Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Don't Take Anything For Granted

I was racing around making a six figure income when I suffered a bursted brain aneurysm. Over a five year period I lost everything that I had worked for - home, savings and career and having to do a bankruptcy.

I am humbled and also grateful for being able to live. During this time I went into kidney failure - and a dear childhood friend has offered me her kidney! Can you believe this gift??!

Life is so delicate and precious. Walk softly.

1874 Reads

Compliments

Compliments can be the easiest acts of kindness. I truly enjoy complimenting people I see every day. I like to think about what kind of compliment would make that person's day.

For the fashionista down the hall, it's fun to compliment her on her shoes. But maybe the person that just smiles all the time would like to hear, "You have such a nice smile!" Maybe the waitress that's working extra hard would like to be acknowledged.  My 5 year old loves to hear how she is the greatest artist EVER!

I'd have to say the greatest compliment I ever gave was to a very close friend. This friend just didn't see the amazing spirit that I see in him everyday. He had ignored or doubted all these wonderful emotions and actions he was capable of.

When I complimented him on all his wonderful attributes, it was like a light bulb went off and he had received that confirmation that he was all those things. Since then, he has embraced his true spirit and it grows everyday. I'm so happy to be a part of that.

2351 Reads

Pulling Weeds

A few years ago I spent several months at a Franciscan center. We were barred from working in our professions and instead helped maintain the extensive grounds on the compound. The philosophy was that working in our usual professions would close our minds to new discoveries and that desiring success would limit our possibilities to explore and take chances. Simple acts such as mowing the yards, trimming trees and planting crops allowed us to work without competition. I had always told myself and others that honest work was worthy and that I did not judge people by their professions. The first times I received compliments for my work I responded with expressions like; it’s no big deal or it’s pretty simple. After a few weeks I realized that I liked to hear compliments about my work. This realization was so strongand emotional that I started to cry while I was pulling weeds. I was embarrassed ... Read Full Story >>

1827 Reads
  • Posted by docdjenkins
  • Feb 23, 2015
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Solving Puzzles

Almost every day, during our breaks, an older man who is my colleague closes himself off from the noise in the break room by focusing on a cryptogram puzzle in the newspaper instead.  One day I decided to help him solve the puzzle and he told me he has tinnitus. Imagine working in a busy school when you are so sensitive to noisy surroundings! I also still have a problem with busy, loud environments, so I decided to join him in solving those puzzles. Every day we sit at the crowded table, fixing today's puzzle. We are still there, in the moment and talking to the people around us, but at times we tune out and puzzle for a bit. Occasionally other colleagues start helping us with the puzzle as well. I am very grateful that my colleague, who is really struggling with his hearing, has taught me how to zone yourself out when the ... Read Full Story >>

4068 Reads

Yellow Chrysanthemums

It was me who received kindness today. I was buying some flowers after doing my grocery shopping and the lady at the shop asked if I'd like some free flowers. 

Then she handed me a bunch of yellow chrysanthemums.
I had to hold back tears, as I was feeling worn out and poorly. So I'm spoiled - I have one bouquet of flowers in my bedroom and one in my lounge room. Her kindness meant so much!

2474 Reads

Remembering My Father's Vest

As a child, I had a lot of pent-up anger and was not good at communicating constructively. Once, as I was getting ready for school, my mother accidentally handed me my father's vest instead of mine.  This was around the time that I was getting to be larger in size than my father, and so as I put the vest, I felt like I was being choked in it!  I realized that it was a small oversight on my mother's part, but somehow the feeling of being choked overwhelmed me and filled me with anger. Without thinking much, I took out my anger on my mother.  I was so upset that she had handed me the wrong vest, that I responded by violently ripping it apart from my chest! Later, my mother shared her own frustration with my father: "See what your son has done." Instead of scolding or abusing me, my father calmly  ... Read Full Story >>

8815 Reads

Coffee and Kindness


I went into a coff​ee shop for coffee and a bagel. I noticed the woman in front of me ordered coffee and a bagel and asked how much it cost and then said just coffee please.

I thought about it after I sat down and went over to the woman and gave her some money and asked her to get what she wanted. She got it and gave me the extra money back with a note saying she was a massage therapist and she wanted me to call her for a free message.

She said she hoped I called her because she wanted to see me again and that I had made her day. She made my day too.

3644 Reads

I Hope I Never Forget To Give Without Being Asked

It's hard to ask for help. It's uncomfortable to admit that you need something or that your life would be a lot easier if you could lean on someone else to do a little thing that you always assumed as your responsibility.

I've learned that people won't ask for help, but they sure will appreciate it if you jump in and do something helpful. Before you jump in, however, you have to really understand their circumstance and figure out what act or deed would be most helpful.

Out of habit, we often bring casseroles to the sick. Sure it is helpful, but they get too many and their kids don't like what they get so they have to make something else anyway.

So, instead I try to fill in where others aren't - doing laundry, picking up kids from school, including kids in activities etc. I hope I never forget that silence does not mean someone is ok, it just might mean that they don't want to ask for help.

3599 Reads

Perspectives

I opened up a series of e-mails this morning telling me that I had been tagged in a photo on Facebook by my brother, there were numerous comments. When I opened up the photo, it was breathtaking. The caption read: "Trailer Park Tuesdays" and the photo was a snapshot of my mom and dad sitting on lawn chairs, each holding a boy on their laps, one is me circa 4 years old, the other my brother, 1 or 2. We're captured au naturale in front of our mobile home. My father, in cut-off shorts and a t-shirt, holds a cigarette in one hand as I lay sprawling, my face so dirty it looks like I'd been in a rumble. My mom and brother are much more presentable, but in the backdrop you can clearly make out an old oil barrel that had haphazardly been converted into a BBQ pit.  I couldn't stop ... Read Full Story >>

3187 Reads
  • Posted by ericgalatas
  • Feb 19, 2015
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We Are Not Alone

In the days after 9/11, I was on the team of chaplains assigned to Ground Zero. I worked from T-Mort, the temporary morgue on- site. In addition to praying with first responders over remains, we also helped search, and held the place of spirit during the long hours of digging. One night, several bodies were discovered in a collapsed stairwell. Another chaplain and I were standing at the rim while the recovery team- firefighters, iron workers toiled to free the bodies. Someone shouted up "We need you down here!" It was a deep hole about 10 feet down: dark, narrow, smokey. We shouted OK, but I could feel myself panic. I know they didn't mean they needed ME. They needed the help or strength of God. It was my job to hold that space. They lifted us and passed us down into that shaft. My heart was racing and I felt faint, ... Read Full Story >>

1876 Reads

A Lost Sheep and a Helpful Hand

A complete stranger I had met today during a Red Cross relief operation for the recent victims of Supertyphoon Haiyan was kind enough to walk with me for about 2 km from the headquarters to the train station. I was absolutely unfamiliar with the area, really bad at following directions, and very unaccustomed to (deathly afraid!) crossing streets filled with raging buses and jeepneys, especially in the Philippines! The moment I had left the headquarters, I felt like a lost sheep in a big city, but instead of having to deal with all of that, I had a god-sent friend, a Good Samaritan who willingly delayed his lunch hour just to make sure I got to my destination safely--a companion who offered not just the gift of a friendly conversation but also his unconditional friendship. And even more, I saved money instead of paying for a cab! We parted with good wishes and hopes for ... Read Full Story >>

3037 Reads
  • Posted by foxyballerina
  • Feb 14, 2015
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Hugathon

I set up the stand "Free Loving Hugs" on the side walk on one of busiest days in town - Fair on the Square. Over a period of two hours standing there I gave out about 300 hugs including 3 puppies, one kitten, and 1 kick in the butt.

What? Kick in a butt? Yea! One man came to me and he said that he really needs a hug. I gave him a hug, and then after he told me that he was going through some tough times in his life, I gave him a second hug. He said that he also needs a nice kick in the butt and so I happily, but gently, obliged, to help “kick”-start him into action. =)

Another memorable request was from a lady who came to me with tear filled eyes, and told me that she really, really needed a hug today. I gave her a nice loving squeezy hug, and then she told me that she was just diagnosed with cancer. Then I felt like I needed to give her a really, really long healing hug. We stood there hugging and the emotion of the moment overcame me and we both stood their crying for a while... =)

3154 Reads

Persistance Pays Off!

On my hands and knees on the floor of the airplane, searching for an old lady’s missing hearing aid during the flight from Sydney to Los Angeles, it occurred to me that this may not be the most dignified posture for a Buddhist nun. (With shaven head & long flowing orange robes, I stand out.) I had seen the old lady from the seat in front of me as she tottered up and down the aisle with a flashlight. I asked a few times what was wrong, but she didn’t answer at first — she couldn’t hear me. She spoke with a thick eastern European accent, wearing a vintage plaid tweed woolen coat.  Do you know what hearing aids cost? Thousands, especially for the new tiny hidden-in-the ear type she described. It takes a long time for an appointment to make a new one, and many doctor visits to get the thing ... Read Full Story >>

4339 Reads

I Can Never Repay You...

When I was younger, my children and I went to live in a shelter. The day we arrived, we had five dollars and nothing more. I worried about what I was going to buy with that five dollars for my children to eat. I decided on boxed Mac and Cheese and lunch meat …the shelter was like an apartment and had a kitchen. I bundled my children up and got ready to walk to the supermarket. When I opened the door, someone had placed a food basket in front of it. There was pasta, a ham, and other assorted canned foods. There were toys for my children, pajamas, and bubble bath and slippers for me. I took the basket inside, cried and thanked whoever left me the basket, and made dinner for my babies. I found out after that a group of students from the high school up the block (Aquinas, in ... Read Full Story >>

4658 Reads
  • Posted by leneesmail
  • Feb 11, 2015
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Changing For the Better

I have always been quick to judge or to stress about a slow driver or someone who is walking slowly in the mall etc. Since the Sandy Hook shooting I have been making an active effort to Be Kind.

It started with Ben's Bells than continues with pages like this. Now I stop and rethink -  maybe a person is lost in thought or having a bad day.

I try to reach out to strangers more and to be more aware of people around me and what they may be going through. I try to pay attention more. To sit back to breathe and to just Be.

To reach out and make sure to perform an act of kindness, whether it's holding the door or giving a pack of stickers to a little boy in a store. In the end, I feel good about myself and the world around me.

I notice more people being kind to each other. The world moves a bit slower and is filled with more compassion and love. I hope I continue to grow in this direction.

1727 Reads
  • Posted by suezrider
  • Feb 9, 2015
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Sharing fruits with beggars

I was coming in on the train and many beggars were coming for alms. I had just recently bought a bunch of bananas. I kept gifting them bananas, when the bananas were gone, I bought oranges and kept giving them.

Later I saw one beggar sitting in next compartment eating the orange. I felt happy being able to see the result of my actions. I would have also been happy otherwise, but seeing it used, gave me  pleasure. I noticed he was dropping the peels of orange on the floor, so I offered him one more orange with a newspaper to throw the peels in.

He accepted and threw the peels in the newspaper. After his eating was finished, he collected the peels and threw them on ground, and took the newspaper with him.  I started laughing seeing it.

Then a thought came, "Should I be angry, or should I tell him not to do it?" I answered ,"no" since I felt my karma was over and my heart told me that explaining to him was not correct at that moment and I kept laughing.

1797 Reads

What I Never Want To Forget

My family comes first - not work. Why? Because no matter how long you live, life is short. And people, especially family, are precious.

My mum in law died last week at the grand age of 88 and she clung to life (despite having advanced cancer) with every fibre of her being. One of her last days, she sat, even though she could barely move, outside, in the really strong gusty wind, just being alive. She just plain refused to go inside. Stubborn, yes. Breathing, yes. Alive - absolutely.

When it comes down to it, no-one cares about your work achievements at the end of your life (really, they don't), they care about how kind you were, how you made them laugh, how you listened or were there for them, what you did for others and those quirky little things that you didn't realise people noticed about you that made you special to them.

The last week has been a huge eye-opener for me. I hope it's changed me forever.

2340 Reads
  • Posted by kristinlaustin
  • Feb 7, 2015
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Kindness dispensed

I had to go back to the hospital for neck x-rays today, nearly 9 months after my cervical fusion which has been so very slow to heal. Everyone in the department seemed to be having a bad day. It seems my kindness trademark continues to be a small bag of candy [gold wrapped chocolate coins now that the Halloween candy is all gone :-)] with a smile card inside. I gave out 4 in the department and offered a hug which was accepted by two. They all seemed to love it. Then saw my doc and got the news that there is finally some "substantial" fusion and I can start rehabbing the neck muscles. Gave out two more in his office. But the most precious memory for today happened at Trader Joe's, where many good events shared on KS seem to take place. I was chatting with a young man off and ... Read Full Story >>

1789 Reads

A Precious Memory

In the last three and a half years my most precious memory has become the last day I spent with my eldest daughter Bonnee who died suddenly and unexpectedly the next day on a flight back to the UK where she lived.

We spent a lovely afternoon together - we walked a long long way down the beach with our arms around each others waist and we stopped every now and then and sat on a log or on the sand. It was a beautiful summers day and talked about her life and her future, my life and future, as we always did share so much together.

That part feels unbelievably sad... and it WAS a beautiful time together - I felt it was special at the time but did not realize how unique, heart warming and heart rendering it would be and I am thankful that I made that time for just her and I.

2040 Reads

The Day My Dad Saved A Drowning Girl

One of my most precious memories is watching my dad save a drowning girl in a swimming pool. I was probably about 9 years old. We were on vacation in Mexico and were staying at a campground that had a pool on the property. The water in the pool was so green that you couldn't see through it. There weren't many people there because the water wasn't inviting, but there was a group of local teenagers near the deep end; several boys and a girl. They boys were trying to make the girl jump in the pool. I could tell she didn't want to: she wasn't wearing a bathing suit. She was wearing heavy, Levi jeans and boots. Then a few of the boys grabbed her and threw her in. She sank like a brick. The water closed over her and became still again. The boys became silent and just stared at ... Read Full Story >>

3925 Reads




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