Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Extra Special Birthday Kindness For A Deserving Friend

Today was my friend's birthday.  My friend is such a kind and sincere person and he had recently told me about how when he was growing up his parents often forgot his birthday and it just silently passed without candles or hats or parties.  So this year, I decided to make it a special day for him.

I cleaned up his house, including taking out what seemed like weeks of piled up trash.  I then decorated it with candles and flower arrangements. 

I bought some cupcakes which I have seen him drool over but never buy because of his bank balance and cooked him dinner and called some friends.

Finally, I made a banner which read "Thanks for sharing your wisdom, humor, kindness, and compassion!".

This was my chance to make him happy and he was absolutely overjoyed.

1708 Reads

Offering More Love, Less Fear

I'm sort of new to this small acts of kindness game, so I'm not sure how people feel about picking up hitchhikers. I've always felt that as long as you don't put your self in a completely unsafe position, it is an OK thing to do. But I'd never done it before until this week. It was about 9pm and I was walking in my school's campus from my office to my car. On the way, I ran into an fellow who was obviously lost. He asked me for directions, saying he needed to get to East Palo Alto. But the problem was he was walking in the complete opposite direction! I pointed him in the correct direction, but warned him it was a long ways off. He didn't speak English very well, and generally seemed disoriented. I quickly felt like helping him. Though he was a big guy, the vibe I ... Read Full Story >>

4604 Reads

A Lesson Learned From Helping Out

I had the chance to help someone out again today.  Lucky me. I had been in town doing some bank stuff. It had all gone smoothly and I was waiting at a town centre bus stop, about to head home. Then I heard someone say: “Hello? Is anyone there?” “Jack” and “Jill” are an older blind couple. I’ve seen them around town for a lot of years and they don’t seem to have any problems getting about. They walk in a little convoy. Jack and his dog to the fore and Jill and her dog following. When they let the dogs off to run around the park they attach little bells to them to keep an ear on where they are. They have it under control. But I’m sure they also know where the danger spots are! And this was one. The pavement narrows at this point. It’s beside a busy road and ... Read Full Story >>

2431 Reads

Pay-It-Forward Chain Reaction at a Restaurant

My four grown children were all home visiting this weekend so we decided to go out for brunch.  The centre of attention was my toddler granddaughter.  She had never had pancakes before so we were excited about her trying them. We always try to make our family meals special so this time we decided to order every kind of pancake they had and asked that they be served on one big family-style platter! We each took turns digging in and also feeding it to the baby, who loved them.  There was a lovely environment at the table and lots of smiles.  As I was looking around the table, enjoying this wonderful scene, a gentleman at a nearby table caught my eye.  He was eating his breakfast alone quietly, in the corner.  He frequently looked over and smiled as my granddaughter continued to entertain us all.  Suddenly, I had a great idea. I dug ... Read Full Story >>

40.3K Reads

A Street Corner Conversation Using My Heart

It was a nice day today, so I rolled down my window as I was driving around with the window rolled down.  As I pulled up at some lights, I met a man who was down on his luck at a street corner.

I pulled out some loose change and held it out to him.  When he came over, I looked in his eyes and asked him how he was doing.  He asked me where I was from and when I told him he proceeded to tell me a story about his life and career in various places, including the place that I was from.

I smiled and listened and it was a good feeling to just listen to him.  Then the light changed and we said goodbye/take care and I drove off smiling. 

On the way home, I couldn't stop thinking about this interaction---how I was totally *present* in the moment while it happened and how my intention was just to *be there*.

2399 Reads

An Act Of Kindness That Triggers Another One

Every summer my family goes to the Ontario Place for a day trip.  Before we go, I always look online to see if there are any coupons, as the entrance fee is quite pricey. 

The last time we went, I printed off some extra coupons and gave them to a couple of families waiting in line.  I purposely choose a large family of people and another that  were obviously visitors to Canada.  

Needless to say both families were ever so grateful as it cut their costs in half.  One of them even offered to buy us ice-cream once inside...proof that a random act of kindness does in fact encourage others to do the same!

1698 Reads
  • Posted by denise.takimoto
  • Feb 13, 2010
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A Night With The Homeless

A Night With The Homeless by: Ellis Moore (Age 10)   Every Saturday or Sunday night my family and I go out and feed the homeless people in the city of Orlando. There are thousands of people across The United States without any food or shelter. My family and I have been doing this for several months.   We wanted to see what it was like in the life of a homeless person.  One special thing I like to mention is, my family and I do not eat before we begin our journey so we know how it feels to be hungry. All of the areas we go to are very dangerous. We go on streets such as, Orange blossom trail, Parramore, Gore street, Colonial Dr, and down town Orlando.   We all get together in the kitchen and prepare the food. Some of the meals are sandwiches and cookies and a bottle of water. ... Read Full Story >>

5853 Reads

The Little Things

The Little Things It really is the little things That mean the most of all The "let me help you with that" things That may seem very small The "I'll be glad to do it" things That make your cares much lighter, The ... Read Full Story >>

2058 Reads

Finding Happiness Through Helping Others

I have just found that a small article I wrote about this site, and my own experience of it, has been published on the letters page of a UK magazine.  The magazine is called 'Natural Health'.  I was so shocked when I saw it there. If it interests just one person, then that would be fantastic! Here is the article: Finding Happiness I want to share how my life has changed for the better: I thought happiness came from buying a new dress or lipstick, but no sooner had I bought one thing than I wanted something else.  Life felt like I was forever seeking something, but never finding it.  Then, one afternoon, I was at my computer and I remembered a postcard called 'Random Acts of Kindness'.  I typed 'acts of kindness' into the search engine and found a site called 'helpothers.org'.  This was the beginning of my journey into happiness. The site is ... Read Full Story >>

2735 Reads

Doing the Dishes for a Kind Friend

I had been hunting for opportunities to be kind recently and I came across the perfect opportunity last weekend.

A bunch of us went up to a friend's house for the weekend. He lives by a lake and its lovely.  He was extremely kind to us :-). He always manages to make me smile and has done countless kind deeds including picking up and dropping random people from the airport in his broken down car! It is rare to see such a lovely, pure person.

It was mid afternoon and no one had woken up yet.  My friend had left to school to complete some errands. This was my chance to pay it forward!

His dishwasher was overflowing with dishes that had been there a long time. I knew he didn't like it that way,  but he had commented the previous day that he hadn't had much time lately with a lot of deadlines coming up.

Within the hour I had washed all the dishes, dried them and cleaned up the counter.

He was really happy when he got back and I was left actually feeling happy about doing the dishes!

1380 Reads

Thoughts on the Magic of Helping Others

Something magical happens when you put your focus on helping someone else. All your own worries, fears, concerns and doubts seem to disappear. By forgetting yourself you discover the best you can be too. In sincerely seeking to give value, you bring great value into your own life and the life of others. Give, not because it looks good or even because it feels good. Give, because it fulfills your deepest purpose and brings you completely to life.   Seize the opportunities to be of value and to be of service too. Live and act beyond yourself, and it opens your eyes to whole new realms and levels of possibilities.   With your sincerest actions, acknowledge and celebrate the connection you have to all others. In that connection you'll find a limitless source of joy and fulfillment.   Give your best. And you truly become your best.   May your week be filled with finding ... Read Full Story >>

4693 Reads

A Valuable Lesson Learned From My Child

I always try to encourage my children to be, think and talk positive but one day I was caught not practicing what I preach by my son. My son is 7 ½ yrs old son and he was preparing for a sketch at his school for the occasion of Mother’s day. He was playing the role of an angel. On the evening before the show, we were having a casual conversation while I was preparing dinner in the kitchen.  He asked me: “Mum, can we see angels?” As usual, I seized the opportunity to encourage him to be positive and I said: “Yes, but only those who are, think and talk good can see angels.” He responded by asking: “You must have seen them then?” I paused a few seconds. I was touched by his innocence about the fact that how he thought his mother was a perfect person. Impatiently waiting for his answer, ... Read Full Story >>

5033 Reads

A Gentle Thank You From A Cow

I grew up in India.  If any of you have ever been to India, you will know that it is not uncommon to see cows walking around freely on the roads.    One day, on my way home from school, I saw a cow that had been hit by a man on a scooter.   It was lying down on the side of the road and seemed unable to get up.  It moved its legs up and down a little bit and then just stopped and lay there.   I wanted to help but I didn’t know what to do.  I ran home and grabbed the first thing I saw – some bananas.  I peeled a couple and placed them very close to the cow’s mouth.  She made a few feeble attempts to reach the bananas but didn’t seem to have the energy to raise her head enough.   I decided to feed the cow the ... Read Full Story >>

1651 Reads

Showing Kindness to Even the Smallest Beings

I have found that the way I treat insects acts as a reflection of my approach to kindness.  Like most kids, I suppose, I mistreated bugs terribly.  But many adults continue the rampage against insects, and I have often found that they do this mindlessly, killing them for no reason. With the weather getting warmer, more bugs are getting into our houses.  We also spend more time in "their house," as we enjoy the great outdoors.  We find ourselves reaching for the fly swatter and insecticides to get rid of them.  But why do we do this?  Most insects pose no threat to us, but we kill them anyway. As a young adult, I found myself questioning my treatment of bugs.  It became a moral issue.  I remember reading a Native American story about a mother who saw her daughter stomp on a spider.  The mom simply asks the child: "Now who'll take care ... Read Full Story >>

7115 Reads

Graciously Receiving a Good Deed

Sometimes when I’m grocery shopping, I let people go ahead of me in the line, if they look like they are in a particular rush or if they have screaming children or something like that.  Today while I was grocery shopping I was given the opportunity to be a gracious receiver.  I got in line to check out, I only had a few items. The lady in front of me only had a few items also.  She looked at me and said "why don't you go ahead of me, I have to pay with a cheque." I was going to say "No, that's ok...you only have a few items" but I could tell she really wanted to make a difference, so I said "Are you sure?"  She said "Absolutely, please go ahead of me." So I went ahead of her and she was smiling and feeling good and I felt nice ... Read Full Story >>

1863 Reads

An Opportunity to Pay-it-Forward

Yesterday, I popped out of the office to go to Starbucks.  I offered to bring back everyone’s coffee.  One of my co-workers was very sweet and said they would pay for my coffee.  So I thought – what a GREAT opportunity to "pay -it-forward"! I went through the drive-thru and placed our order.  When I reached the window to pay, I told the young lady I needed her help with something aside from our order.  I gave her $4.00 and a Smile card.  I told her I wanted to anonymously buy someone's coffee today.  I asked her to chose whomever she wanted to be the recipient of the free coffee, pass them the card and explain that they have just experienced a random act of kindness and all that I ask is that they ‘pay- it-forward’ by doing something kind for someone else.  She thought it was very sweet and agreed to ... Read Full Story >>

2186 Reads

Smile, It Can't Be That Bad

Six Words That Changed a Life Six words - "Smile...it can't be that bad." - changed Judy's life. Judy is a young woman I worked with some years ago. She was in her late twenties, maybe early thirties, more than a little overweight, and not the most stylish dresser. What was most striking about her appearance was her smile; it was always there. Anyone passing Judy in the hallway was greeted with that smile and a soft, "Hello," or, "Good Morning," in her gentle, Minnesota accent.     ... Read Full Story >>

5916 Reads

Care and Compassion from my Co-Workers

      I came across this website a few years ago when I was I was browsing the web looking for ways to thank the office staff I work with for the very warm welcome they gave me when I joined. One of the things we have sometimes at work are called ‘morale days’.   We bring in things and ideas to make the workplace more fun.  I was looking for something fun and different and that’s how I discovered the” Smile’’ cards you offer.  I ordered some and used them to do some of the kindness ideas which I had read about and turned it into a Thanksgiving theme. I wanted to give thanks to my co-workers for all the help and support they have given me since I started working there. Since I began my employment, I have had a series of events that have dramatically changed my life, including the loss of one ... Read Full Story >>

1754 Reads

Help Others to Dress for Success

I heard a woman saying she wished her husband could find a job. She felt he wasn't considered because his clothing was old and stained. He had been unemployed for a while and money was tight.  He was a large man, size 3XL. This made it hard to find clothing at the thrift shops.

My husband used to be that size and I went into his closet and found a nice shirt and gave it to the wife. She was very thankful. Her husband looked neat and tidy for the interview and got the job.

Easy to do...Clean out your closets! Donate to Good Will or a thrift shop. Times are harder than ever and more and more people are turning to these shops for much needed suits and clothing for their interviews.

1433 Reads

A Dose Of Christmas Joy For Patients

Below is a story about my 2008 Christmas in Tauranga, New Zealand in a local Newspaper (The Bay of Plenty Times) which I would like to share with you all. It was the most amazing experience ever!! I loved seeing the smiles on peoples faces and bringing a little happiness to those in sadness, giving 60 smile cards out as I went. I learnt that it doesn't matter your age or size but you CAN make a difference :) Still today I love going around and helping others and giving smile cards out! It's so much fun seeing other peoples happiness :) ... Read Full Story >>

3124 Reads