Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Stamping Dollars

For years now, I have stamping-with ink and a craft stamp-the back of my paper money. Some of my previous stamps have said-"Wishing you flights of angels", "Pray for Peace" and now it is "Make Peace Not War". For many years I have been afraid the FBI would knock on my door and take me away to Federal Prsion for defacing money. (Yes, I would be the one they would set an example of.) Finally, I looked into it and found that I was not defacing money. Whew, what a relief! To this date, I have received one bill back as change. A co-worker whom I gave change to bought her lunch from a fast food place. I went to that same place perhaps 1/2 hour later and got that dollar back. It was a bit freaky-yet cool. It brings a smile to my face when a cashier notices and I hope it brightens the day of a person who received it.

Helping out with a Cell Phone

Wanted to share a small act of kindness that made my day! 

I found a cute green SPRINT cell phone at school. I went to all the classrooms asking if it belonged to any of the students, but nobody claimed it.

I put it in my pocketbook and decided that when I saw a SPRINT store, I would turn it in to them and they could find the owner!...Me and my friend were at the Mall together and sure enough, there was a Sprint Store!

So I turned in the lost cell phone. I'm sure the phone is with it's owner again now :0)

Keep Smiling...it's Contagious you know!

The Power of a Simple Comment

Have you ever thought that the simple act of writing a comment on a story can be an act of kindness? Or sending some karmabucks out of the blue? Or sending an uplifting message to another member? I have been blessed with all of those and I can't tell you the number of times I have been blessed with messages from other members that reached me when I needed them most. There have been days that  I wake up in the morning a little bit sad then I find that someone left me a note wishing me a good day, or someone kindly commented  on a story I wrote a long time ago, or someone just gave me some karmabucks out of the blue, I can even tell you that once I was feeling very low and I had been away from the site for some time, and I received a beautiful message saying how ... Read Full Story >>

Gratitude for our Caregiver

About 2 months ago I realized how often my mother's caregiver would do kind things for me.  Not just little things ~ BIG things, like picking oranges and juicing them, making my bed for me when my muscles are so tight I can't bend over easily, raking the leaves and weeding the front yard......... those kinds of things.  I ALWAYS thank her, and she says she enjoys it.  But I decided, since she is paid a set wage by the agency we went through, and has a large family to raise, I would put a dollar in a decorative box every time I see one of those kinds of things that she has done for me.  I have already changed out 20 single dollar bills for a $20 bill TWICE and have probably somewhere in the vicinity of $70 in there.  That's my own "thank you for your many kindnesses" box, and ... Read Full Story >>

The Missing Cheese Bun Feeds Two Souls

Any passenger on the subway who caught a glimpse of me may have already thought that I was strange as I was smiling while reading Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground. In particular this one gentleman sitting diagonal from me was staring at me, at the cheese bun on the floor in front of me, and then back at me. “Next stop, St. Patrick Station” – my stop was quickly coming up.  I had minutes to either take the cheese bun, which nobody else was claiming (as a passenger probably dropped it by mistake and got off at a previous stop), or leave it there and hope that it didn’t go to waste. In those few minutes I felt my pride getting in the way. “What would other people on this subway think of me if I took the cheese bun? Would they think that I wanted it for myself? Would they think ... Read Full Story >>

An Unexpected Gift at the Restaurant

The other night, me, my husband, and his girlfriend took our oldest son out for a steak dinner for his 21st birthday. The restaurant was crowded so we gave our name and they were to call us when a table was ready.  

While we were waiting, my husband saw a representative from a company that supplies product for the company where he works.   He went over to chat and say hello. Once we were seated, we looked over and the representative and his wife were seated just behind us.  In the course of our conversation, it casually came up that it was our son's birthday.  

After our meal, the waitress came over and told us that the representative had paid for all our meals! We were so surprised!  

I've often read on help others about such grand gestures by strangers.  I had been a recipient many years ago when my brother had paid for our meal when he knew I was going through some employment difficulty, but I've recieved something like this from someone I didn't even know.  

This coming week we will be seeing this representative at a company dinner and will be sure to thank him in person!  

Small Acts of Politeness And Manners

Just a simple small act that made my day!

I was in Walmart the other day and the isles were really busy with shoppers.   I was looking at purses (a tough decision :-)) in a small isle and a man came with his cart.  Since the isle was so packed with shoppers, he started to back up and was going to go all the way around to get to the socks which were just ahead of me.

I stopped him and said "Sir, would you like to come down this isle?" and he said "I just need socks". I said "Please come on down, don't go around, there is room for us all!" He thanked me and said "Ya know, most people act like they don't even see you." and he thanked me and smiled.

It was such a small guesture, but it made us both feel good!  Anyone can be gracious and have manners!

Renewed

My parents home is now painted and the carpets are cleaned.!  I am so happy that I pushed myself through the barriers...and that now it is finally done....I am happy inside.  

I know that the home now projects true love, cleanliness describing proud prevoius owners with a happy presence ad I am renewed.  The home will bring happiness to the people who buy it.  I now feel that in my heart.  I now stand proud!!!

Happy smiley days.  Lets project them all around for the world to see.  All our differences will eventually come together if we just remember to SMILE and be kind to one another. 

A Surprise For My Coworkers

As a surprise for my coworkers, I bought 2 dozen red heart helium balloons and tied 10 of them to my team’s desks at work. 

The rest of the balloons were tied onto random desks with a smile card attached to the balloon ribbon.  When they come in to work on Monday, they will be surprised! 

All those balloons are a cheery sight!

A Five Year Old's Wisdom

My five year old daugher's teacher recently took a leave of absence to address her health issues.  Before she left, my daughter painted a picture for her which I am told, is now being kept by her bedside.  The picture has clouds and flowers.  She told her teacher that God was in the picture and when asked "where?" , she pointed to a few lines.  She said that God is everywhere.  He is watching over you.   It brought a tear to her teacher's eyes but gave her hope that everything would be fine. 

On a Mission to Create Smiles

The other day, I went to the Wendys near my house where I usually like to go. There is a girl that always works the register but never smiles and is always serious everytime I go. That day, I was on a mission to make her smile. When I noticed it was her at the Register again: I said "Hello, How are you?" She said "May I take your order?" I said " Hello, How are you?" (and made eye contact with her).  Then she looked at me and said with a Smile "I am fine and how may I help you today?" I said to her "Thank You!" Then I placed my order. Sometimes, I throw the Representatives for a loop when I call in to pay my bills by asking them "How are you doing?" I am adamant about getting an answer.  People working in customer service jobs could use a smile ... Read Full Story >>

Trading Tokens and Enjoying a Longer Wait

I was in Cambridge a couple of months ago and wanted to mail some inspiring books to this wonderful person I have known for a long time. I have had the privilege of volunteering with her and learning from her infectious enthusiasm. So the books were a gift to her to read and pass along in a pay-it-forward mode. 

The queue in the post office was rather long, and I had picked a token for my turn,  number 29, and was sitting in a vacant seat. I saw this elderly lady walk in sometime later and pick a token, which was number 55. I knew that she would have a wait of at least an hour, while my token was due to be called in another 5-10 minutes. So I walked to where she was sitting and asked her if she would like to exchange tokens with me as she would then have a shorter wait. She gave me the most beautiful smile, exchanged her token with mine and thanked me in the softest voice I have heard.

The additional one hour wait I had was definitely worth it !!!! 

Thank You Dad !

Smiles,
Ramya . . .

Chain Reaction

Today,before getting on the bus, I gave my last smile card of the last set I had to one of the kids that rides the public bus with me every day.  

While we were up there he sat far away from me but I still got to see that he gave it to the person sitting right next to him.

When that one person got out of the bus, I was looking out of the window and saw her/him give it to their significant other that was picking them up from the bus stop. They smiled and hugged.

made me smile(:

Mom To Others

A Small Gesture Meant a Great Deal

This is just a short story but it really brought home to me how very small acts of kindness and even courtesy have bigger effects than we realise.

I have a bad back which flares up from time to time. Yesterday I was out walking while carrying shopping bags and my keys. My keys slipped from my hand and fell to the ground. The problem was that because of my back I couldn't bend down to get them. I was just thinking of how to get around this when two teenage girls came up beside me.  Without even speaking to me, one of the girls just reached down, picked up my keys, handed them to me and went on her way.

While it was a small gesture and she couldn't have known that I was in too much pain to bend down, it meant a great deal to me at that moment.

Love In A Time Of Pain

Helping a Friend

 A friend can not give herself a pedicure any longer and her husband can't do it because he is losing his eye sight.  So once a month I go to their home and give her a pedicure and fix a light meal.

A Charity Shop Pram

  A few weeks ago an anonymous Smile Groups friend gifted me £100 to do good deeds with. Since then I have used the money in the U.K. and the U.S. It has helped family and strangers, and generally raised a lot of smiles.   They have warmed my heart, but none so much as the gift I was able to give just an hour ago.   I was in a charity (goodwill) shop looking at the second hand books. It just so happened that the book shelves were next to the toy section.   After a few minutes I became aware of a group of women standing behind me. They were poorly dressed and spoke in what sounded like an eastern European language.   As they looked through the clothes rails a little girl, about three years old, came over to the toy section. Imediately her attention was caught by a toy pram.   What is it about little girls ... Read Full Story >>

Stop, Look And Listen