Stories of Kindness from Around the World

❤️ A Savored Love ...

❤️ A Savored LOVE ❤️ As I gave our waitress at Theadore’s Dining Room in Medora, ND a paper rose and a Peace dove, MisterM exclaimed, “We’re celebrating our 42 year anniversary!” According to her name tag, Betina-Lee who was from South Africa, replied in her delightful accent, “We shall have to help you celebrate.” And so they did!!! While waiting for our dinner, I visited the rest of the diners, handing out paper roses, Peace doves and Rajni quote cards, which opened the way for many happy anniversary wishes, appreciation, and how many years some were together, from 49 to 1 year! The 1 year couple, Barbara and Ron, had reconnected from childhood to marry after both were widowed. They were hosting a special weekend for Barbara’s granddaughters. “Would you care for a bottle of complimentary champagne?” the sommelier Zoe - also from South Africa, asked. We did care and we did share, with ... Read Full Story >>

1148 Reads

Giving Rides To Others

The “After Mindfulness Retreat” at UC Berkeley is coming up this weekend. A friend from New York registered to join the retreat while she’s in the area. However, since she’s attending another retreat two hours away from Berkeley, she was trying to find a way to get there. When she asked me if she can get a ride, I immediately said yes since I’m heading there too.

This reminded me of how when I was young, my parents took me wherever I needed to go. When I went to college, my friends often drove me until I got a car and could drive myself. I’ve been fortunate to be around people who have generously offered rides without expecting anything in return : ).

This is the third of the seven acts of kindness that I signed up for.

367 Reads

This Is True Love, ...


This Is True Love, By A Friend

Me (Author)(left) and my dad (right) a few years ago.

I caught an undiagnosed lung infection that left me in a bad way for about 10 days.

Dad just used to sit next to me for hours and read, I wasn't really with it but he had obviously decided my breathing tube was more comfortable in this position.

432 Reads

Everyday Acts

Today I went to spend time with my grandma. She is bedridden and doesn't leave her house often. She was very happy to see me. We talked about my brother's engagement, my cousins, my current job search and her current frustrations with her caretaker. I tried my best to do what I could to help her by talking to my dad about her frustrations and by helping her reheat her milk. I haven't seen her for about a month, and it's easy for me to sulk over my own problems and forget about hers. I will make more of an effort to visit her in the future. Last week, I donated to my friend's bike ride fundraiser. She is technically one of my supervisors at work, but I consider her my friend and mentor. She is biking 250+ miles along the Central Coast of California to raise money for the transportation climate ... Read Full Story >>

1230 Reads
  • Posted by stellarjobson
  • Aug 7, 2019
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7 Acts Of Kindness

My son called this morning feeling very overwhelmed. Though he is an adult, he lives on his own and keeping up with the chores along with his full-time job, caring for his dog, doing the right things for his family and friends, and caring for a very large yard and garden can become truly overwhelming. I went over to his house and helped him clean his living room and kitchen, working together and listening to good music as we went. At the end of our time together he felt so much better, not so overwhelmed, and his house looked great. I was glad that I could do something to support him , no matter how small.

334 Reads

Arranging A Carpool With Colleagues

I've been working on a project recently that requires driving to the outskirts of town. After receiving kindness from friends willing to work out car share situations, it felt natural to pay some of that forward, and arrange a carpool with other colleagues who were also without a car of their own. I was happy to drop them off at appointments or different locations after work too. They expressed a lot of gratitude to be able to carpool, and I think we all had more fun during our commutes than we would have otherwise.

384 Reads
  • Posted by listenwholely
  • Aug 7, 2019
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Act Of Kindness Number One: Offered A Genuine Compliment To A Stranger

I practiced kindness today by offering a genuine compliment to someone I saw at the greyhound bus station while waiting on my bus. I really enjoy receiving compliments myself but when they are not genuine it effects how I receive it. I told a lady that I liked her yoga pants while she was standing in line for at the concession stand and I walked past her because I really did. Compliments are a beautiful way of making someone’s day without doing a lot of work or spending any money. She smiled in response and said thank you so I think it was well received. :)

500 Reads

Last 3 Acts Of Kindness All Bundled Up In One

5th act of Kindness: Giving away extra when I have too much I bought a 10 pack of socks from Ross because it was a better deal. I ran in to grab them once I arrived to my destination yesterday and I noticed I forgot to pack socks. As soon as I left the store I offered socks to two strangers and they appreciated them. I still have 8 pairs of socks for myself. That’s more than enough socks for one person. 6th act of Kindness: Practiced Active Listening with All I love engaging with people but I’ve noticed that my communication skills needed to improve. I practiced kindness by focusing on listening to each person I’ve been engaging with fully before offering a reply. I’ve noticed I’ve felt a deeper connection with those I’ve been communicating with and it’s felt nice. 7th act of kindness: Taking time to rest when needed aka listening ... Read Full Story >>

702 Reads

My First Recorded “act”

I walk a mile every morning. Today was trash day in our neighborhood, so as I walked along my way, I picked up the trash that had been dropped by the trash truck and placed it in the nearest trash cans, so it wasn’t laying in the yards when people came home from work this evening.

751 Reads

Heart Language

Found a housekeeper sitting on the floor. She had severe back pain. Went to the Inn pantry and got her meds with water and food so that she wouldn’t have stomach pain from the medicine. We didn’t speak the same language, but the heart knows no restrictions. 😊 Smiling heart ❤️

516 Reads

Friday

On a really hot day, left a bottle of water in the mailbox for the mail carrier.
Gave lemons from our tree to neighbors
Smiled at strangers and mentally wished them all peace
Doing something kind for someone who rubs me the wrong way--that is my gift from the universe--to spend some time with someone whose negativity I will not allow in. (She needs some help with something and I'm going to give her my time, which is something I don't usually have a lot of, so it means something more)
Keeping a gratitude journal every day for the past two weeks (hope to keep it up)--notice that nature and human interactions are the most highly featured.
Plan to give away some clothing to a women's shelter

1038 Reads

Being On Time For ...

Being on time for a meeting I have quite a bit of meetings virtually and some of them are not particularly engaging, so I tend to sometimes forget it’s time to log on Zoom. It results in someone having to text me to remind me that the meeting has started and when more of us are late, the rest of the group is waiting for us to join. Though everyone is nice and accommodating, it waste others’ time and none of us seem to fix our punctuality. I noticed that when I’m not as excited about something I tend to be less willing to log on a bit earlier so I can be on time. I do it for important appointments such as interviews, so it’s not that I don’t know how to do it. Also, I justify myself by thinking that there’s someone else who will be late too so ... Read Full Story >>

883 Reads

Making Things Happen

BUTTONS FOR BENJAMIN 365+ Small Acts of Kindness Getting outside has felt like I'm riding a huge wave. So many things are happening! Friday to Today Voice and Sight Met a young blind writer and -- finally after about 50 takes -- finished recording the first story she sent me. Voicing for someone else is 100x harder than doing my own stuff. I'm learning a lot! I'm really grateful for our connection and I hope this will help her keep writing. She's very good! We'll be doing as many stories as she needs about once a week. These are stories she wrote when she was a teenager before she went blind. I told her I would make sure to get at least one in a week until done, maybe more as I get better at it. She said when she read that she started crying. My heart just went out to her.  I told her ... Read Full Story >>

1069 Reads

What One Person Can Do

Reflecting on a Kindspring post about what one person can do,  I thought I’d share my recent exploits. I won a Peace Pole at the end of Spring, in a competition by the Love Foundation and we then went on to plant it in the village with the help of all the schoolchildren? Well, moving on from that at the beginning of Summer, I decided to launch a Biodiversity Ambassadors group in my workplace. Well, the whole thing has taken off incredibly and we’re now onto our 5th meet up, having now had 63 people sign up, and I’m sure that more will sign up throughout the year and into the winter. We also went on a trip to look at bumblebees with a lady from the Bumblebee Conservation, a talk about a school where the children breed and release butterflies, a pond visit with a lady from the British Dragonfly society and ... Read Full Story >>

1731 Reads

Love Your Park




On Saturday, April 27th, I joined a group of friends and neighbors and spent the day sprucing up our local parks by cutting brush, grooming grounds, combing beaches and planting more flowers and trees.

This annual event draws hundreds of volunteers in cities throughout our area, each person lending a hand to keep parks beautiful and to do a good deed for their community and the environment. Like me, they all believe that our parks and trails are so important to our personal health and wellbeing and to our environment.

1167 Reads

Ocean Lover!

I'm an ocean lover.... living in Montreal, far away from the ocean makes it even more a dream land for me.... and I try to visit at the very least, once a year.... and I've been doing it for the last 20 something years.  When I was younger, I would pick up shells rocks  and driftwood and bring them back home.... and ended up having tons of them on my shelves, floors, desks, etc. But as I visited the ocean more and more, I started picking up the garbage left by irresponsible polluting people... picking up less and less ocean treasure.... I was beginning to question my habits..... and one day, in California, I just had this revelation. I realized that a stone you find in the ocean has a wonderful color that makes you pick it up.... but then, when it dries, you don't find it as lovely anymore,  so why pick it up ... Read Full Story >>

2129 Reads

Connecting Nourishment

I've just joined a FB group where mothers or fathers can request a meal. There doesn't have to be a reason but usually, it's illness or a new baby. Today I did my first dinner - a vegan hotpot, side of veggies, rice, and pears and chocolate for dessert. I also added a bottle of organic juice, some chicken noodle soup (which is vegan) and some stickers and fruit sweets for their children. Unfortunately, this family lives on the other side of the city so I phoned a friend who is an Uber driver. She came and got the food and drove it across town and delivered it to this family. They were so grateful. The best comment they made was that it had nurtured their spirits as well as their sick bodies. Then the admin of the FB page contacted me and said she would send my friend a thank you gift card for delivering the meal. What a circle of love!

725 Reads

Helping Hand

I usually take the local bus to commute for my work daily. Today while traveling, I happened to come upon a blind man who was trying to get onto the bus; it was very crowded. I politely took his hand and made sure that he got on the bus safely and also that he got off at his correct stop. The feeling of helping this gentleman today made my day. :)

1492 Reads

Inclusion Heartsong

In the past two months, I have become friends with two women who are sight-impaired. One lives near me. I drove to her house and picked her up. We went to lunch together at one of my favorite restaurants nearby, my treat. It was a good day. Another is a young, talented writer whose stories I've been recording. Yesterday we texted back and forth as I worked on her newest story.  I had one other blind friend many years ago. She was my favorite customer when I waited tables at a little diner near my house, and we became friends. We went to mass together and sometimes I helped her with her mail. I've learned a little bit about the frustration and heartache of being without sight. I believe these women came into my life for a reason, especially the two in the last two months. I'm very grateful to know ... Read Full Story >>

2228 Reads

Soak In The Sight Of The Cosmos

I've always been enamored with the moon (maybe it's my culture - Indians tend to view the moon in a pretty romantic light). But I made a point to spend more time than usual admiring it yesterday.  It was so soft and beautiful in the sky, surrounded by sparse clouds, a bit more yellow than usual, and it felt a bit larger.

It just so happened that that morning, just before I went to the airport to come back to NY from Texas, I found a moon pendant someone close to my heart had given me, that I thought I had lost. It has an image of how the moon looked on the day I was born. It was a beautiful gift!

So there I was staring at the moon on my way to get groceries, with another moon around my neck. I know this is a bit cliche but looking reverently at the moon made me feel a bit smaller, and all the noises of New York City faded into the background of this universe that we live in.

1327 Reads




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