Stories of Kindness from Around the World

A Lesson in Sharing Kindness with Humility

I had made up my mind a long time ago that I would not give a homeless person money, because I could never be sure what that money would be used for.  I did not want it to support any unhealthy habits.  Instead, I decided, I would buy them a sandwich, a cold drink on a hot day, a cup of coffee, whatever I could manage. I was out and about running errands recently and saw a homeless man, with his shopping cart full of his only possessions, asleep outside of a Starbucks.  My parking meter was about to expire, so I dropped another few coins in and went into the Starbucks.  I decided I would buy this man lunch.  I purchased a sandwich and soda. Just as I was leaving the store two policemen were approaching the man.  Apparently the shop owners had complained of his vagrancy and the police were ... Read Full Story >>

A Few Cups of Tea That Touched Many Souls

Last week, I witnessed a beautiful act of kindness.  Actually, I witnessed a million over the ten days spent in the Kutch region of Gujarat, India and chose to share this one with you as a testament of the powerful vibration of giving.  I traveled to Kutch with Jayesh-bhai, the founder of Manav Sadhna NGO, two Manav Sadhna staff – Jagat and Bhaskar – and some friends.  On our return to Ahmedabad, we stopped for 'chai' (Indian Tea) at a truck stop.  The chai was absolutely delicious and we reordered more two times, with regular exclamations of its quality to the servers and cashier.  When it came time to pay, the cashier would not take our money.  After some forced attempts to pay, Jagat accepted the gift of the chai, took back the money, thanked him and asked the cashier for his phone number.  Jagat promised to call the cashier ... Read Full Story >>

Thanking A Veteran

I was headed into Walmart. I grabbed a shopping cart and noticed this older man with a walking cane struggling with his cart, As I approached to help him I noticed his cap with WWII and some decorative pins on it. I was more determined to help him now. :0) 

I asked can I help you? He said his cart wheels seem to be jammed. I took his two bags out and put them in my cart and asked can I help you to your car?  He was a proud man and said "I'm ok now that you've given me your cart".  I said "My pleasure and I patted him on the back of his shoulder and blurted out the words "Thank you for all you did for our Country"... He looked at me and said "WHAT?"  I repeated myself and tapped his hat.  Then he smiled widely and was on his way.  

I grabbed another shopping cart and would have been whistling a tune if I knew how to whistle that good.  I was happy that I made him smile like that.

I used to be afraid of not saying the right thing, but "Thank You" was all I needed to say.

Surrending My Want To Another's Need

I had been feeling a bit blue and alone, so I thought I'd treat myself to something I wanted.  I went to the grocery store to pick up some items I needed to make some chili bean soup. I had a hankering for it and felt like I'd treat myself to something I wanted. I could almost taste the soup.  I had the beans the onions, the ground beef, my mouth was watering. Then out of nowhere a thought of my sister came to mind. We had spoken via email just the day before. She told me that she and my 13-month-old nephew had been battling a virus all week and feeling pretty tired. As I thought of this, I  thought that I should bring something over for dinner.  She loves my Mexican meatball soup (Albondigas), but I wanted Chili soup, and so the battle within began. I already had everything for ... Read Full Story >>

An Extra Gift for Someone Helping Others

The holidays always seem to come too quickly.  And then, just when we start to enjoy them, they are over too soon.  But one thing I can always count on to start the season are the bell ringers for the Salvation Army.   My father had told me how, when he was a Merchant Marine, he would go and listen to their service and they would feed him.  Once he was a grown man with a settled family,  he made sure to always give to that charity.

During the hustle and bustle of shopping, I was finding some great sales using coupons.  I had saved enough to pick up a few extra gifts just in case.  As I was leaving the mall, sure enough I saw a bell ringer.  The woman held the door open and smiled.  I put some money in the pot and started to walk away when I remembered the extra gifts.  I pulled out a gift basket from Bath and Body, and gave it to her.  She couldn't believe it and started to cry.  She said she really needed the pick me up since she was having a hard time.  I'm glad I had the opportunity to help someone who was doing so much for the rest of society.

The Alphabets Are Our Friends!

(A)ccepts you as you are
(B)elieves in "you"
(C)alls you just to say "HI"
(D)oesn't give up on you
(E)nvisions the whole of you (even the unfinished parts)
(F)orgives your mistakes
(G)ives unconditionally
(H)elps you
(I)nvites you over
(J)ust likes to "be" with you
(K)eeps you close at heart
(L)oves you for who you are
(M)akes a difference in your life
(N)ever Judges
(O)ffers support
(P)icks you up
(Q)uiets your fears
(R)aises your spirits
(S)ays nice things about you
(T)ells you the truth when you need to hear it
(U)nderstands you
(V)alues you
(W)alks beside you
(X)-plains things you don't understand
(Y)ells when you won't listen and
(Z)aps you back to reality.

An Encounter With Someone Who Wants To Be Heard

Julie and I went to visit a Teen Challenge bus last night. We were going to see if we could help set up. It was a ram-shackle old thing! A mini-kitchen had been installed in the back and the seats were arranged along the sides so folks could face each other and chat. They set up outside a hostel for homeless young people. They do tea, toast, biscuits for anyone who wants to come in. Some of their clients are simply homeless, some have alcohol, drugs or psychological problems. The theory behind it is that if anyone wants a better life, a way out of their current situation, this organisation will help them. If the person makes a committment to attend church and get their "habits" down to a certain level Teen Challenge will get them into a rehab centre. One of the workers said something that stayed with me. ... Read Full Story >>

A Lift That Gave Me Joy

Last fall, before Thanksgiving, I was making my way in my car out of the shopping center parking lot.  I was all alone in the car.  I noticed a woman laden with bags and her two boys, one carrying a pumpkin and the other another bag. I assumed that they were headed to the bus stop across the major road, since it was too far to walk with all those purchases to any of the nearby apartment communities.  On a random impulse, I rolled down my window and asked if they were indeed headed to the bus stop.  “Yes,” the mother responded.  I asked "Would you like a ride?"  "Oh yes!” was their excited reaction. I was delighted, and, after manoeuvering over to the side out of the way of other traffic, I stopped and the boys piled into the back seat.  The mother started to push in beside them.  I ... Read Full Story >>

A Sign To Be Kind

Yesterday, I went to my favourite coffee shop in town. I was sitting at a table, leisurely enjoying a fantastic cup of tea.  On my left there were two ladies having a hot chocolate and chatting away happily.

I suddenly felt like paying for their drinks, but I was in a dilemma.  We don't exactly have a lot of money to give out these days.  So I decided to look for a sign to tell me what to do.

The sign that came was very interesting.  After a few minutes of my sitting there, two other ladies came in and addressed one of the ladies drinking the hot chocolate by her first name, which was also my daughter’s first name.  Now, the interesting part is that my daughter’s name is a very old Italian name, not exactly the name one would expect to hear in England.

So I decided that it was the right decision.  To avoid questions from the waitress, I told her that the ladies were my friends and that I wanted to surprise them, paying them their drinks.

I hope they enjoyed their surprise.

Satisfaction from Selflessly Shovelling the Snow

This past weekend, it snowed a bit in my neighborhood.  At one point, just after it began snowing, I heard the familiar sound of a snowshovel blade scraping the sidewalk.  I peeked out my front window to see a man clearing the snow off his portion of the sidewalk.  He and I live in an attached house so his sidewalk and mine are really one sidewalk, but his now cleared walkway clearly defined what was his and what was mine. Several hours later, after the snow stopped falling, I grabbed my shovel to clear my sidewalk.  I was thinking of my neighbor clearing only his side of the pavement.  I thought how wonderful it would have been for my neighbor to shovel the additional few yards in front of my house.  "No big deal," I thought.  But it would have made me feel special. At that thought, I decided to ... Read Full Story >>

Share A Child's Pain

I am a Therapeutic Foster Parent.  The children that I work with have suffered abuse and/or neglect.   Most of them have experienced or seen extreme suffering.  When they feel safe with me, they are often able to tell me what they went through.  When this happens, it seems important to them that I listen and give them what they ask for--unconditionally.  Sometimes, they ask for a hug, or to sit on my lap and let me rock them.  Sometimes, they ask to play house or family role modeling games.   Sometimes, they just want to hang out and do nothing.

Listening to children helps builds trust and helping heal those in pain.

Giving and Receiving Gratitude on Thanksgiving Day

I have lived in Falmouth, MA for about 10 years.  I had moved several times before finding Falmouth, never really settling in one place for a long time.  However, Falmouth has become home. I think it is a safe place to do good work.  I like that I often run into someone I know whenever I am grocery shopping or running errands.  My favorite experience of Falmouth was when I volunteered to deliver Thanksgiving dinner to families or individuals unable to drive or stranded by illness.  It was an amazing experience. Volunteers check in, line up and follow the directions given.  There were many people working.  Children were coloring placemats for each box, adults were cooking and serving food, and the drivers were filling the containers with the meals they would soon deliver.  How they manage all of this is quite amazing.  The coordination of such an event is awe-inspiring. The best ... Read Full Story >>

Sometimes, People Need A Push

When I was 17, a friend of mine and I were driving down a busy road in Florida.  Traffic started shifting lanes, and when we got closer, we saw why.  In front of the flea market was an old man who's car had died.

There were plenty of people standing around and no one doing anything.  I hopped out of the van right then and there.  I walked up to the man and told him to get in the car and place it in neutral.   Once he was settled inside, I began to push his car into the parking area.  It seems that no one wanted to get involved until I did.  Once I started pushing, several large guys came over to help.  

It was sad to see that no one seemed to care, until one young girl gave them all a "push" in the right direction.

Good Deeds Don't Go Unnoticed

I work in a restaraunt that has a program working with ex con's and the homeless. There is a guy who started working with us as a dishtanker and he told me his story one day. He lived in Florida, (we're in Ohio now) and he received information that he owed child support on a 6 year old boy. Well this was news to his ears because he didn't even know he had a kid! He came to Ohio to to clear this matter up and took a DNA test that determined that the kid was his. He was PROMPTLY put in jail for owing over $19,000 in back child support. He stayed in jail for 9 months and when he was released he was homeless, jobless. Instead of giving up on his kid and going back to Florida where he had plenty of family and help, he stayed in Ohio and ... Read Full Story >>

Hope is "the Making of You"

I've had a hard time for a few years now and try to write a little something most days.  All the postings I have made are my writings, so thank you to those of you that have given me such positive feedback.  Thank you for your kindness.

Here's another...penned a few minutes ago.......

Gifting A Homeless Man A Little Something He "Dropped"

He was a man I assumed to be homeless, because in the freezing Michigan winter, you could spot him on his bike, with a few small bags of cans, braving the icy weather to stop at the store. The thing that set him apart from the few other homeless people in our area were his dogs. He had two big but meek and beautiful dogs that accompanied him everywhere he went. I noticed this, and thought, what a good man, to care for those dogs, even when he has trouble caring for himself. The dogs were not malnourished, or beaten down looking, though clearly they hated the below freezing temps as much as he did. One day, I had an extra 12 dollars, and I stalked him a bit, as he noticed my car, and clearly not knowing me, got skittish. I quickly went up to him in a parking lot, ... Read Full Story >>

Knowing She Was There Made Us Feel Much Less Alone

When my son was first diagnosed with Autism, it was a very hard time for us.  In some ways it was a relief, because we finally had a name for what was going on in our lives, but it also meant years more of uncertainty, and we didn't know what the future held. When I shared the news with my coworkers, I was so surprised and happy to recieve so much immediate love and support from them.  They were focused on what we needed, as opposed to how it would affect my ability to make it to work. One coworker in particular was amazing to my family and I.  She called me into her office a few days later, and gave me a "worry stone".  This is a small circular stone with an indention for your thumb.  It gives you something to focus on when you're worried, rubbing your thumb around on this stone.  It was ... Read Full Story >>

Late For An Exam, Time To Help a Stranger

I'm 16 years old and I live in London.  I have to admit I'm not the best or brightest at my school.  Going to a good private school, you are surrounded by some very smart people, and sometimes it can get you down. Today I had my History GCSE Mock Exam. To people who don't know, In the UK GCSE's are tests that basicly decide your life when you are 16 and 17 years old.  The scores, in a large part control, what job you get or if you can go into higher education. Unfortunately for me, today I was running late.  It was very poor planning by me.  I rushed to the train, and I thought I would get there more than 10 minutes late.  The train pulled into the station and I got on doing some last minute review, just checking over my textbook.  As the train pulled into ... Read Full Story >>

Stan's Surprise

Stan heard in church about a family in Denver, Colorado.  There, a family faced a rather bleak Christmas holiday. Medical bills robbed them of any extras; they would not even have a tree. Stan's pastor asked him if he would get them that tree. So Stan and his son Jay headed up into the Colorado Rockies in the family pickup.  However, the truck skidded off the icy road and hit a boulder that shattered the windshield.  Jay was showered by glass slivers and suffered from shock and crash trauma.  Stan was uninjured, though somewhat shaken. Cars sped past that day, maybe 200 of them. Only two stopped to help.  A gentle, dark-haired woman took the boy into her car to comfort him while her husband and another man helped Stan move his truck off the road.  Then this kind couple drove father and son to Stan's home and quietly left without identifying themselves. Stan ... Read Full Story >>

The Significance of a Simple Smile

This event happened a long time ago, but it is something that has stayed with me all these years. When I was in high school, all of the students went on a retreat. At some point, we were given an exercise where we had to go off by ourselves in silence to do some writing. As everyone was dispersing and walking around the retreat center to find a place of solitude, I saw a boy who looked kind of down. I did not know him but we locked eyes for a moment and I smiled at him. It felt simply natural to give someone a friendly smile. I could not go talk to him because of the restriction on speaking at that time. I had no idea how that small gesture would affect him until later. After the quiet time, we regrouped and there was a discussion and sharing time. This boy stood up and ... Read Full Story >>