Are you hoping to create a more fulfilling life? Look to Ben Weldon, age 10, who is earning international attention for doing one of the humblest of jobs — washing tombstones.
He stumbled on the idea after visiting his grandmother’s grave and noticing the sorry condition of nearby tombstones.
“He was cleaning his gran’s grave and he just looked round and he saw other ones that looked, in his words, a bit sad,” Ben’s mother, Michelle, told the British Broadcasting Corporation.
After taking interest, and taking notice of ways he could help, Ben started a cleaning business as part of a class project to earn a little spending money. He called his business Guardians of the Headstones.
Michelle and Ben researched what cleaning products should be used to ensure no damage is caused to the stonework. Then Michelle described the business on a single Facebook post. It went viral.
“I found my mom, at half-five or six in the morning, counting all the responses we had,” Ben told the BBC. “There were almost too many to count, hundreds, maybe thousands.”
Anyone who has visited a graveyard knows how stained and dirty headstones can get. If you are looking to create purpose for your life, you might start by helping families better honor their loved ones.
You probably won’t gain the attention of an enterprising 10-year-old from England, but you will earn the praise and appreciation of people in your community.
After closing his business and enduring several painful years of uncertainty regarding what to do with his life, Greg founded Forward From 50 to help men and women over 50 to live more purposeful lives by pursuing things they are passionate about. A Wisconsin native, Greg currently lives in Arizona.