Giving Smiles

Giving Smiles

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It’s almost an unspeakable tragedy. Jayden lost his father as a young boy, then a few years later, he lost his mom. “I tried and I tried to get  her awake, but I just couldn’t,” remembered Jayden. After the loss of both parents, people treated him differently. Some actually felt like they couldn’t have fun or smile with him around. This made Jayden sad too.

So, Jayden came up with a plan. To cheer people up, he decided to give away little rubber duckies. He did this with complete strangers and people at school. “I’m trying to make people smile,” he said emphatically. And, it worked. There is something truly adorable about receiving a gift from a 6-year-old. It does make people smile. Jayden says he doesn’t want anything in return, but he is more than willing to accept the hugs. This type of interaction makes Jayden feel good inside. It brings him happiness. In fact, it makes him so happy that he set a goal to give away 33,000 of these rubber ducks.

Joe’s Perspective: Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s better to give than receive?” The act of doing something for somebody else actually helps you feel better about yourself. As in, you’ve done something positive. A long time ago I learned that you can’t increase a person’s self-esteem by simply giving someone a complement or a gift. If you want to improve self-esteem, you have to do something positive. This helps you feel like you accomplished something, which makes you feel better about yourself. To me, it looks like Jayden learned this lesson at an early age.

Your Turn: What is your reaction to Jayden and his story?

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  1. My reaction to this kids history is very sad because he is only 6 years old and he lost his parents, and now his grandma takes care of him.

  2. I think this blog is really inspiring because even with Jayden’s parents passing away, all he wants to do is make other people happy and smile by giving them a rubber duck.

  3. My thoughts towards Jayden and his story are that he was able to persevere through all of the obstacles that life threw at him. He had a positive outlook on life and greeted everybody with a smile. We should all try to be a little kinder to everyone around us.

  4. He whenever things got bad even at his lowest point, kept a good attitude no matter what and thats what truly matters even if it doesn’t affect on him.

  5. Even through everything, he still has the courage to give a bit of kindness to others, and to make others feel happy. It’s so sweet.

  6. Jason uses a regularized approach to coping with loss in his bringing others joy. I appreciate Jason’s drive to make other people happy so they don’t treat him differently due to the tragedy he faced.

  7. I feel as if that little boy is very strong for his age. He kept his spark even after he lost both of his parents. Not only that, he put smiles on others faces too.

  8. The video is about a young boy who has a goal to make people smile. He is inspired because of his very rough past of his parents passing away. He was sick of seeing everyone sad so he wanted to make them smile. has a goal of making 33,00 and has already made it to 500.