Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Kindness Of Strangers

I have been busy the last couple of weeks helping a friend collect household items and clothes for a new immigrant family that she is sponsoring.

I informed my work colleagues and neighbors and was pleasantly surprised to see some of them respond and bring me items for the family. It warmed my heart to see strangers taking the time to help a family that they would never meet.

1254 Reads

Paying Forward The Kindness That Was Before To Us

Our Team Leader always complains about the cold, especially how cold her office is first thin in the morning. I get in first so I turned her heater on before she arrived.

She was so happy. One of the lads used to turn the portable heaters on first thing (when the heating was broken). It made such a difference, I'm just paying that forward.

844 Reads

Driving Mrs. Daisy and Friend

Well, now I take my two older ladies out once a week for an outing to lunch, browsing the second hand stores, or just a drive around Canberra.  Talk about funny, they talk nonstop and I can't talk and drive so of course we took the wrong turn off. But we got there in the end.

Then as we were going to lunch, one of them remembered she had locked her daughter out of the house and she was supposed to be going with the daughter to an appointment. So we raced her home, and then I dropped the other lady off as she had forgotten she had to go out by a certain time.

All together it was a lot of fun but boy did I need a cup of coffee and a rest when I got home. Next week we meet on Thursday and I think this time we are going to lunch! I might just ask politely if they have forgotten anything. I am laughing as I am writing this post. Such delightful ladies!

 

1555 Reads

Kindness Is Always There

I have been struggling to think of kindnesses from today. I came up with nominating a few people for recognition awards at work (how could I have forgotten that?!), letting people pull out / turn in front of me when driving (that's so natural I don't think anything of it), offering the speaker at our training session a drink, a couple of good news to the boss (he laughed), getting a document pushed through quickly for a colleague & thanking everyone involved.

I think because I'm frustrated with someone & there's mutiny in the air at work I am finding it hard to recognize the kindness. And the bloke in the chippie was telling me what a lovely lad husband is, and what a great couple we are. I just need to be more aware of the kindness and less aware of the complaints.

702 Reads

Mitchell's 14th Birthday

My friend Marleen shared a Facebook request from Mitchell Kay's mother. Mitchell is due to celebrate his 14th birthday. He is autistic and no one has ever showed up for any of his birthday parties.

His mum put out a request to see if she could get 100 birthday cards for him. Well, I know he's on his way. Today my students, 11 in total, each made him a personalized card.


The classroom assistant and myself both sent bought cards. So there are 13 birthday cards in the post to Mitchell all the way from Northern Ireland. I have to tell you, these cards were superb and the students had such empathy for Mitchell. We also included a cover note showing the college we are based in and a photo of a local scenic area.

I hope Mitchell has a very happy 14th birthday. 🎈🎈🎈🎉 🎊

 

851 Reads

Showing Him That Kindness Is Still Alive In America

We attended a homeland security office where my husband along with 90 people from 35 different countries, were to be sworn in as new US citizens. If you don't fully understand English you are allowed to bring a translator. Just before the ceremony was to start, an officer asked if there was anyone willing to sit and translate the whole ceremony for an elderly gentleman who had not brought a translator with him. 

I had gotten a front seat from where I was going to be able to get awesome pictures of my hubby during the ceremony but I felt sorry for the man and chose to go translate in the back with the gentleman. He also had no phone or camera with him so I took many pictures of him during the ceremony. The man was very appreciative.The officer was kind enough to let me get out of my seat to take pictures of my hubby. All around the perfect day! Kindness is still alive in America. Wish I could show you our selfie together.

1128 Reads

Love Jiu Jitsu

I was sitting in class with a coworker who's reputation I respected but I didn't know him very well. It was a couple hours or so after lunch, that magic time when most people's bodies are telling them to take a nap. I could see that my coworker was slightly distressed, but I didn't know the nature of that distress until the instructor called on him to answer a question.

He struggled for a moment and said that he just couldn't answer at that moment because he needed to eat something.


I was saving my chocolate chip cookie from lunch and gave it to him immediately, and in less than a minute he told me with sincere gratitude that he was much better. We are now friends, not just coworkers. It's like love Jiu Jitsu,-a little kindness at the right moment can have unbelievable results!

1270 Reads

Not All Business

A little something I do and have always done-I have a stash of scratch card lottery tickets on me. I use my tips from work to buy them and keep them in my kindness wallet.

They are perfect for sticking into library books, sending to friends or today. I'm including it with a signed contact for our upcoming cruise! Brilliant!

I had to sign and post an agreement form which I did. I was about to send and seal in envelope when I remembered the scratch cards! So included one, along with a thank you note to our gorgeous travel agent for all she's done.

580 Reads

Five and A Half Years Of Weekly Cards

I was speaking to a friend yesterday, and received some bad news. A friend of hers, someone I've known since childhood, has died. At the time of her friend's diagnosis with cancer, five and a half years ago, my friend began sending weekly chatty cards as her friend didn't want visitors. She's been doing it ever since, a card each week.

Five and a half years. When I wrote a condolence card this afternoon I felt humble.

522 Reads

Passing Along A Treasure

This past weekend, in one of  KindSpring member '"ThankfulTK's" always wonderful and informative posts, he wrote about the famous American painter, Winslow Homer, (1821-1896). Since Art History class in college, I had always admired his work and I was fortunate to see an extensive exhibition of his work when I was in my early 30's. It was at this event that I purchased a print of his painting, 'Snap the Whip', shown below. I had it framed and until I retired from teaching it always hung in my classroom. I thought it truly captured the freedom and fun of childhood. These young boys playing this game are not even wearing shoes! During my last year of teaching, there was a young woman In her first year of teaching right next door to me and we got to be good friends. She had been an art student before switching to education, so her ... Read Full Story >>

1202 Reads

It Started With A Bunch Of Anthuriums

My first job out of high school was at a geological facility and as a youngster, I was pretty intimidated by the Ph.D.'s that worked there. But no one intimidated me more than the administrative supervisor. She was only about yay high, pretty petite but with a scowl and gruff exterior that made me wish I didn’t have to pass her desk every morning. In the first month there, I don’t think I ever saw her smile or treat anyone less than curtly. I am not sure what prompted me but one day, I decided to bring her flowers. They were bright red anthuriums. As soon as I walked into the office, I handed her the flowers (mind you, I was shaking inside). But then, came the most beautiful smile. It spread across her face slowly and I swear, it seemed the room got a bit brighter too. I remember my ... Read Full Story >>

4138 Reads

That Special Moment Between Mom and Daughter, Over Baklava

Lately, following the most recent fall a month ago, which in itself didn't seem too disastrous (cracking a rib bone only slightly), my 90-year-old mom has been more and more quiet and sleepy. For a person who by everyone's accounts walk, moves and talks a mile a minute and is a firecracker of a personality, this is very odd. And disconcerting. In the last 4 years since she broke first one hip and then 2 years later the other one, her osteoporosis has worsened and so has her condition of frailty. At the same time, my 92-year-old father has been suffering his own health problems. Some of this many of you in the KindSpring community already know, but perhaps you didn't realize her situation has worsened in the last 2 weeks. My father says she is "just not her old self"-meaning she was still talkative until a couple of weeks ago, when ... Read Full Story >>

2065 Reads

Better Than When We Came

Yesterday we left our rented beach house and came home. The policy of the house is to 'leave it as you found it' - rather than charging a cleaning fee.

We decided that when we left we would do a few extra things - my husband cleaned all the windows and glass doors (lots of little finger prints that sadly weren't ours - wish we did have Little Grandson with us) and washed down all the outdoor furniture. I cleaned out the fridge, bathrooms, dusted and sprayed the rugs and cleaned them.

When we had finished the house really did sparkle. The nice thing is that the owners were coming in after us, so I hope it was a good surprise for them.
 

999 Reads

A Gift On A Small Slip Of Paper

Over the holidays last year, my team at work did a 'Secret Santa' gift exchange. We all picked a name out of a jar, and gave our assigned person small fun gifts over two weeks. Then, we all met after work one day for a final 'reveal' where we exchanged our real gifts. Usually, these kinds of gift exchanges feel a bit more focused on material things than I like to be, but I wanted to be a team player, so I went along with it. It ended up being fun to scheme up a meaningful trail of gifts to give my colleague. On the evening of our final gift-giving exchange, the person who had picked my name out of the jar totally blew me away with her thoughtfulness. She gave me a beautiful framed photo and a postcard that she'd been holding on to since she was 5 years old. Then, ... Read Full Story >>

3021 Reads

Shine Brighter

Dealing with the gal at the front desk at the doctor's office is sometimes less than pleasant. She can be quite off-putting and not at all welcoming. It can make a stressful time even more stressful. 

So, today, when we walked in the office, we were determined not to allow our light to be dimmed by her energy. We smiled at her and complimented her about the flowers on her desk. She smiled and chatted back.

We just need to shine brighter instead of being "reactive". Perhaps she's doing the best she can. We needed to be less reactive to her and more compassionate. We give away our power when we allow ourselves to be reactive.

2517 Reads

Fresh Fruits and Flowers

I took flowers to a family friend, and some for her daughter. I didn't think the husband would appreciate flowers so I took him fruit. :) They're the kind of people who always make sure they give to charity because they know what it's like to barely have enough. They don't usually buy fruit because the wife and daughter don't like it. This was an easy gift for me to give him. I was alone with him for a minute so I asked what his favorite fruit is. He said he likes them all, and he's happy just to have fruit. I think he especially likes it because he knows it's the one thing that's just his. They are such wonderful generous people. It's an honor to be able to gift them something they will accept.

1091 Reads

Winds Too High For You To Stay Cold

A week ago when I got out of the train, I was about to exit the railway station when my eyes got stuck on one old guy. The morning cold winter winds were piercing through my woolen cap. I noticed the older man wasn't wearing anything on his head nor scarf around his neck, yet he was sitting in open amidst chilly winds.

I went to him and asked the reason for not wearing any headgear. He gave me a weird stare and said "coz I ain't have any" - I got the vibe that probably he felt embarrassed that I asked him that. So I pulled out my cap and handed it to him. I told him to keep wearing it. He then smiled. I smiled back and left. :-)

1836 Reads

Magic In Kindness

On my way to visit my daughter in the hospital I pulled over in front of three boulders, in front of the beach. I climbed onto them with some sacred things to release and plug in a bit my self.

A young man and two young women were on the beach below me and it seemed one of them was babysitting two little ones, both under two. I had a piece of wood with me, shaped into a wand of its own accord, and I've been knowing it would be moving into someone else's hand in usefulness presently.

I was called to pass it on to the young woman in care for the little ones. Honored to share magic every day in infinite ways.  

1141 Reads

Stretching My Kindness Muscles

I recently joined a gardening club. When I received my first club newsletter, I noticed that the Editor was resigning. I love doing newsletters, so at the meeting last Thursday, I volunteered to take over as Editor if they needed someone.

Today I received a call from the president asking me to take over another project instead. I almost said no, because this project does not sound nearly as fun as producing the newsletter and it will be a lot of work.

But I realized that the new project was important and one that I could do -- and that the KIND thing to do was to say yes. So I stretched my kindness muscles and agreed to take on the project.

1654 Reads

Children's Minds

Children's mind can make anything. They can convert simpl things into beautiful things. This car parking place has decorated by children with paintings, craft paper and peace doves. After decoration this place is looking so beautiful and peaceful. Thanks to all children.

824 Reads




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