Tuesday, October 28, 2008

The True Aloha Spirit

Many people ask me what living in Hawaii is like. Aside from the obvious (it's an island, it's 6 hours behind East Coast time, everything is expensive), one thing that makes Hawaii unique is the Aloha Spirit. No joke, there is actually an Aloha Spirit Law:

The Aloha Spirit is the coordination of mind and heart within each person. It brings each person to the Self. Each person must think and emote good feelings to others. In the contemplation and presence of the life force, Aloha, the following unuhi laulâ loa (free translation) may be used:
  • Akahai, meaning kindness to be expressed with tenderness;
  • Lôkahi, meaning unity, to be expressed with harmony;
  • `Olu`olu, meaning agreeable, to be expressed with pleasantness;
  • Ha`aha`a, meaning humility, to be expressed with modesty;
  • Ahonui, meaning patience, to be expressed with perseverance.

These are traits of character that express the charm, warmth and sincerity of Hawaii's people. It was the working philosophy of native Hawaiians and was presented as a gift to the people of Hawaii.

Anyways, I need to share with you guys a fantastic example of the Aloha Spirit. His name is Tesh.

Every few races, a runner will randomly get an envelope in the mail from Tesh. Inside? No note, just a bunch of photographs of that runner in the latest race. Tesh takes photos of all the major races on Oahu. He pays for the development (out of his own pocket), looks up the bib number of the runner and their address, and mails the photographs (out of his own pocket). Sure, there are official photographers at these races, but Tesh just does this for fun. He is basically a celebrity in the running community here. Just today I got my latest installment from Tesh: photos from the Race for the Cure 5k and from the Niketown 30k. Here are his pictures:


It just blows my mind that someone is out there spending their own money as selflessly as he. As I wrote in a thank you note to him "you probably bring a smile to thousands of runners a year." Tesh sent me photos from my very first race, a 5k over a year ago, and I will treasure those pictures forever. I have no idea if Tesh will ever read this, but I just wanted to share this heartwarming story with all of you. Imagine what the world would be if we had more people like him.

Have a great week, everyone!
I'm reading: The True Aloha SpiritTweet this! Posted by Frayed Laces at 3:57 PM

43 comments:

  2. The Hawaiian way of dealing with each-other is something many countries could learn a great deal from.

    Those people should be cherished. Great post.

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  3. That's amazing and inspiring.

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  4. that is really cool. we could use more thinking like that on the mainland.

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  5. It's great to hear that there are still people like that out there in the world... I agree with count of monte christo's comments :)

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  6. That is such a inspiring story.

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  7. What a nice post. I need to spread some of that Aloha Spirit around these parts. Those simple and lovely photographs Tesh snapped, and the memories behind them, are priceless. You are a great ambassador for Hawaii and the Aloha Spirit. Well done FL.

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  9. You should print up your post, and mail it to him! Then he'll know how he has impacted you!

    Nice pics!

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  11. i love it when people do randomly nice things like that.

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  12. Aww, that story gave me goosebumps. What a cool thing to do.

    (Cute pics too, by the way.)

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  13. Oh wow, Tesh sounds like a great guy!! Does he want to move to the Bay Area and share his good will? Ok, kidding! That is so awesome, though! Those are great photos, too!

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  15. We clearly need some of the Aloha spirit on the mainland.

    Tesh sounds absolutely awesome! What a wonderful thing to do.

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  17. What a veryyyyy cool guy. I think that all places should have Aloha Spirit Law!

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  18. That guy is a legend. He should be honored in some way. What a great guy!

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  20. The beauty of a great post like this is that it might incourage others to 'be like Tesh'.

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  21. great post! what a generous and inspiring person.

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  22. That sounds so great! Those pictures are cute too! :) We could defanitly use more Aloha Spirit on the mainland!

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  23. What an inspiring story . . . makes me want to spread some Aloha spirit around my corner of MN.

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  24. Instantly want to hug this person. That is simply brilliant.

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  25. That's such a neat story, really.

    As a side note, I'm glad we're on the same page about Jesus being cool with the booze, even if you are abstaining for the moment ;)

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  26. That's so nice! I just got an email with my latest race photos. Laughed and clicked Delete. Yours are much nicer.

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  27. That is just awesome!! I can imagine how a random runner getting photos in the mail must feel. :-)

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  28. That is so sweet. Great pics too! Now I want to think of some neat baby girl name that means something nice in hawaaian.

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  29. Wow!!, awesome, really, it is hard to find people like that.

    I want a Tesj in my city!!

    Are all the people in Hawaii that nice?

    web.me.com/amaurydeleon

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  30. That's so cool! Nice pics too - you're definitely having fun and in your element!

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  31. Fabulous post!!! I love that idea and I agree that the mainland could use the Aloha spirit (especially now with all the crazy attack ads).

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  32. That's so awesome! I love hearing stuff like this, it restores my faith in humanity. Just normal people, doing basic things to make others feel good. You don't have to change the entire world to make a difference. Sometimes, it's the small things...

    The pics of you are great, btw.

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  33. Two years ago, I made it to Hawaii....visited Oahu and the Big Island....my life was changed after that and I experience the aloha spirit first hand.....Tesh sounds amazing....too bad there are not more people around like him...but its a blessing when one like him crosses your path in life. Great post FL!

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  34. That's just amazing. Imagine how the world would be if everyone were like that!

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  35. How very, very cool. And great way to show your Aloha Spirit by sharing his story with us!

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  36. Great to have people like that out there!

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  37. That makes me feel all wamr & fuzzy!

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  38. Instantly want to hug this person. That is simply brilliant.

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  39. That sounds so great! Those pictures are cute too! :) We could defanitly use more Aloha Spirit on the mainland!

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  40. That guy is a legend. He should be honored in some way. What a great guy!

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  41. The beauty of a great post like this is that it might incourage others to 'be like Tesh'.

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  42. What a nice post. I need to spread some of that Aloha Spirit around these parts. Those simple and lovely photographs Tesh snapped, and the memories behind them, are priceless. You are a great ambassador for Hawaii and the Aloha Spirit. Well done FL.

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