Stories of Kindness from Around the World

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 >>

The Bus Ride That Changed My Life

A few years ago I was an employee of an international company that sold computer devices. I had to travel a lot as part of my work. I remember that I was at a stage of my life where I only cared about how to make more money and how to solve technical problems.  I was locked in my own world living as a robot that only worked in a mechanical way. On one of my work trips, I came to the airport to take a bus to downtown, as usual.  It was the same routine:  get into the city, take the bus to the hotel, check in, visit the client, work late, take the bus back to the airport and fly back out... That day, for some reason, something was different.   I decided not to take the same exit in the airport and took the stairs down to a different exit and ... Read Full Story >>

Cold Water Bottles To Beat The Heat

As president of a local chapter of the MOMS Club, we decided to carryout a year-long theme with the moms/children..."365 Days of Kindness".  Each day I would send out an idea to demonstrate a random act of kindness.

One particular act that received much applause, was on an extremely hot summer day, to pass out iced cold bottled water to any roadside worker that you come across throughout the day.  I can be a little shy, and felt funny pulling along side the road with kids in tow, but did it anyhow.  The conversation sort of went like this...

Me:  Excuse me fellows.  Its awfully hot out today.  Could I interest you in a cold bottle of water?

Two Young Men:  Why, that would be mighty nice right about now.  You are too kind.

Me and the kids were so excited, that we couldn't wait to keep driving and find more people in need of some cold water. 

To The Dentist With Love

So after six long months, my date with the Dentist finally comes to an end.  Yes people, thats where I spent  every weekend of my last six months healing my four front teeth in the upper jaw. It all started 2008 December with a fall that left one of the teeth half broken exposing the roots and slightly reshaping the adjacent ones. A root canal was performed and the three adjacent teeth were ground, and a crown placed protecting it. It was an expensive affair but the office took care of the bills.  Exactly a year later, one of the teeth from the same area started giving me sharp pains and I soon found myself standing before a Dentist - another one this time as I had quit office and moved back to school. She just took one look at it and declared all the three teeth are dead. She was at ... Read Full Story >>

80 Rupees of Kindness Goes a Long Way

"I'm the eldest among us, so you have to let me pay for these tickets!  Besides, just one ticket in the States cost more than all three tonight!!" My cousin's wallet hand was faster than mine, pulling out Rs. 520 for three opening night seats to 'Angels and Demons' before I could make good on my intention. "Naaah!  Come on- don't worry about it," came the answer. "Ok, but then we have to use this 500 rupees to do something good," I say as I pull out a crisp note. We immediately start trying to figure it out while slowly walking away from the theater.  I spot an ice cream vendor selling 10 rupees soft serves not far from us. "Hey, what about ice cream!  We could give 50 strangers a cool surprise with this bill.  Just random people walking by." "NO!  Why?!  We should give to someone in need," protested one of my cousins, with ... Read Full Story >>

Finding Family In Unexpected Places

We were new to the area and I had just met an elderly couple at a gathering.  The wife and I talked for a long time and she confessed how worried she was about her husband who was waiting for a heart transplant.  At the time I was working as a researcher in the same institution where he would be going for his surgery, so I told her to take down my phone number and call me to let me know he was there.  She called a few weeks later to let me know he was admitted to the hospital and still waiting.  So, I made it a point to go check on him and visit with them every day while I was at work.  I thought that if it was my Dad, I would do the same, and I just wanted to give them some company. Weeks turned into months and it ... Read Full Story >>

Can A Cookie A Day Make A Smile Stay?

I was walking home from school one day and it happend to be a particularly cold and windy day. It was freazing and I was crazy enough to forget my hats and mitts.  You can imagine my cheeks were rosy red and my hands were as numb as numb can be. All of a sudden this old lady drives up beside me and asks if I would like a rode home. At first I said it was ok but she persisted and her warm smile melted away the thought that my parents drilled through my head which was never talk to strangers!  We had an awesome chat and she was just such a sweetheart. She told me her address and she dropped me off.  I didn't see her or talk to her for about a month and one night remembering her kind gesture I decided to return the favour. So, I ... Read Full Story >>

A Jar of Coins, a Loaf of Bread and Thou

One Year for Christmas, my brother Chris and and his wife Julie gave  each of us siblings a very thoughtful gift. Inspired by the book: "The Christmas Jar", by Jason F. Wright, they gave each sibling's family an empty quart size Mason Jar. A slot was cut in the plastic lid, and inside were a number of stickers and ribbons to decorate the jar with.   In the book: The Christmas Jar, Hope Jensen, in a moment of great grief and monetary loss, is anonymously gifted a small jar of Money. Moved, humbled, and transformed by this gift, her own faith in humanity is resurrected, as she searches for and ultimately finds the donors.   When we opened the package from my brother, inside, along with the jar and a copy of the book, was a note which read:   " In honor of the spirit of giving we were taught by Mama Rose and Papa ... Read Full Story >>

Telephone Book Tagging

It seems like I haven't been up to many good deeds lately. I feel like I needed to get some Smile Cards in circulation. So once again, I got out  the local telephone book and picked three 'random names' and sent them a note card along with a Smile Card to the address in the book.  I included a happy little Smile Poem in one, a Positive Quote in the second one and in the third one I put a nice bookmark. 

I feel better now...it doesn't take much...but now I've helped someone else find their smile.....I am smiling too.

Try it, You'll like it! :0)

Smiles Are Contagious!

A Kind Gesture That Saves A Home

I was browsing the internet earlier today and I went to the wishuponahero website.  I read a story about a woman who desperately needed $160 by 3.00pm to pay her mortgage or otherwise she would lose her home. 

Well I had £100 in my bank account - and I have to pay my own instalment next week.  But I figured - hey I don't need the money until then and the lady said she would pay it back next Friday which is the day when her husband gets paid. 

So I used paypal and sent her the $160.  The lady is SO HAPPY, she gets to keep her house and she will give pay me the money back into my paypal account next week and I can use that to pay my debt just as before.

I'm so glad I helped out.

Compassion is the Best Medicine

I had to go for my yearly mammogram today... I'm always a bit anxious about this since my grandmother died of breast cancer and my mom has had it too (although she's fine).  I went last year for the first time and it  was a very unpleasant experience, not helped by the technician who attended to me, so I was pretty much dreading it today.    To my great relief and joy, the woman technician who worked with me today was an absolute ANGEL....her compassion and excellence at her job just made SUCH a difference in my experience.  She was so professional and courteous.  When she finished, I told her "You are SOOOO good at your job, I just want to thank you for making this so easy for me".  She smiled at me and suddenlty, I broke down crying telling her about my family and my previous horrible experience.  She listened and then gave me a big hug.  She ... Read Full Story >>

The Spirit of Kindness

I wanted to share some of my reflections on kindness..... Acts of kindness are a wonderful way to reach across time and space to touch the life of another being and they undoubtedly make the world a better place. At every step along the path of expanding our awareness there is the opportunity to go deeper; to explore more of the potential of our divine humanness. So it is with kindness. Acts of kindness are really not difficult. An intention is formed, and you carry it out. It makes you feel good. Holding kindness and compassion in our hearts, and integrating them into the complexity and stresses of daily life, every day -- now there is a deep challenge! Parents can learn to discipline kindly, remaining firm, yet doing so with love and warmth. Teachers can learn to remain patient and forgiving, no matter how frustrated they might feel with a particular student. ... Read Full Story >>

Spreading Cheer With Little Gifts

I have bought a few little gifts from ebay, like tiny fridge magnets, friendship bracelets and dried lavender to make potpourri and have stored them away in a big 'gift' bag. 

I've also got some envelopes, cards, glue and I've made some smiley faces. 

When I read about someone who is lonely or facing illness or is need of a little cheer for any other reason, I write a card, stick on the smiley and send them a little gift. 

Some people are so happy when they receive them.  It really does make a difference.

I will have to find one hour a week extra work so I can make up the money.  But it will be worth it, it makes me feel so happy. to spread a little cheer.

A Calm Intervention In A Tense Situation

My family and I were waiting in a long line to checkout at a garden/nursery store today.  All of a sudden an older woman got very loud and huffily started yelling at another older woman for "cutting" in front of her.  The second woman didn't know that we were in one line for two registers and everyone just went to the next open one so she had just stood behind one of the registers. My husband intervened and calmly tried to soothe everyone's feelings by politely explaining to the yelling lady that the other lady simply didn't know, and then he sweetly told the second lady not to worry and explained how the line worked. I stood there silently applauding his tact! Apparently I wasn't the only one....when we got to our car, two separate people came up to him and said "You are very diplomatic, sir..thank you for preventing those two ladies from ... Read Full Story >>

Offering More Than Just Customer Satisfaction

      My husband was a great source of strength to me during our marriage as well as a mentor to me in my job.  During one of the Sunday School lessons that he taught, he made the statement "You may be the only Bible that some people read today."  I lost my husband to lung cancer last Thanksgiving day, but I try to maintain this very valuable lesson.    I work in an inbound call center for one a large telecom company in the world.  Every day I get yelled at, screamed at and called everything but a child of God.  I understand that in these times we are all experiencing tough economic times, so I just let them vent.  I try to maintain my composure and be as polite as possible.  Some days it is harder and harder to do this all the while trying to maintain the standards of my ... Read Full Story >>

Rescuing Dash-9, An Orphaned Dog

I don't know how others will respond to my first story, but I do know that it was something I was compelled to do, regardless if the recipient was "only a dog". I work for the railroad, which can be a very dangerous place.  It is also usually located in the poorest of neighborhoods.  Unfortunately, we often see homeless, hungry animals hanging around looking for scraps of food.  Often, they are large, scary-loooking dogs who end up at the pound. For the last few weeks there has been a rather large, red dog who has been hanging around with an obvious leg injury.  He was scared and would not come near any of us.  Each day I came to work I would talk to him, toss him a bite to eat and go about my business.  After about two weeks of this, this wonderful creature saw me arrive at work one evening ... Read Full Story >>

A Good Deed to Help A Young Man

I was waiting in line to check out my groceries at the store.  There was a young man, maybe in his early 20s, in the line ahead of me.  When his groceries had been rung through, he seemed a bit concerned that the total was higher than he thought it would be.  Actually, as most young people probably forget, it was the dreaded sales tax that made the difference.  The total was not a large amount but it seemed maybe a little more than he had money for.    I told the clerk to add his bill to my tab.  He was totally surprised and said that it was alright and that he would just put something back.  I insisted he take all his items and go and I would pay for them.  I told him it was my day to do a good deed and he should just find a ... Read Full Story >>

Helping a Child Afford Some Juice

When the rain stopped, I felt like an evening walk was the perfect thing to do. I woke up my friend who was on her bed.  She had broken her arm a month ago and was waiting for the cast to be removed. So, I thought a walk would make her feel fresh and would help her.  Our evening walk led us to a fruit juice shop. As I was taking my last sip of tropical mango juice a little boy came in to get some juice, he seemed to be in a hurry.  Maybe the little one did not realize that tinned juice cost a bit more than fresh juice. When he realized that he did not have enough money to buy it, he started to turn to walk back to his dad to get more money. I saw his dad waiting for him on the other side of the ... Read Full Story >>

Finding Any Opportunity To Be Helpful

Today at work I was in the kitchen preparing some food for the 'Birthday Luncheon'.  I had a busy morning running around but once everything was in the oven I had a few spare moments whilst it was baking. I decided to go to the administration office and see if I could help them with anything while I was waiting – I know they had been very busy.   Sure enough, they needed help folding letters and stuffing them into envelopes. I sat down and starting folding away. I was quite amazed at how many letters I had folded and stuffed before the oven timer rang telling me the food was ready.    The ladies were very appreciative  to me for helping them get their boring job done more quickly.  It didn’t feel like a boring job to me, it felt great to help out...every little bit counts!         ... Read Full Story >>

Bobby's Dime

Bobby was getting cold sitting out in his back yard in the snow. Bobby didn't wear boots; he didn't like them and anyway he didn't own any. The thin sneakers he wore had a few holes in them and they did a poor job of keeping out the cold. Bobby had been in his backyard for about an hour already. Try as he might, he could not come up with an idea for his mother's Christmas gift. He shook his head as he thought, "This is useless, even if I do come up with an idea, I don't have any money to spend." Ever since his father had passed away three years ago, the family of five had struggled. It wasn't because his mother didn't care, or try, there just never seemed to be enough. She worked nights at the hospital, but the small wage that she was earning could only be ... Read Full Story >>