Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Meet Them Where They Live

It was a bad time for me. I was low emotionally and tired physically. Probably because of this I hadn't shaved for a few days. Also, because I had been doing some repairs at my daughter's house, I was dressed quite scruffily. Boarding the bus to go home I saw it was almost full so I found a rail to lean against. That's when a young woman, sitting with her child, stood up and offered me her seat. 'Wow!' I thought. Out loud I said, "Do I look that old and tired?" She replied, "You look like you've had a tough day." I thanked her sincerely and stayed standing. A moment later a man rose from his seat at the back of the bus and made his way towards me, squeezing past several people on the way. Then he told me about his addiction problems, asked my advice, and just chatted about ... Read Full Story >>

4009 Reads

Playing With Learning

These children are playing a card game based on English learning method, which is gifted by my friend from across the border.

Thanks to her for their kind thought and great heart.

Blessings .....


1162 Reads

Spreading Kindness

I bought a coffee for the old lady who sells fruits and vegetables in the market near my office. At first she was surprised and had question mark on her face. She asked me, "What this is for?" and I said, " This is an appreciation for all your hard work and for standing whole day in this cold weather. This is my thanks to you" and handed over kindspring smile card to her which mentioned to spread the kindness and pass over that card to the other person.

She had a bright smile on her face and was very happy. That look on her face made me very happy and I realized that there is a connection with every part of the nature. the only thing we need to learn is how to connect and I believe that kindness is the master key.
I saw the same lady after 2 days and she said to me smilingly, "I have passed on that card with added kindness". Again the nature got it connected.

1175 Reads

Coffee Creamer

The customer behind me in line at grocery had only one item, so I invited her to please go ahead of me. She was appreciative and so polite in her thanks. I then paid for her item (coffee creamer) and received even more smiles! :)

Put a little kindness in your coffee today, my friends!

1402 Reads

Mcdonald's Breakfast For You!

Today I did a fun act of kindness. As I raced through my morning, I realized I wouldn't have time to eat breakfast so I stopped at McDonald's for a yummy egg mcmuffin to eat on my way to work. I paid for the lady's order behind me and treated her to breakfast. As I pulled away, I could see her smile when the cashier said it was paid for. What a great feeling to start someone's day off with positive energy!

1129 Reads

Avocados For Techie

To show appreciation for my favorite "techie" today, I enlisted the help of my daughter. We have an avocado tree that gifts us an abundance of beautiful fruit. I put some in a bag, along with smile card. I asked my daughter to leave it (anonymously) for a member of our tech department. I told my daughter, "Ernie must not know where it came from, though!" What I love so much about this isn't the act of giving, but the act of involving others, my daughter in this case, in an act of kindness that goes unknown :).

1463 Reads

At The Vet

I was just at the vet for a checkup on my dog, when an older lady was in the waiting room crying so hard because her pet was not doing well and from the conversation with the vet I heard that it might be the day to make a decision on putting the pet to sleep.
I walked up to the lady, hugged her, talked to her for a moment, and gave her one of Mindy's Peace Doves.
Loosing a pet is so very hard.

962 Reads

Baked in goodness

Through an awesome group of people, I spent a week finding ways to 'create non-monetary wealth' for others. One thing I got to do was to perform a random kindness. I popped over to my very favorite vegan bakery, Reverie Bakeshop, and handed $30.00 to the woman behind the counter with (quietly) the special instructions that it be used to pay for the next few orders until it ran out. She didn’t understand what I was asking her to do at first and kept trying to give me a gift card for it, so I explained (also quietly, as there were by now two patrons who had walked in behind me) that the money was not for me, but rather random people who came in for an afternoon treat. Her face lit up as she realized what she was then going to get to do and exclaimed happily to the man now ... Read Full Story >>

2062 Reads

Extending the moment of kindness

A friend was over recently and I know he has been struggling for a long time with jaw pain -- so much so that he cannot chew. I made him some Chai Latte from Tazo Tea (what they use at Starbucks) as I had just bought a carton of it. He loved it and as I started writing down the name of it so he could buy it, I said, "here, take the carton - I just opened it so it is brand new."

You would have thought I just bought him a very expensive gift, he was so moved! I realized that for him, having a new taste - especially when food is such an issue with his problem - was an incredible treat. It was so simple and yet it was not my first instinct. The lesson of life from this was to take a moment to be mindful and thoughtful about extending the "moment of kindness"...

766 Reads

Tomatoes for the community

Last year I grew tomatoes and like usual the bad one's that the bugs ate and the bird's nibbled i threw back into the dirt and covered them over, well the next spring i had tons of tomato plants blooming all over the place. My Mother asked what could I do with them and I took a day to think it over. As hard as times are now, I try to find ways to " Help others and Pay it Forward", so i decided to re-pot each plant into it's own paper cup and place an ad on( www.MyFreeCycle.org )where people can place items for free to help others and the items wont go to the land fill and create waste. Paper cups from the local dollar store and a brick of CoCo Coir ( a miracle compost/ potting soil retains 80 to 90% water retention) Dehydrated from the local hydrophonics store. I ... Read Full Story >>

2533 Reads

Washing Cleaner Seeing Further

We had a spare washing machine (it's a long story) so we gave it to our youngest employee who has just moved in with his lovely girlfriend.

And, today, my son got his new glasses so we donated his old spectacles to a program that sends them overseas for disadvantaged people with vision problems. 

Hopefully they'll help another little kid see better for a while.

973 Reads

The Traveler

One afternoon last summer I was driving along on my way home when I noticed a woman at the roadside near the edge of town struggling with a wheeled suitcase. There was no sidewalk, only grass, and she was having a rough way to go. I pulled over to a nearby parking lot to watch her. I suspected that she was headed to the homeless shelter across the street. As it became apparent that she was on her way somewhere I continued to observe. She appeared to be in her fifties and was dressed very conservatively, a skirt nearly to her ankles, a blouse, and a lace shawl around her shoulders. In truth I was not only assessing her situation but whether or not she had the potential to harm me if I intervened. After a couple of minutes I turned around, pulled the car up next to her and offered her a ... Read Full Story >>

3080 Reads
  • Posted by islandtaryn
  • Jun 4, 2015
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Little Community in Costa Rica, Big Lessons in Gratitude

Yesterday, my wife, two boys and I went to a small pueblo in Costa Rica. We met families that live in shacks with no water and a hole in the ground for a toilet. They fit 8-10 people in a 200-feet living space in which they all sleep, cook, and take refuge from the rain and sun. We brought a hot meal for the whole community and 300 hotdogs disappeared in less than 20 minutes. We brought others from our town to the small town of Los Angeles (in Costa Rica) and all our children played soccer with local children, delivered new backpacks with supplies to its nine students. It was an amazing day and we learned more about taking pride in what you have and having gratitude from the people of Los Angeles than we have in a long time.

2248 Reads

Shoes

My family and I were out the other evening driving around getting some things done, as we drove by this one corner on our last stop for doughnuts, we noticed a homeless man without shoes and socks.

My husband and son got out the car and walked over to speak with him. There happen to be a small shopping center across the way so my husband ,son, our other two daughters and I met at the Payless. We bought that man,whose name by the way is Woodie, a pair of shoes and a pack of socks!

1107 Reads

Today On My Morning ...

Today on my morning walk I came across a credit card on the grass, it definitely wasn't there on my way up the hill and caught my eye on the way down. Upon arriving home I phoned the bank it belonged to and will be dropping it into the local Police Station for the owner to pick up :)


1633 Reads

A Late Night Phonecall

A friend of mine sent me a message telling me that her dog died after suffering for quite some time. I was working and thought of sending a message, but then decided to give her a phone call later on instead. In spite of having met during the day, I gave her all my support and we talked for more than an hour. She thanked me a lot for my call and my company.

1850 Reads
  • Posted by mmanuelabernar
  • Jun 3, 2015
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Formula and Diapers

My friend has a beautiful 9-week old baby. We met for coffee and lunch yesterday. Her baby has been unwell, so I sent her home with a can of formula, a pack of diapers, and dinner. She sent me a very thankful text last night! :-)

1122 Reads

Team Random Act Of Kindness - Uplifting The Workplace

There are so many acts of kindness happening in my workplace. A group of our staff took the time to plan a potluck appreciation for our administrative team to recognize their hard work and dedication. They went above and beyond in the theme and décor by posting pictures of each team member, complete with amazing food and celebration! This was a team effort and it's uplifting impact in the workplace is a definite benefit!

949 Reads

"Two Bits" of Fun!

Today was really fun! I went to my local grocery store with a handful of quarters and I loaded up all of the candy/gumball/toy machines so when a child came across what he/she wanted, there'd be quarters waiting to pay for them. I also added a "Smile" Card so they can learn to pay it forward. 

5200 Reads

The Kindness Of Strangers

Yesterday was awful. We had what they're calling a 'weather event' here, a huge low sitting off the coast dumped about 14 inches of rain in a day, triggering by far the worst flash flooding I've seen in the 13 years we've lived here. The kids and I ended up trapped in our car in rapidly rising flood waters. The engine had stalled and wouldn't start again, the kids were terrified and I didn't know what to do. Then a man in a 4WD pulled up beside us and offered to tow us out of the water. Once he got us to higher ground he asked where we lived, which was about 2km down the road, so he towed us all the way back to our street before going off to look for more people in trouble. I don't know this man and I'll probably never see him again, but the kids and ... Read Full Story >>

3973 Reads




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