Will Hodson, a primary school teacher in London, was reading a superhero book to his students one day when a thought struck him. “We were talking about how we can all do something heroic every day—open a door for someone, say something nice to someone,” he recalled. “I decided not to use the day’s lesson plans and asked the five-year-olds to think about, ‘What are we all good at?’ ”

Hodson, 39 , was good at cycling, and he ended up taking his lesson to an extreme. After saving up for two years, he left his job and set off on a five-year ride across seven continents(洲) to raise money for charity, including for Parkinson’s disease, which his father has. Calling himself Super Cycling Man, he tries to visit at least one school per country, to spread the message that “We can all be heroes.”

Starting last May, Hodson has hit 14 countries in Europe. On the road, strangers have acted heroically—Turkish gas station attendants sheltered him from the snow, and people in Serbia made a huge pizza for him.

So far, he has raised about $19,000 of the $140,000 he hopes to raise. Antarctica, the most expensive continent to visit, is last on his list, after Asia, Australia, the Americas and Africa.

The hardest part of the trip has been “just keeping my parents at manageable stress(压力) levels”. “You see so much bad news in the world, but I see a very different picture—people inviting me to their houses, people pouring me drinks on the street at night.”

Along with the superhero message, Hodson hopes to show people that “life’s pretty good on two wheels”—particularly in places where cycling is less popular. “Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, with its shortage of bike lanes(自行车道) and its crazy drivers, is the toughest(最艰难的) city I’ve seen for cyclists, but even there, young people have been receptive.”

“The youth don’t want to necessarily have a big pot belly(大肚子) and drive around in a car.”

How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, a rude waiter, or an angry employee ruin your day?

One day I was in a taxi and we were driving in the right lane when suddenly, a black car jumped out of a parking space right ahead of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brake, sliding sideways, and at the very last moment our car stopped and narrowly missed the back of the car by just inches! The driver of the car looked around and started screaming at us.

However, my taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. I was shocked and said, “Why did you just do that? This guy could have killed us!” He told me what I now call “The Law of the Garbage Truck”.

He said, “Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration (懊恼、沮丧), full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to get rid of it. And if you let them, they’ll pour it on you. So one day when someone wants to do so, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.”

So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street? Then I knew clearly what I should do. Follow the “The Law of the Garbage Truck”, and you’ll take control of your life. You make room for the good by letting go of the bad.

Have a day free of garbage! Have a day full of marvelousness!

In December 2004, I had just become a professional photographer and was working on a project about communities who live on the sea, known as sea nomads (海上游牧民族). I was living with members of the Chao-Ley tribe (部落) on a small island in southern Thailand. We didn’t share a language and relied on body language to communicate.

I went out to sea with them regularly. One morning, I was due to set out with a group of six Chao-Ley fishermen in a small boat. The sea looked different, with the water totally still.

About 20 minutes after we left and a few miles out in the open sea, one of the fishermen pointed to a small white spot far in the distance. It was getting bigger and bigger very quickly. This was a tsunami (海啸) wave speeding through the ocean.

Usually, the deeper the water, the weaker the wave. But we weren’t out far enough to be safe, nor close enough to shore to make it back in time. We were stuck. I began to feel really scared.

The captain told the six of us where to sit, so we would balance out the boat. My camera was in my backpack. I wanted to capture the scene, but I couldn’t. Any movement would imbalance the boat. Suddenly there was a huge noise. The wave hit the boat, but in a flash the skilled captain managed to swerve (使突然转向) us up and onto the wave. Then the boat moved from the tip of the wave down into safe waters. Our eyes and mouths were wide open, and everyone let out heavy sighs. The captain had saved us all.

Surviving gave me a deep understanding of how important life can be. I’ve been going back to Southeast Asia almost every year since. The photography project has become a thank-you to the people who saved my life. The picture I wanted to take on the boat remains “the one that got away” – I think every photographer has one. But mine changed my life.