Stories of Kindness from Around the World

The Most Heartfelt Hug

Something so cool happened to my hubby and I on Friday!
We were leaving the post office and I handed this random guy a card we had made which says: "This Card Is To Certify That I Am Loved By The Members Of A FiveOh4 Uplifting!"

The guy says thank you with a huge smile and walks away.  As we approach our car the guy walks up to me and says, "I have to do this!" and gives me one of the most heartfelt hugs I've had in a very long time!

That hug was SO worth it!

Stopping Traffic with the Help of a Smile

My house is located on a very busy road.  There are frequently huge trailers whizzing by at high speeds, and it is virtually impossible to get across the street to the nearby hospital.

One evening, when I was coming out of the house with my 6 year old cousin, I saw a drunkard by the house, talking to himself.  I smiled at him and then proceeded to stand by the curb, waiting for an opportunity to cross the street.  This man then came over to us and started showering us with blessings for a long life and good fortune, all simply because I gave him a smile.

After wishing such kindness on us, he actually stopped the traffic on the road and helped us to get across the road without any difficulty.  As we parted, he simply smiled and waved at us as he plodded away.

Moral of the Story:  Never underestimate the power of a smile.
 

An 8-Year-Old Experiments With Smiles

My 8-year-old daughter  is experimenting with kindness and smiles.  She has been making her own colourful smile cards in all the colours of the rainbow and often takes them to school or stuffs her pockets with them when we go out to run errands.  She makes them very carefully and takes great pride in her work :) Last Sunday, I took the kids grocery shopping with me.  My daughter packed her pockets with about 20 of her homemade smile cards.  She was hoping to see John, who is an elderly man who gives out samples.  We see him from time to time and he is so happy and friendly, that we can't help feeling good talking to him.  John wasn't at the store on Sunday, so my daughter decided that it would be a good idea to distribute her smile cards to all the store's other employees.  As much as I have ... Read Full Story >>

A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed

This story started many years ago, when I was in the 5th standard at primary school. I was at a girls' school and our teacher made all the girls in the class sit next to someone different everyday. It was great when you got to sit next to one of your dear friends, but very boring when you had to sit next to someone you didn’t like. I hated sitting next to Madhuri. I didn’t like her because she always fought with me.   On one of the days that my teacher had paired Madhuri and me to sit next to each other for the day, I noticed that she seemed very anxious. I asked her what was wrong. She wasn’t very forth coming to start with, but eventually, after for a long time she told me that she had two sisters and one younger brother in her family and that her father ... Read Full Story >>

Polite Behaviour Causes Restaurant Happiness

I wanted to share a story that I heard from my friend today that put a big smile on my face.

The Business of Respect and Kindness

So I am on the way to an appointment, and while I am not late yet, I don't have much time to spare. I drive up Henley Road (always careful to observe the speed limit, of course), and I approach that nasty, blind S-curve just south of U.S. 40. Ahead looms a garbage truck. Uh-oh. By their nature, garbage trucks progress slowly -- house by house by house. Passing a truck on that nasty, blind S-curve is foolish. I prepare for an impatient crawl through the curve and up to the stoplight. I see a hand hanging out the side of the truck. The hand is motioning. The hand is waving. The hand is motioning and waving for me to keep moving and go around the truck. I have the reflexes of Uwe Blab, but I finally pull out and around, pass the truck, reach U.S. 40, make it to my ... Read Full Story >>

A Neighborhood Party with a Special Surprise

We had a great neighbourhood party this weekend. We all gathered on someone’s driveway and everyone brought one dish. It was an international food theme so we had lots of interesting treats. Our neighbour Margaret is 97 years old and it was her birthday soon. I thought it would be fun to celebrate her birthday at the same time so I baked a big cake and lots of brownies. I took it over to the party driveway along with some construction paper and colored markers. I had bought it for the kids, so that they could make her birthday cards. When Margaret came over in her motorised scooter we yelled “SURPRISE!” and sang her “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”. We all gave her big hugs and the kids surrounded her and proudly gave her the cards that they had been making. It was so awesome. Margaret’s son and daughter-in-law were there too and I could tell ... Read Full Story >>

A Season to Renew

As the new season of autumn approaches, let us consider not only the outward changes of renewal in nature as we see the color of leaves change, but also look to the renewals in our relationships and honoring the needed changes that need to take place within them.  Listen now, to the words of a revered sage, as he imparts wisdom on refreshing our relationships. Our thoughts,words, and actions often cause harm to others and to us.  Renewing our relationships on a regular basis is an important practice. Without reconciliation,  we cannot deepen our understanding and we only cause  more suffering . Every week we have the time to go to the cinema, to go shop, but we rarely find the time to renew the relationships with the people who are close to us.  " Begining Anew " is a practice of reconciliation. It involves three steps - sharing, appreciation, expressing regret ... Read Full Story >>

Wacky Smile Dolls (with Photos!)

I decided that I wanted something fun to leave with my smile cards...so I made these crazy looking dolls... designed with no other purpose in mind but to make the finder SMILE!  Each one is different and rather wacky in his/her own right!  Have a look at the photos below - what do you think?  If you stumbled upon one of these ladies sitting quietly, minding her own business, just waiting for the bus with a smile card attached... would you smile? Or say you might open your desk drawer to find her there rumaging through your belongings...wouldn't you just have to smile? The possibilities are endless! You just never know where one of these little Wacky Ladies might show up next!  But if you see one during your travels...I hope you'll share a smile with her! Silly, silly girls! Today I hid one in between some rocks at a garden at a historic site.  I ... Read Full Story >>

A Ferry, a Sunset and a Smiling Little Girl

My family and I were recently at a large sailing event in The Netherlands. These events can be so beautiful so I always have my camera around.  During the event, I was taking a trip on a ferry. It was in the late afternoon and the sun was setting in the background. It was beautiful.  I was looking around and I saw next to me a lovely little girl sitting on the shoulders of her father.  It was a perfect moment, the girl was smiling and the sun was setting. Without thinking, I took a picture of the little girl in that moment then and there. Her mother was slightly surprised that a stranger was photographing her daughter.  I explained that it was such a beautiful moment and showed them the photo on my digital camera.  They loved the photo. I said I could email it to them when I ... Read Full Story >>

A Perfect Stranger Restored My Faith

Anymore, it seems like all we ever hear about are the horrible things people do to others. I can't even turn on the news at night (we get Kansas City, Mo. news) without hearing of at least 3 people who were shot and killed plus numerous other acts of violence. Also, with families everywhere pinching pennies everywhere they can, not everyone is feeling as generous as they normally would be. But I found out that even in tough times, people can do simple things that might greatly improve a stranger's day. Not long ago, I was having one of those end of the week, everything fall apart, rotten days. I had a hard day at work, my week didn't go well and problems just kept popping up everywhere. Things broke or quit, unexpected bills came in and I was struggling to keep from loosing my cool from all the stress. Then ... Read Full Story >>

"Life is Perfect Enough"

I was on vacation recently in Palm Desert, California, visiting an outdoor craft fair on a Saturday morning. Although it was early, the desert heat had set in, and the day was untypically humid. Moisture-bearing clouds had been pushed over the desert by a hurricane approaching the southern coast of Texas. While the others shopped, I grabbed an icy drink and took my refuge at a picnic table under a tent where a middle-aged Carribean man was playing guitar. As his song ended, he acknowledged me, at that point his only audience member. "How 'bout da weather?" he nodded. "It's beautiful," I responded, quick to add, "I love the heat, but I came all this way across the country to get away from the humidity, and now the desert has this! What's this all about?" He shook his head. "Everybody wanting perfect'," he said, and with a wave of his hand he brushed my unworthy comment out of the ... Read Full Story >>

If You Had One Day

IF YOU HAD ONE DAY If you had one day to do anything you wanted, what would that be? Sing! Even if people have told you, 'never sing,' you'll want to sing. Jump! Feel your strength surge from the tops of your legs to the tips of your toes. Love! Tell everybody you love that you love them. Live! Life is for living, not waiting. Dance! Feel the music and let the beat pulse through your blood like fire. Reach! Try to touch the stars. Spin! Let your arms fly around you in circles like the horses on a carousel. Swim! Jump into the water like you jump into life. Head first with no regrets or worries. Laugh! Laugh loudly, and feel it from your stomach all the way up to your brain. Meet! Meet people you wouldn't meet before. Cry! Let your feelings be known. Hug! A hug is forever. But, most ... Read Full Story >>

A Simple Act That Lifted a Mother's Spirits

My daughter has always been one to help out anyone, but she loves to tell this story about what really made her make being kind to everyone a priority in her life.   She was going through a rough time. Her relationship had broken down and she was now a single mom with two young daughters.  She had just been laid off from her second job within the space of a year.  And she was struggling to make ends meet.   She always tried to stay positive even under the immense stress she encountered daily but she was having a particularly rough day this one day.  She had gone to the mall with her daughters to buy them some clothes and afterwards they went for a meal in the food court. The clothes had been quite expensive and she decided to skip lunch to make sure her daughters had enough to eat. She was feeling quite ... Read Full Story >>

An Unexpected Blessing From Beautiful Blue Eyes

I saw him sitting on the grass at my local strip mall.  His hair was matted, his clothes were dirty, and he was talking but I don’t know who to because there was no one near him. People passed by but they didn't seem to see him and they didn't seem to care.  The day was sunny and warm, perhaps they were all busy taking in the beauty in that the day had to give. But I saw him.  His name was David.  As I watched him, he moved my heart a little. I felt a little of his loneliness and isolation. I wanted to reach out to him, to make it a little better. I went into the nearby grocery store and bought him a cold drink and a sandwich and got some extra cash from the ATM.  I then drove back to where this lonely soul was resting, on the grass, ... Read Full Story >>

"Our Greatest Wealth"

We are born with two eyes in front because we must not always look behind, but see what lies ahead beyond ourselves. We are born to have two ears. There is one on the left and one on the right so we can hear both sides, collect both the compliments and criticisms, and listen to what is right and let go of what is not. We are born with a brain encased in a skull. Then no matter how poor we are on the outside, we are still rich inside, for as much as someone takes from us, they can never steal our minds. For the jewels and rings inside are pricelessly and eternally our own. We are born with two eyes, two ears, but one mouth for the mouth can be a sharp weapon of hurt or an arrow to shoot the love from our hearts. While it can be used to ... Read Full Story >>

A Good Samaritan Goes The Extra Mile

For Brian Tapp, not even having a horror day could overcome his bowerbird instincts. Driving along Alison Road in Randwick last month, the 59-year-old florist was contemplating failure: evicted from his Clovelly shopfront that morning, he was transferring some effects to his base in Kingsford. As he passed the entrance to Randwick Racecourse, Mr Tapp noticed something on the road. He pulled over. It was 10.15am. His day was about to change. Adam Morison's day was about to change too, but he didn't know it yet. If anyone in eastern Sydney was feeling worse than Mr Tapp it was Mr Morison, who had arrived at Sydney Airport at 10am for a noon flight to Bali. As he got out of his car, he went into a panic: he did not have his wallet, his passport, his money or his itinerary. "I was gutted," he said. "The surfing holiday was over ... Read Full Story >>

The Hidden Gems My Grandmother Gifted Me

I was having trouble with a bully at school once when I was younger. One day I eventually confided in my grandmother. I told her that I was being bullied at school.    She surprised me a little bit when she asked me what it was about? I said that I really didn't know.  She said she knew what it was about. She said it was because I hadn't done anything wrong and was simply being me. I really didn’t understand her? Why would I be bullied for not doing anything wrong?   She said that the other person was jealous of me because of something they lacked.  I was sure that couldn’t be right.   We weren’t very well off so I had second hand clothes, simple shoes, etc. whilst the other person was always in the latest fashion and had new things.    Then my grandmother explained that the jealously was not ... Read Full Story >>

The Power of Words

I feel blessed to have found my "calling" in life, which is teaching and sharing my passion for science. I have profound gratitude towards all of my students for everything they have taught me. I feel honored and privileged to be a part of their lives, even if for a very short time.

I sometimes receive thoughtful cards, notes and gifts from former students, but this latest card made me smile for a very long time....

I just wanted to share the part that really touched me:

"Thank you for sharing your knowledge, passion, work ethic and especially life lessons. Your words were not lost on me!"

That just really really moved me.

Thank you to all of you who write little notes to your teachers - it means more than you know.

Sometimes We All Need A Little Support

I will never forget a special trip to the grocery store a couple of years ago. My father had just recently passed away.  I was missing him terribly and rarely getting through a day without crying. I needed to pull myself together to get some groceries for my husband and young children. As I entered the store, I immediately had to control my emotions as the sweet aroma of my Daddy's favorite cinnamon buns made there at our local grocery store drifted throughout the store. I made my way up and down the busy aisles and filled my cart as I read my list, which I had prepared that morning. I was approaching the in-store bakery when I just couldn't control myself any longer. I held the cart and quietly cried as I looked at the plump, gooey cinnamon buns in the case. An older gentleman came to my side and simply ... Read Full Story >>