anyone from effecting change.

3. Alex’s Lemonade Stand

Mission: Find a cure for childhood cancer

Founded by Alexandra “Alex” Scott at age 4

ALSF

Cancer patient, Alex Scott, simply made up her mind that she wanted to help find a cure for her disease. Like many kids who want to raise money, she took to her front yard to sell lemonade. Since she first set up shop, her little stand turned into a national fund-raising movement, complete with a staff, a board of directors and celebrity endorsers. Sadly, Alex passed away in 2004 at the age of eight. Her legacy lives on as ALSF continues its mission to help find a cure.

4. Kids Saving The Rainforest

Mission: Save the rain forest (SUHprise)

Founded by Janine Licare and Aislin Livingstone at age 9

Quepolandia

What started as a small craft-stand on Costa Rican roadside eventually grew into a non-profit dedicated to protecting the environment. In the beginning, Licare and Livingstone sold painted rocks in 1999 to raise money for their noble cause evolved into an organization running several programs that promote environmental education, protect wildlife, and preserve the natural habitats of the rain forest. All their hard work has seen results: according to a recent study, the endangered titi monkey’s population has gone from 1,200 to 3,700.

Hoops of Hope

Mission:

Founded by Austin Gutwein at age 9

Hoops of Hope

In 2004, Gutwein watched a video of children in Africa that lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. He realized that the only difference between him and these children was that they were suffering. He was so moved by their stories that he decided to do something to help them. According to the charity’s website, he shot 2,057 free-throws on World AIDS Day in honor of the 2,057 children that would likely lose their parents on that given day. Through sponsorships from his friends and family, Gutwein raised nearly $3,000, all of which went to the aid of 8 orphaned children. Since then, people have joined his cause and, together, have raised over $3 million. The funds raised are used to provide orphaned children with access to food, clothing, shelter, a new school, four dormitories, two computer labs, teacher houses, and two medical testing facilities which Austin was told would save an entire generation.

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Chills, goosebumps, and all manner of skin altering woo-woos have been experienced. Brilliant.

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