When my friend recruited me to (finally) join Kanu Hawai'i, the one campaign and day he emphasized on was Live Aloha. Seeing the enthusiasm he had for it made me stoked to help out, but unfortunately, as time passed, another organization I'm involved with decided to hold a major event on the same weekend.

So, while I can't attend the Live Aloha Day of Service, I'm happy I can still participate through small ways, like promoting the event orally and virally, and also living Aloha this weekend. While we shouldn't need a newsletter to remind us to Live Aloha, it serves as a nice little reminder that the small opportunities for random acts of kindness and compassion constantly surround us - helping someone who's obviously lost strolling the streets of Chinatown , waving "thanks" when they allow you into their lane, and talking story with the people around you when the checkout line is ridiculously long and slow-going.

This weekend, in addition to asking myself "how can I turn this challenge into an opportunity", I can also ask myself "how can I emphathize and get to know my neighbor in this situation?". I will make a greater effort to not only ask "how are you?", but "how can I help you?", and more importantly, show grattitude to the people who put forth great efforts towards trying to make someone's life easier and Hawai'i better.