A Lesson Worth Sharing

"An idea not shared, is just another passing thought" - Unknown

Something amazing just happened to me! And if it wasn't for amazing individuals sharing powerful information and using the technology of social media to share this information, this experience never would have happened.

Here I was, just sitting in my office, reading blogs in Feedspot (my new RSS Feeder that replaced Google Reader), when I came across a particular blog post that grabbed my attention.

Richard Byrne, author of Free Technology For Teachers, wrote a blog post titled, "A Lesson In Overcoming Obstacles".  In his blog post, he shared a very powerful and inspirational TEDEd Video titled, "There's No Dishonor in Having a Disability, by Steven Claunch.

I was so moved by the video, that I felt like I just had to share it.  So, I decided to share this video on Twitter, like I normally do.  This was the Tweet that I posted:

What happened next, was something that took me by surprise.  A few minutes later I received a notification on Twitter that I had two new Interactions.  When I checked my Interactions, I saw that someone had ReTweeted and Favorited the Tweet that I just posted.  This is what I saw:

I was so intrigued to find out who this person was that ReTweed and Favorited my Tweet that I decided to visit this person's Twitter Page.  When I clicked on this person's Twitter Handle, this is what I found:

I was speechless!  I cannot imagine how much my Tweet meant to this person with a physical disability.  I'm sure that the video that I shared resonated with this person in a way that I cannot even begin to comprehend.  The fact that this person ReTweeted my Tweet and Favorited it, leads me to believe that this person truly valued the message of the video and probably even gained a sense of motivation and inspiration. 

What I realized is, that there was a series of events that lead to my Tweet reaching this person.  The fact that Steven Claunch had enough courage to battle his disability and to tell his story on TEDEd is nothing short of amazing.  Secondly, was the fact that Richard Byrne connected with that video in a way that empowered him to write a blog post, explaining his personal connection to the video.  And finally, the fact that I follow Richard Byrne and believed that the video he shared was something that every student should watch, empowered me to Tweet this video to share with the rest of the world.  

However, none of this would have been possible without the technology of social media.  Without using tools such as YouTube, Blogger, and Twitter, this person would have never been inspired by this message.  

My Reflection

1. This is just one example of how social media can be used to share "ideas worth spreading" and "lessons with sharing".  I wonder how many times this same experience happens every day?
2. I hope this encourages more people to share.  Often, we are so afraid that people will not value what we have to say, or what we have to share.  If I had this mentality, the video that I shared might have never reached that person. 
3. With regard to sharing, the worst thing that might happen, is that someone might disagree with what you share.  If this is the case, that's totally acceptable.  At least, it would have made someone think about what you shared.