After last night’s quarter tank of fuel waste, I decide to walk my own backyard neighborhood and to again give my friends at Cloud 9 Hookah Lounge a visit.

In the door I go and it’s instantly like a reunion, as I talk to Justin, “To Walk With Them As The Same.” We catch up a bit and he lets me know of his enrollment in Hypnotherapy school and that he will be licensed in six months. It’s way cool to see someone following a purpose they feel deep inside. I know he will help many.

“How’s 365 going?” he asks.

I bring him up to speed, “Beyond my wildest dreams. The thing is really taking off and it is changing my life for the better. I’ve accepted that its purpose is greater than myself and I’m just following it wherever it takes me.”

In our conversation, he introduces me to Karnnitha, a very chill lady who is hanging out with one of the owners of Cloud 9. I sit with them to exchange stories and soon Karnnitha agrees to share words with us.

I ask my questions, and her answers are well thought out and precise.

“Don’t let the little things push you away from what you want to do. Stay positive and things will work out,” she contributes.

“I’d like to one day see that the planet is OK, the economy in America better, and a world at peace,” Karnnitha expands as we settle into lengthening our conversation.

“What are your plans for your future?” I ask.

Her response impresses me to the core. You see, Karnnitha is a selfless giver, a rare and admirable quality for someone just barely twenty.

“I’m studying to be a dentist, and as soon as I finish my education, I intend to return to Cambodia, where I plan to help the poor and the sick, and more importantly, do all I can to stop sex trafficking.”

Sex trafficking, an epidemic blotch on the face of society, and a hideous atrocity of the greatest magnitude towards humanity. I’ve run into so many people who are engaged or intent on entering the fight against the de-humanization and literal evil of the human trafficking industry. That’s right. Industry! Billions of dollars in scale! How sick is that!

Our conversation takes me back to all that I learned from Lucy O’Brian, “The Power Of One,” eighty-one days ago, and reaffirms my commitment to at least do all I can to raise the awareness of the dreadful impact the sex trade has on the lives of so many women, and horrible to say, innocent children.

Karnnitha’s life purpose is a tribute to her maturity, the depth of her compassion, and her commitment to helping in the fight to abolish the perversions of the sex for sale industry.

And if we think we are safe in America, Karnnitha enlightens us, “It’s not just a problem in Cambodia, it’s a huge problem worldwide, and very profitable in the United States.”

Very profitable in the United States bounces like a confirming echo to the facts that Lucy shared with us. Findings that she knows first hand from her ten years in the fields of fighting the human trafficking war. And Karnnitha is at Lucy’s tail feathers in getting up to speed in her efforts to further the work of all those so anxiously engaged in the fight.

It’s a wonderful thing to meet a young woman with such advanced values, and I compliment Karnnitha on her maturity, her life perspective, and her courage in stepping-up to do her part in working for human rights and the basic dignity that all should be able to enjoy.

“It’s not all me,” Karnnitha credits, “My parents taught me to never judge, to accept people for who they are, to be caring, loving, and to be giving. That is a big part of why I am who I am.”

On her arms is a series of tattoos, all with meanings honoring her family and friends. She tells me of her siblings and the love and time she has dedicated to helping her brother who is inflicted with multiple illnesses. “I’ve had to grow up fast and I like my life right now,” Karnnitha pronounces.

My schooling carries on and sometimes feels like I’m getting a Master’s Degree in understanding. An understanding that no matter where we are in life, or whom we appear to be on the outside, the potential for greatness is inside us all.

We really can’t judge a book by its cover. For tonight, in a cool little Hookah Lounge, in the heart of a young woman who is seemingly chill, lies the compassion of a great lion of human rights activism.

Karnnitha, bless you in all you do! You inspire us all.