Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Love Makes Us Better Than That

My wife Julie and I went to Glasgow today to support an actor friend in a show he was putting on. After getting to the city centre we had to travel a few stops on the city's underground rail line.

I couldn't help but notice a young couple sitting along from us. They were turned kinda sideways in their seat so she was leaning back against his chest. They looked comfortably in love.

The tube train took a corner and, somewhere, metal screeched against metal. The noise was painful.

Well, the young man winced and raised his hands to cover his ears. But, half way there, his hands stopped. They changed direction and he covered his girlfriend's ears instead.

Instinct makes us want to take care of ourselves - but then we have love to make us better than that!

A Lovely Little Old Lady's 90th Birthday

Last year, around Labor Day, I read a "Happy Ad" in our local newspaper.  There was a lady in a local nursing home, who was celebrating her 90th birthday and her family wanted everyone to know about it.  It said that if you wanted to drop her a line, here was her address.  So I did.  I found a birthday card and dropped her a short note, wishing her a happy birthday. A week or so later, someone knocked at my front door.  I opened the door and found a middle-aged man standing on my doorstep.  He introduced himself as the son of this woman to whom I had sent the card.  He explained that he just wanted to drop by in person and thank me for sending such a nice card to his mom.  Apparently, like many older folks, she did not receive much mail and was quite excited to receive mine.  I ... Read Full Story >>

All That A Simple Act Of Kindness Can Do

A simple act of kindness can change a person's whole day. What was once dark, dismal, and gray, you can make gay. It doesn't take much effort to impart something magnificent. I must tell you that a kind word has much force, far from insignificant. A simple act of kindness can be the difference between roads traveled, for instance, to a troubled person needing a lift out of sinking gravel. If you could save a life or a soul by giving a heartfelt greeting, I know you would. Or, stop to say: "Are you okay?" to a soul that was needing. A simple act of kindness can put color back into a grimacing face; Move someone from self-destruction and self-hate, So they can find redemption in God's loving grace. It need not be your life's work, but it can give worth to someone else's life: Turn away from strife to ... Read Full Story >>

More Than Just a Favour

I had an errand to do in Saltcoats today.  I arrived early so I decided to go for a walk by the harbourside. It was pouring down with rain but I had my new waterproof jacket on so I didn't really mind.  As I was walking along, I met someone who wasn't so lucky. He had swept back salt 'n' pepper hair, a bushy gray beard, sky blue eyes - and he was soaked through and through. "Could you do me a favour?" He held his hand out. "Probably not," I replied. Things had been tight financially and for the past fortnight I'd been telling my kids we can't do this and we can't afford that. "I've been trying to chase up the price of a beer," he continued. Well, I admired his honesty. If I'd been living on the street like he obviously had, a beer might have been important to me too. I ... Read Full Story >>

The Most Valuable Compensation

I accepted a position working part-time at a school. I knew when I accepted the position that there would be some times when it would be very busy. Right now is one of those times. I'm in the middle of the madness!   I don't mind staying late or going in after dinner to get things done – do you know why?  I am appreciated!  Even though my bosses’ hands are tied when it comes to my salary, they still let me know my worth in other ways. Last night I went to work at 7pm.  It wasn’t really required, but it was the first night of classes for the older kids in the religious education program. I wanted to make sure everything was in order. That all teachers were happy and the students got to their classrooms okay and all that sort of stuff was going smoothly.  My bosses were so happy to see me there. When ... Read Full Story >>

Why Elephants Don't Run

A number of years ago, I had the rather unique experience of being backstage in Madison Square Garden, in New York, during the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus.  As I was passing the elephants, I suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg.  No chains, no cages.  It was obvious that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their bonds but, for some reason, they did not.  I saw a trainer near by and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. "Well," he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them.  As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away.  They ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness of Italian Grandmas

We were traveling in Italy recently and what really made our trip memorable are the encounters with Italian Grandmas. I had just crossed a busy road in Roma. A grandma right next to me sprinted across and came back with my toddler's missing shoe. I hadn't even noticed and she thought it would be easier to run twice than try to communicate with me through our language barrier :) Another time, I was looking for Fontana de Trevis and had wandered off in the name of looking at this and that. Out came a Grandma from a small cafe and she instantly knew I was lost. She took me by my hand and asked where I was headed. Then she went into a rapturous discourse about the fountain (I guess) and in 3 minutes, I was standing in front of the masterpiece. Just as she was about to disappear, she searched for ... Read Full Story >>

A Teacher's Gift

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers. That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual. On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?" she heard whispered. "I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!" and, "I didn't know others liked me so much." were most of the comments. No one ever mentioned those papers in class ... Read Full Story >>

Started As One Of Those Days, But Ended In a Smile

This morning I woke up crabby. Haven't we all had those days? Where instead of sunggling up in a warm bed you have a list a mile long of things to do?

On my list of chores this morning was to go to the bank and deposit some money. I went to the drive through at the bank and of course there were no ENVELOPES. How annoying right? I drove around to the other side of the bank and saw that there was another ATM with plenty of envelopes.

So, I got a bunch of envelopes from that ATM machine and drove around again to the drive-through-ATM. Then I thought...SMILE CARD!!!  I filled up the container with the envelopes and in the first one I put a SMILE card and a dollar bill.  Maybe the next person doing morning errands that is going through the drive through ATM will smile when they see the dollar bill ready to be deposited!

I am finding all kinds of ways to use the smile cards and to practice random acts of kindness...and to tell you the truth, it made me SMILE too!!

The Lion and the Mouse

There are times in our life when we don't take action because we feel the action is too little, that it probably wouldn't make a difference. However, sometimes, even the smallest gesture can make a huge impact on someone's life.   I was reminded of that today when I stumbled upon this fable:   The Lion and the Mouse by Aesop A Lion was sleeping peacefully when he was woken by a mouse running up and down his back. With lightening speed the Lion reached out and caught the little mouse in one of his large paws.   He dangled it by its tail and roared, “I’m the King of Beasts! You’ll pay with your life for showing me such disrespect.”  The Lion held the little mouse over his huge open jaws and prepared to swallow it.   “Please, please don’t eat me, Mr King of Beasts, Sir,” squeaked the mouse. “If you forgive me this time and ... Read Full Story >>

A Jaw Dropping Performance in New York City

This weekend, a group of us were in Union Square, New York, watching Tylon and Macho, two contortionists and street dancers, put on a jaw dropping performance that included jumping over 7 people.  At the end, the hundreds of people watching began putting money into their bucket. 

One tiny little girl walks up with her mom, she couldn't have been more than 2 years old.  Tylon, who grew up in the Harlem projects, reaches into his bucket, folds up a couple of dollar bills, and hands them to the little girl.  Everyone who witnessed it was stunned and humbled by this pure act of giving.  Our jaws dropped for a second time. 

Inspired, my bro, Shrey, later pulled out several more bills and we snuck them into Tylon's bucket without him seeing. His small, simple act of giving will not be forgotten. 

If you happen to be in New York, be sure to catch these do-gooders Thurs-Sun evenings in Union Square, across from the Whole Foods!

The Little Boy and the Big Dog

The other day I was sitting in my sister's room playing with my PSP. Before I started playing, I looked out the window and saw this little kid standing at the front gate of the building he lives in. I didn't think of anything at first. I kept playing and playing.

Then, my Mom came in and was looking out the window and she saw that same little kid. She noticed something and told me that every time the little kid tried to walk up to his flat something stopped him and he came back out again. She also noticed that the little boy was crying. She asked me to go and check on him and find out what was stopping him from going upstairs.

I went over to where the boy was standing and found out that there was a BIG DOG sitting at his front door. This little boy was afraid of the dog and couldn't do anything about it. I held the boy's hand and helped him to go up the stairs to his home. He was very happy and ran into his house. I'm very happy that I helped that kid and made him very happy!

Being Just The Way You Are

A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One pot had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After 2 years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the ... Read Full Story >>

When Blessings Come Home To Roost

I was recently invited to dinner by a friend. During the meal, the manager  of the restaurant came over and said that our meal was free. He stood there smiling at me and there was an air of familiarity about him but I couldn't quite place him. Finally I asked him if he knew me. He laughed and said I had probably forgotten him, but that I had changed his life.  My friend was quite curious and asked him how I had done this. He said that twelve years ago he was in recovery and I was teaching a stress management class that was mandatory for him to take in order to live in recovery housing.  I asked the group what their number one stress was and most, including him, had said it was their bosses. He said I listened carefully to everyone and then took a chair and placed it in the center of ... Read Full Story >>

Anonymous Gifts at Work

I started a project at work where I've been leaving anonymous gifts for people. I've been so excited about it, and so far, I've left gifts for four people. They aren't any big things, but I think it's such a cool thing to do. I've always loved doing things like this.

The toughest thing has been leaving the items and not getting caught. I've left a smile card behind asking the person to pay it forward. I've only gotten to see one person's reaction to their gift. I had to flat out lie when she asked if it was me! :)

I eventually plan to "tag" everybody. I hope people will start talking about it, so they can see they haven't been the only one who has received a gift. I'm hoping it will spread and catch on.

One Sign Of Hope

This week we took a handcrafted sign that we made down to our local Salvation Army and presented it to the captain. The sign read ‘HOPE’. He had an idea of where to put it as soon as he read it. The look on his face showed appreciation, with a touch of bewilderment. This organization sees, first-hand, the struggles of so many people. The reason we made and gifted them the sign is to help lives, who are in need of believing in a better tomorrow. A simple word can say so much. Life dishes out hard hits and unjust situations for all of us, at one time or another. We hope for an answer, a change of circumstance, or even a miracle. Some are hanging on to hope with all the strength they have. What would life be like living with no hope? What would the world be like? To ... Read Full Story >>

Ticket Checker On The Way To Bangalore

I was travelling  in the train from Raichur to Bangalore, on the Mumbai-Coimbatore Express in India.  The train was full and chugging its way along . In the seats nearby was the Ticket Checker,  an elderly man sitting with his papers.  In the afternoon, another man came hesitantly towards the TC and was enquired if he was the TC who was traveling until Bangalore.  The TC nodded, and said, "Yes, what do you want?"  He said, "Sir I boarded the train last night in a hurry and it seems that in the hurry I have lost my purse.  I do not have any money with me, and I have not had any food for the last 12 hrs.  I need to eat something -- can I get Rs100/- from you?  I have called my friend who will meet me at the Bangalore station with the money and I will pay you ... Read Full Story >>

Up Close And Personal

My husband got free tickets to almost every Denver Nuggets basketball game and the seats were always very close to the floor.  My husband never likes to stay for the whole game, so, we usually leave half-way through.  I thought that it would be cool to pick a random set of two people from the highest row in the arena and give them our tickets, so that they could move closer for the rest of the game.  I asked my husband to go to the third section and pick someone and give our tickets to them.  Meanwhile, I watched everything from our seats.  Some people thought he was trying to sell them something, but he was always able to find someone who was genuinely happy to receive the upgraded seats for free.  It became a tradition for us when we went to the games to pick people at random to give our tickets to.  Also, when we had extra tickets to a game we would often pick random people in line to buy tickets and give them our extras for free.

Dinner for Two at a Mexican Restaurant

A few nights ago some friends and I went to dinner at a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican resturaunt that we all like. A few minutes after we arrived, an older couple about 76 came in and wanted to sit at a table that was not clean. I found it kinda' odd since there were 5 tables clean and ready to go. Just as this thought ran through my mind, the lady said that it is their table that they always sit at. We all heard it and smiled.  I lookled over at them and I smiled and they did not smile back. When we payed for our meal, we decided to pay for their meal too. I wass soooo excited to do this. We told the waitress not to tell them anything and to just let them know it is taken care of. She agreed and off we went.  I was laying in bed that night wondering if they liked it or if they were surprised. Then I realized it didn't matter -- what mattered was that they got something they wouldn't have expected and it hopefully warmed their hearts.  It sure warmed mine.

The Best Way I Ever Spent $100

A few months ago I decided to take my daughter on a little fun weekend trip to Melbourne (Australia). We enjoyed a beautiful day at St Kilda beach and, after hours of walking around, decided to sit down on a bench near Lunar Park to have a little rest. We noticed a duffle bag behind a bush but there was no one around so we assumed it must have been stolen and dumped behind the bush. There were clothes, books, university documents and lots of other bits and pieces in the bag. We found a wallet with some cards and ID but no cash. The bag belonged to an 18-year-old girl. She had put a tag on her bag with her address and phone number on it, so I called to let the owner know I'd found her bag and arrange some way to return it to her. The girl's mother ... Read Full Story >>