Our Origin story
As a child, I remember being courageous, a hero in my own mind, a dreamer. I wasn’t necessarily outgoing, but I had no fear. I had a belief in good and a strong desire to help the oppressed and victimized kids. I remember several situations where I aided in other kid’s events of bullyism, and always kept my head held high.
Around fourth or fifth grade, I had a series of events that changed my courage and my path. Without getting into grave details, I was alone several times typically walking to a friend’s house, when a group of bullies ended up doing what bullies do. In a few of the circumstances, I was surrounded by 3-4 kids, with one main antagonist doing most of the menacing. In one instance, I slipped on ice hitting my head on the ground resulting in my crying and their laughter as they sauntered away. Another left me with a bloodied lip from a kid who was learning martial arts (I knew this because he had announced it to me before the physical altercation began.). Another less epic event resulted in me laying in a pile of frozen slush wet and humiliated.
By the sixth or seventh grade, I had receded into a shy protective cocoon…My cape had been taken, my “powers” were relinquished. My “cocoon” was a container of change; my mind was calculating a systematic plan of action to better myself, to regain my “super powers”, to equip myself with the skills and powers to never let these events affect me again. I’m very concerned for kids who have similar experiences who never make a come back, never regain composure, who recede into their cocoon-like minds and never come out. I’ve observed several instances of this in my life with sometimes tragic outcomes. In many cases, lost souls just simply never amount to anything and live a very listless life.
Given the events of the past 40 years, it is the goal of myself (Mike), Barb and our trusted friend, Steve Smith to embark on an initiative to revitalize our society. It’s AIM will be to help lost people, but also to empower and educate so that maybe they never get lost in the first place. It is tragic to me that sometimes a few singular events can redirect a person from their best life possible and potentially take them down a very dark and tragic path.
#AimInitiative
#MileMarker20
#ChangeTheWorld
Around fourth or fifth grade, I had a series of events that changed my courage and my path. Without getting into grave details, I was alone several times typically walking to a friend’s house, when a group of bullies ended up doing what bullies do. In a few of the circumstances, I was surrounded by 3-4 kids, with one main antagonist doing most of the menacing. In one instance, I slipped on ice hitting my head on the ground resulting in my crying and their laughter as they sauntered away. Another left me with a bloodied lip from a kid who was learning martial arts (I knew this because he had announced it to me before the physical altercation began.). Another less epic event resulted in me laying in a pile of frozen slush wet and humiliated.
By the sixth or seventh grade, I had receded into a shy protective cocoon…My cape had been taken, my “powers” were relinquished. My “cocoon” was a container of change; my mind was calculating a systematic plan of action to better myself, to regain my “super powers”, to equip myself with the skills and powers to never let these events affect me again. I’m very concerned for kids who have similar experiences who never make a come back, never regain composure, who recede into their cocoon-like minds and never come out. I’ve observed several instances of this in my life with sometimes tragic outcomes. In many cases, lost souls just simply never amount to anything and live a very listless life.
Given the events of the past 40 years, it is the goal of myself (Mike), Barb and our trusted friend, Steve Smith to embark on an initiative to revitalize our society. It’s AIM will be to help lost people, but also to empower and educate so that maybe they never get lost in the first place. It is tragic to me that sometimes a few singular events can redirect a person from their best life possible and potentially take them down a very dark and tragic path.
#AimInitiative
#MileMarker20
#ChangeTheWorld