Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Doing Something Out Of The Ordinary

I have just done something out of the ordinary, and it felt fantastic. 

I found myself with a couple of hours free and nothing to do so I  decided to go to a low cost supermarket and made up 3 bags of food costing about £10 each. I then proceeded to drive to a very deprived part of my town where I knocked on the three most shabby looking doors and waited.

Once the door was answered, I simply said: "I know things can be hard sometimes and we all need a little help, I hope this comes in handy." I handed over the shopping, smiled, turned around and walked away. The look on the people's faces was priceless. The food fed the people and the gesture fed my soul.

As always, "we make a living out of what we get but we make a life out of what we give!!"

 

Smile in the Lottery Ticket Line

Yesterday, I stopped at the grocery store to buy a lottery ticket. I had a problem with the machine, so the clerk came out to help me. At the same time a lady stepped in line behind me.

I had two dollars left in the machine, so in that moment I decided to do something nice. I printed out my ticket, then got an instant ticket. I turned around, held the instant ticket in my had and said to the woman behind me,  "This is for you."  

The woman looked shocked and said, "What?" I didn't give up. I said, " This is for you." She finally took the ticket and (because the ticket was a holiday ticket), I wished her "Happy holidays!"  I turned around and quickly walked away, beaming with joy.

I felt so happy for doing something for someone else. I just wish I had a Smile Card with me.

Cherishing Time With My Dad

My dad turned 92 yesterday so we spent the whole day together. I went to mass at 7 am, as always, but the rest of the day we enjoyed time together.

We ate out at Hat Creek hamburgers since we both love hamburgers. It's just a great place and the staff are so friendly and enjoy us coming there at least once a week.

We watched John Wayne movies and we love his movies a lot.  We have a collection that keeps growing over time.

I live with my dad and we help each other enjoy life. He has many stories to share about the good old days and i never get bored hearing them over and over again. It's a blessing to help with chores and errands for both of us. He is the last one alive in his generation and that makes him sad sometimes but we have many memories to cherish about the family that is gone, especially my dear mother.

I feel blessed with every day I have with my dad at this age. So many adults are in nursing homes at this age. I am trying my best to avoid that.  He can still get around and can do stuff on his own. I help more than in the past but let him do whatever he can to be independent.

A Litte Extra Gratitude at Dairy Queen

As I was standing in line for my secret weekend indulgence, a medium dairy queen cone. I watched the two teens behind the counter working frantically to get through the long line of hungry customers. Usually there are one or two customers but today, to my surprise, there were more than ten. So many, in fact, that I wondered if it was worth the wait. There was a tip jar in the middle of the counter and though most orders were for three or more concoctions no one was leaving a tip. The order before mine was a big one! Eight "Blizzards," all sizes, flavors, etc, to go. The gal worked efficiently, cheerfully filling the orders and delivering them with a smile and a "Have a nice day!" Then came my tiny order. "I would like a medium cone." The gal smiled and said, "Is that all?"  "Yep", was my reply. I had handed her a twenty ... Read Full Story >>

Everyone Understands A Little Bit of Love

Today I was walking on a side street near my campus to move my car and I saw an older Asian woman hauling two large trash bags of cans. She was searching in people's recycling bins to fill her bags. It was an empty street and she seemed in her own world. I went up to her and asked if I could help her with the bags. I pantomimed that they seemed so heavy and asked, through gestures, whether she needed help taking them somewhere.  She just smiled a toothless grin as I smiled at her and she muttered something and waved me on. I walked to my car, sat there and watched her going from recycling bin to recycling bin and I thought about how it didn't seem to faze her at all. I did not have any food or drink in my car, but something just moved me to give ... Read Full Story >>

Just A Simple Minute Of Silence

I'm currently at a conference in Atlanta.  The first night ended with two hours of what they called 'speed networking' - eight minutes to have a conversation with someone before a bell rings and you move on to the next person.  

I know! It's something that only a business-type could come up with!

So I come into this situation and when the first bell rings you feel the tension straight away. The noise in the hall is deafening. I look to the person sitting across from me and say, "I have a humble suggestion. How would you feel about starting this with a minute of silence?"

After a long day at the conference everyone is tired but after ten of these 'speed networking' sessions and ten minutes of silent contemplation I feel quite fresh and have ten people I feel I connected with and gave the gift of a minute's rest to.

Sometimes the most efficient way to go is to do what is seemingly least efficient - just sit there!

It Is In Giving That You Get

It was one of those unexpected moments of generosity that just takes your breath away - I called up my favorite sandwich shop, ordered two veggie hoagies, and arranged to pick them up in ten minutes. Parking places are hard to find around there so my wife dropped me off, saying she would pick me up again in a few minutes.  I walk in and mention my order. "Ah yes! Here you go. That'll be $14.87," the burly man behind the counter said.  I gave him the cash and he handed me my change. As I picked up the napkins he handed me a giant empty glass. "Here you go," he said. "That's for your drink."  I took it, not really sure why he had given it to me. "Um, I actually didn't order a drink," I said and tried to hand him the glass back.  "Oh, I know. Go ahead, help yourself to a ... Read Full Story >>

Pay-It-Forward New Year Resolution

2010 is finally over, so why not make the resolution to pay-it-foward? Some one very near and dear to me is very inspired after watching the movie 'Pay-it-Foward', and we both want to make it a goal to spread the seeds of loving kindness in 2011. It would be most appretiated if you join us, and follow the ripples :) If you're reading this let this be your new years resolution! To do one kind act to three people, and have those three people do one kind act to another three people...and have it have a chain reaction. If we can do this in enough sequences we can cover the city. 3x3=9x3=27x3=81 (That's only three sequences). 14 sequences equals approx 14,348,907 people...that's a little more than Manhattan! So it's simple, do one kind thing to three people, and lets make a change! :) Kindness will always endure and we both share the same morals of ... Read Full Story >>

Feeding the Soul by Helping People

Hi all, I would just like to say what a FAB site this is, and I feel blessed to be in this with soooo many beautiful people. At the tail end of 2007, my wife at the time told me that our marriage was over.  It hit me extremely hard emotionally, physically, and financially.  I had my faith in a lot of things taken away from me.  But that all changed because of the love of the person that I was put on this earth to be with!! To cut a long story short, I put my house on the market (selling it at the worst possible time due to the economic meltdown), made a pittance on the sale, but I did not mind because at least I wasn't in negative equity.  Being grateful for what I have, instead of dwelling on what I don't have has really kept me in ... Read Full Story >>

50 Acts Of Kindness in 15 Days

I had decided to do as many acts of kindness as possible during the month of September, and I must say that I have surprised myself. I I never thought that I would get that much done in such a little space of time. I haven't done anything  extra-ordinary, but I have been making sure to keep doing them. For example today is the birthday of a friend from HO and also from a very good friend (almost like a sister) from PT so I decided to top up their birthday presents by donating a small amount to a charity on their behalf that is going to allow 1 child to have clean water for a year, and 1 child to have medical care for 3 months, that didn't cost me the earth and I think it gave their birthdays a RAOK touch.  Other things I've done include: sending a card to a ... Read Full Story >>

Smile Cards in Action at School

I've mainly been using my smile cards in paying for the person behind me at the Burger King and McDonald's drive-thrus that I go to.  However, sometimes I find myself yearning to be more creative with them.  I have over 250 of them to distribute since I "made" my own and ordered them through a website that prints and ships out custom cards.  I have decided to bring kindness to the staff and students at the school where I work.  I will keep my eyes and ears open to see whose day could use a smile.  I'm sure I'll get to everyone sooner or later or better yet, everyone who receives smile cards will eventually be able to help out and spread the smiles with me.  Today, I enlisted another co-worker to anonymously deliver a smile to my first recipient.  She was more than happy to be included and said she just loved things like ... Read Full Story >>

A Little Bit of Help for a Stranger

I was shopping in a large thrift store when I overheard a conversation between a young man who worked there and his supervisor.

The young man was obviously sick and was asking to go home. When the supervisor said he could leave the young man said he would walk over to a friend's house (some distance away) and borrow $10 so he could get his prescription filled and make it back to work the next day.

Something about the thought of that sick young man walking all over town to try to borrow money for medicine really touched me. As he walked past me to leave the store I held out $10 and said "This is for your medicine."

I'll never forget the look on his face which bordered on shock and then melted into relief as he accepted the my gift. His appreciation was a gift to me!

Kindness For A Bride

Imagine a remote and war torn region where two couples decide to wed. Imagine they had nothing but what the church  and their friends could contribute. I was heading to my home town, the same town where this couple were trying to become husband and wife. As I arrived, the preparations were already under way. What little was being done for them came from the kindness of the community. That's how I came to hear the matron speaking to the bride and suggesting they could sleep in the church the night before, wake up early, and go to a nearby building where they could get ready before the service. They didnt have anywhere to stay, nor any money for a hotel. So, I asked the bride if i could invite her to my house (after explaining who I was to her.) She gratefully said, "Yes." I spoke to her church leaders since the wedding was set for the ... Read Full Story >>

Stories for an Extra Special Listener

 This isn't so much a kindness story as a lovely moment. Every once in a while I go along to a local radio station to record some stories that go out as a 'Thought For The Day'. Usually the sound engineer is very fussy about background noise when we are recording. Sometimes there are other people in the studio and he makes sure they know silence is the order of the moment. Today there were two people in the studio. One was teenage boy working at a computer keyboard. The other was a woman who might have been his mother or his helper. We exchanged some pleasantries and she asked if I was doing 'Thought For The Day'. I said, "Yeah," but joked I was self-conscious. "So, nobody listen," I said in a mock raised voice. Then we began to record. While I spoke into the microphone I noticed the woman talking to the boy - ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness Returned After 35 Years

My grandfather was the head of his village for nearly 20 years until we moved to a different city. About a month back, my grandfather was out for his usual evening walk to a nearby garden and didn't return. We were worried and searched for him everywhere but we could not find him. Later in the morning, we got a call from a hospital from an unknown person who had remembered my grandfather.  All he remembered was his childhood nickname. We rushed to hospital to find that my grandfather had been hit by a vehicle and it was this person from 35 years ago who helped my grandfather reach the hospital.  This good samaritan had stayed with him the whole night and paid  for all his hospital bills (you can't get treatment unless you pay the bills first). All this, and he only knew my grandfather with his childhood nickname.  My grandfather was not even able to recognize that person.  We thanked him deeply, and offered him the money he ... Read Full Story >>

Joy from Joining Helpothers.org

This is my first time so please bear with me. I am VERY new to all of this. I am still learning from HelpOthers.org. I came across this site while doing research for a presentation I did on "Positive Attitude at Work and at Home". I was inspired by the stories I read and enjoyed reading the daily kindness stories. I have been doing this for about 4 months (reading stories but not "participating" in submitting any stories). I am not computer savy so have been a little weary about joining a "group". I don't facebook, twitter, or any of that stuff so you can understand my hesitation. I finally got the courage to join and have not regretted that decision (in fact I know I should have sooner). The very first day I created a profile - I got two welcome messages and karma bucks. I was pleasantly surprised. I am truely ... Read Full Story >>

Tagged by Mail

I'm going to do something that I think is new because I haven't read this on any site yet.

I have printed the kindness booklet available on the site with some very beautiful kindness stories in it. I get tears in my eyes just by reading some of them.

I'm going to select the most beautifull ones (or not, i'm in the process and they are all so beautiful). I'm going to put them in an envelope with a smile card in them and just hand them out to people.

I hope that people have the same reaction to the stories as I had and try to do something nice for people.

I'm going to do this more in the future just for the fun of it. This is my kind of act of kindness.

I know people are always curious when you give them something and they don't know what's inside yet, it's a small gift, an awareness, and then they are tagged, just to give something to someone else.

Let me know what you think of this idea.

Book Store Happiness

I have a quick story to shar about a random kind act that  Ive done about 4-5 times  now.

Whenever I go into a book store, if I have a little extra money, I find a book that relates to finding happiness or getting out of a slump or anything like that.  Then I slip a $5 bill and a Smile Card of course ;) just to show the person who finds the book that there is good in the world and someone really truly does care! :)

A Circle of Kindness From Our Neighbors

Last year my family was moving from New Hampshire to Washington State.  In the process of selling our house, giving away most of our belongings (we were moving to a much smaller house and didn't need most of it) and saying goodbye to all the friends we'd made over the past 22 years there; our 27-year-old daughter, who was living with us, became progressively more ill, eventually becoming unable to sit up or walk. Three weeks before we were supposed to close on our house, she was diagnosed with both Lyme disease and a brain tumor, which was pressing on her brainstem.  Her excellent neurosurgeon was able to remove the entire tumor, which was non-cancerous, and within days she could walk again and use her arms.  Intravenous antibiotics took care of the Lyme disease.  When we returned home from the hospital (after 11 days away), there was a big sign welcoming us home ... Read Full Story >>

Heart Shaped Pizza From The Heart

This past school year one of my best students found out his Dad had cancer. His dad is one of the most involved parents we have at our school. He goes to fundraisers, meetings and is also so active in his family life - it's amazing!He and his wife are raising 2 great kids! When we, the teachers, found out, we were so sad and really wanted to help out. A group of friends to this family started up a roster to make the family food some nights. All you did was sign up for a night and bring them supper. A group of teachers, decided to go in on a night together. I collected money and headed out to get supper. We had decided on a Wednesday evening Pizza Party :-) I ended up buying a yummy fruit salad and Papa Murphy's Pizza.  It just so happens that it was this couple's wedding anniversary that ... Read Full Story >>