Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Photos Lead to Birthday Sharing

    Most holidays my family go on, my brother and I have a competition to see how many pictures we can take for other people.

   This day we were at a vista point  and saw a couple. My brother raced up to them and offered to take a picture for them.  After taking the picture thay insisted on us jumping in a picture with his wife. So we got our picture taken with her.

   A little time later we saw the couple again, this time we were with our family. I ran up and offered to take their picture. They looked at us and saw our family.  The husband said, " Would you like to share a cake and some drink with my wife and I?" We said "Yes," and they came back with a huge birthday cake.

   It turned out they were from Bangladesh and the woman could speak limited English and had no family with whom  to share her birthday.

   It turned out one small act of kidness returned another act.

The Echo Of Life

The Echo of Life A son and his father were walking on the mountains. Suddenly, the son falls, hurts himself and screams, "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain: "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" Curious, he yells, "Who are you?" He receives the answer, "Who are you?" Angered at the response, he screams, "Coward!" He receives the answer, "Coward!" He looks to his father and asks, "What's going on?" The father smiles and says, "My son, pay attention." And then he screams to the mountain, "I admire you!" The voice answers, "I admire you!" Again the father screams, "You are a champion!" The voice answers, "You are a champion!" The boy is surprised, but does not understand. Then the father explains: "People call this ECHO, but really this is LIFE. It gives you back everything you say or do. Our life is simply a reflection of our actions. If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart. If ... Read Full Story >>

Awakening to Kindness

It was a long, hard day for me. I was going back home from work by bus. The stress from work weighed heavily on my mind.

A girl was sitting next to me, who I didn't know. She asked me some questions casually and we had a short conversation. She was just a stranger/passer-by I thought to myself and  didn't take much interest.

After a while, she suddenly handed me some chocolates and said that it was her birthday. I instantly responded with a smile and my heart felt free of the stress that I had been carrying. In a single moment I felt the heaviness of the day transform into lightness of a feather.

Her simple act gave me joy even I though I don't particularly enjoy sweets as much. I wished her a long life.

I realized that even small acts can make a person feel happy. I can't remember her face but recalling the incident makes me happy.

A Whisper For You To Hear

Deep within my heart, I know it's often painful when we grow , into another chapter of this life filled with anger and with strife, the passage should be smooth and clear the way is possible and very near so sit down beside me while I speak very close now my voice is weak let me whisper the secret of living while I 'm still in the mood for giving the answer that you desperately need in this world of poverty and greed in all the time i've spent this time the best were the ones where i  could rhyme the balance of words gave my  soul a lift perked up my senses when I needed a shift out of my self-created misery and pain, cleaned out the chakras and kept me sane the answer you see is crystal clear find one thing that you hold dear and in that one thing that gives you pleasure you'll find an everlasting treasure so sit still my friend and close your eyes block ... Read Full Story >>

A Story of True Love and Acceptance

This is what True Love is all about: It was a busy morning, approximately 8:30 a.m., when an elderly gentleman in his 80's arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He stated that he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am.    I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him look at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound.     On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.   While taking care of his wound, we began to engage in conversation.  I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The ... Read Full Story >>

Linda's Kindness

My friend Linda came to stay for a few days.  I asked her how she was and she said she felt a little tired.

Why?  Well, she had taken a month off of work, unpaid, so she could help at a playgroup for autistic children who were under staffed.

That is an act of kindness!

You Give And Then...You Let Go

I have always had a heart for strays.When my late mother was in the hospital in the 1950s I was a very young child and I collected, took care of animals. The first animals I got home was a pigeon.I found it while walking to school.It was on the curb and his wing was broken.I hid it in the woods and when I went home,it was still there and brough it home.My father made a box for it and i fed it bread and water everyday and I kind of raised him. The next animal I found was a black dog.This black dog was frail and she was about to have puppies.My father found the dog tied outside of the house and decided to take it in.The dog was just so happy and you could tell that this dog wasnt treated nice.We kept him in a box in the cellar.The dog had ... Read Full Story >>

What's In The Bag?

Sometimes I am witness to acts of selfless generosity that are nearly invisible and done with no thought that anyone would see them other than the person to whom the act is directed. Here's an example.It comes from our little artist breakfast group that we host every week. Taya, who is a remarkable artist, is moving to New Mexico. She's 75 and has decided she wants to start a new chapter in her life. So she has just completed the purchase of a property in a tiny community in New Mexico where she knows no one. She is leaving Oakland where she has lived for perhaps 25 or 30 years and, of course, leaving her circle of friends. This in itself is astonishing. One of our group, Edythe, had mentioned [only mentioned] how she is fond of the beauty of coins, not for their monetary value, but just for their beauty. This morning ... Read Full Story >>

A Tale of a Hero and His Nine Little Ducklings

Something really amazing happened in downtown Spokane, Washington this week, so  I decided to share the joy with you.    My good friend Betty has a brother named, Joel, who is a loan officer at Sterling Bank in Washington state. He works downtown in a second story office building, overlooking the busy street known as Riverside Avenue. Several weeks ago, he watched a mother duck choose the cement awning outside his window as the uncanny place to build a nest above the sidewalk.    The mallard laid nine eggs in a nest in the corner of the planter that is perched over 10 feet in the air. She dutifully kept the eggs warm for weeks and on a sunny Mondary afternoon all of her nine ducklings hatched.     Joel worried all night as to how the momma duck was going to get those nine babies safely off their perch in a busy, downtown, urban environment so they ... Read Full Story >>

Let's Travel to Life

 As you travel through life there are always those times When decisions just have to be made, When the choices are hard, and solutions seem scarce, And the rain seems to soak your parade. There are some situations where all you can do Is simply let go and move on, Gather your courage and choose a direction That carries you toward a new dawn. So pack up your troubles and take a step forward - The process of change can be tough, But think about all the excitement ahead There might be adventures you never imagined. Just waiting around the next bend, And wishes and dreams just about to come true In ways you can't yet comprehend! Perhaps you'll find friendships that spring from new things As you challenge your status quo, And learn there are so many options in life, Perhaps you'll go places you never expected And see things that you've never seen, O! r travel to fabulous, faraway worlds And wonderful spots in between! Perhaps you'll find warmth ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness, The New Stimulus Package

Are you just plain sick of being bombarded by the media with the untold horrors and predictions of our impending doom?  I've heard the words "Stimulus Package" so many times it doesn't even mean anything anymore. I want to introduce a new kind of stimulus package that doesn't have a thing to do with the government:  Kindness.  What do you think would happen if everyone practiced being kind for just one day?  I sure as heck know.  The world as we know it would be transformed.   Impossible?  Consider this:  I organized a Kindness Challenge at a local arts and jazz festival in April.  My goal was to remind people what happens when we practice being kind.  It's a feeling most of us have forgotten.  The challenge was to entice 100 people attending the festival to do 100 kind acts within 100 minutes.  The result amazed everyone involved because when all was said ... Read Full Story >>

Flowers, Anonymously

   Chelsi is this wonderful and drop dead gorgeous girl. She is the same age as me, and we've been best friends since as long as I can remember.

   This story has to do with something nice that someone did for her, in all actuality, it has nothing to do with me.

   We were sitting inside and earlier that week, Chelsi was bummed about something and we were talking about it. Then the doorbell rang I decided to get it while Chelsi just stayed in the living room. I answered the door and no one was there, but when I looked down there were a dozen roses!!  The tag said "To Chelsi."

   Chelsi was wondering why she'd received these until she read the rest of the card and all it said was: "Just because it's Wedneday. "
And it wasn't signed.

We Can All Be Bamboo Shoots

One of my fondest memories as a child is going by the river and sitting idly on the bank. There I would enjoy the peace and quiet, watch the water rush downstream, and listen to the chirps of birds and the rustling of leaves in the trees. I would also watch the bamboo trees bend under pressure from the wind and watch them return gracefully to their upright or original position after the wind had died down. When I think about the bamboo tree's ability to bounce back or return to it's original position, the word resilience comes to mind. When used in reference to a person this word means the ability to readily recover from shock, depression or any other situation that stretches the limits of a person's emotions. Have you ever felt like you are about to snap? Have you ever felt like you are at your breaking point? Thankfully, ... Read Full Story >>

Footprints of Love

I have been blessed with opportunity in my life, and it took the near-death of my dad to make me realize that my purpose in life is to help others. My dad was diagnosed with leukemia in 1998 and watching the pain and treatment that he endured inspired me to be a more kind and giving person.  It was like a smack in the face as I woke up one morning and realized life is just too short and it was time for me to make some changes – do the things in life that I wanted to do without making excuses why I couldn’t do them, or telling myself that I had plenty of time to do things. Well, you never know when your hourglass will run out of sand.  The time was now. My dad needed a bone marrow transplant. He was given a procedure in which he was able to reuse ... Read Full Story >>

Teaming Up With My Son

My son and I were at the grocery store together and as usual, he raced in ahead of me to go see what they were "sampling" that day.  I pulled out a cart and offered it to an elderly couple who were waiting behind me.  Well, once I went in and was doing my shopping, my son came up to me and told me, "You know what, there was a lady in a wheelchair shopping and she wanted to get her little boy a cup of milk, so I poured it and gave it to him!!"  I felt so happy that he took advantage of the opportunity to find someone to help! :-) 

The Rewards of Teaching English

Over the summer holiday I've been teaching English to students who have recently arrived in the country, as a refugee or as an asylum seeker, and speak little or no English.  It's the first time I've done this and it is a lot of fun.

We play lots of games like batting balloons around and calling out the colour - just daft stuff - but the students are so lovely and they so want to learn - who knows what they have been through.  I taught them survival words like - toilet roll, soap, toothpaste etc. by showing them the article and repeating the name.  Some have confidence, some are afraid, some are humorous - but all lovely!

I am really glad that I decided to do this - it's just 3 hours per week and so rewarding.  I have found that the more I give the more I get back - weird really as it flies in the face of logic.

Birds Are Our Teachers

Birds are our teachers. Not only do they teach us about freedom as they fly high above us but they show us how to build homes that don't destroy the earth and care for their little ones with love. Two friends recently shared stories with me of how they honored birds by rescuing them. I hope to honor them too by dedicating this to the birds of the world. This one is for the hope they bring to us in life:

HOPE is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard,
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I ’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

The Power of Gifting Flowers

My Flower Power give started with a trip to the flower store. I purchased 48 long-stem roses. I chose 4-Dozen because I was heading into round 4 of my giving for the 29-Day Giving Challenge (give something everyday for 29 days!). The manager gave me a discount and gifted me a bunch of those little water-holding do-hickeys that you can put on the ends of the stems to keep the flowers alive. If I lived in a place where it was possible to go pick wild flowers… or if I had a garden to pick from, I would have taken that route. I considered giving a few other types of flowers like daisies, or little rooted plants that people could keep longer or plant outside, but roses have spiritual significance for me. The rose is a symbol of protection that I often use in my meditations. I carefully chose the colors ... Read Full Story >>

Giving Up My Seat, The Canadian Way

A few years ago I was at an international conference with nearly 700 participants. One afternoon I attended a very crowded talk by a famous author. The hall filled quickly and soon there were no seats left but many dozens of people standing around the edges. I saw a very elderly man, stooped slightly from age, leaning against the wall. I immediately got up, told those sitting beside me to hold the place for him and made my way to him. When I offered my seat to him, he looked surprised and started to refuse, but I would have none of that. He asked me my name and thanked me deeply, then made his way back into my row and sat comfortably.  Many people who witnessed our exchange turned to say what a kind thing I had done and made quite a fuss over it. I kept saying "It's nothing special. I'm from Canada. It's normal for us to ... Read Full Story >>

A Smile That Planted Seeds of Kindness in My Son

I have been helping my 12-year-old son plant flowers, vegetables and just plants in general since spring arrived.  my son is VERY interested in growing plants. 

When we were planting a bunch of flowers one Saturday afternoon there were two flowers left in his try of flowers.  He decided to take them to the little house next door where an elderly woman lived by herself and didn't seem to have much company. 

I watched him as he went up to her door, rather hesitantly because he didn't know her, and he very quietly left the flowers on her doorstep so that she would get them the next time she went outside.

The next morning we saw that she had planted the flowers in a little planter by the door. 

It made my son smile - and has also planted a seed in him (no pun intended!) to do good for others.  He said to me "it feels really good to do things for others".

That's my boy!