Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Being Kind To The Strangers In Our Own Bodies

I have been having some health challenges lately, and it's been a big eye-opening and humbling experience. For one thing, it turns out that they are a whole lot of folks in my life that have been working very hard on my behalf for years without my ever showing them much appreciation or gratefulness! They are called Liver, Heart, Kidneys, Lung, Cells, Good Intestinal Bacteria etc. In my 30+ years on the planet, I can't say I have taken the time to learn a whole lot about them, how they work, what makes them happy etc. They basically have been Strangers to me! Worse, I have totally taken these guys for granted and put them under a lot of pressure to perform under more and more challenging situations... stress, environmental pollution, too much work, too many sweets etc. And wow, ... Read Full Story >>

Releasing Books Into the Wild

Most of you probably know about bookcrossing - an online community working towards making the world a library.  Well I have been a member since the beginning of the year and have released about 15 books into the wild (that's were you leave a book somewhere as a random gift for the person who finds it).  Today was the first time that someone actually registered that they had found one of my books and her message was a great reminder of the power of simple random acts of kindness.

The young women who found it was off to the doctors and so the book not only kept her company and took her mind off her troubles while she was waiting for the doctor and on her trip home but put a great big smile on her face!

Imagine how you would feel finding a free book when you were feeling a little down and in need of something to take your mind off things...so get those books off your shelf where they are gathering dust and out into the hands of people who will enjoy them as much as you have!

Getting Help Unexpectedly

As I was buying stamps at the post office the other day, I observed sadness and dejection on the face of the lady at the counter.  I waited for others in the queue to finish their turn and for the lady to be free.

I asked her if she could spare two minutes and she suspiciously said, 'yes.'  I told her that I was a volunteer working for persons with mental illness and their caregivers and handed her my visiting card.  I said you seem to be in need of some help and asked if there was anything I could do for her. 

She gripped and squeezed my hand, tears rolling down her tired cheeks.  She told me that whenever she needed help she would just pray somebody would appear from out of nowhere!  I have been able to put her in touch with a cancer patients' support group which is doing a wonderful job.  My being there at that moment and offering her help couldn't be a coincidence, it surely is unseen providence at work.

Forget Technology and Listen

   Sometimes the best kindness we can offer is to simply listen. They say  talk is cheap, but in a world of technology, it seems that simply listening to someone else's voice, is secondary to the tv or game consuls.


   While the internet is  fantastic  in the way it brings people together, and introduces people all over the world to each other, sometimes to be still, and listen to another voice who needs you to hear them, is the one thing that all these modern day devices can't replace. 
  
   There are times when a friend, child or relative, needs to share with you tales of their day, or  they simply have a need to voice fears, hopes and dreams.

   Listening is a big part of who we are, not just the talking and doing. It is something special that we take for granted every day without really thinking about it.

   One of the greatest gifts we can bestow, is to be still and just listen!    

The Old Man on the Highway

As I turned off the highway onto the ramp to go home, I encountered a little old man on the side of the road.  His sign read, "Stranded, need ride to get to friend."  He had a bag, a cane and the clothes on his back. I turned my car to the right, the traffic horrific, no one letting me turn around.  So I went around the block and pulled a u-turn so that I could drive by this little man to offer him help.  A s I got turned, he had already begun walking up the road towards me.  It was like he knew what I was doing.  I stopped beside him and asked him what he was doing. He responded, "Well pretty lady, I am trying to get to my friend who is dying.  We have been friends for almost 50 years and now he lay dying -- I want to be with ... Read Full Story >>

Every Little Thing Matters

I wonder how many dozens of little acts of kindness we'd find if we really looked back at the end of each day? Do we have a good friend we check in with each day?  Each time we come to a 4-way stop, we often wave the other car through first.  And when we respectfully stop a few feet back from the crosswalk as someone passes, rather than stop right at the edge, the walker feels respected  and safe. Someone at the checkout stand drops a dime and you bend down and pick it up and hand it to them. You pick up one piece of trash on the sidewalk and place it in a garbage can. You're walking your dog and have an extra bag to pick up that poop someone else left behind. You wash the dishes one night instead of leaving them for your spouse - whose "job" it is.  You take your own bag to the ... Read Full Story >>

Helping by Stepping Out of Line

It was mid-summer and my father had taken me to Boston to see the ducklings in the public gardens. We had spent most of the day just playing on the duck sculptures, running around, anything an eight-year-old would enjoy doing. More than anything I wanted to go on the swan boat in the pond, where the little ducklings were lead to by their mother. The line was long, and it was a little after noon.  I was hungry and hot and was starting to get a little cranky. The boat was coming back and the line finally started to move forward. I excitedly looked around, silently saying to all around me,  "I'm going to ride the swan boat!" I saw to my left, on the other side of the chain linked barrier, a mother pushing her baby in a carriage. The baby had thrown his bottle out of the ... Read Full Story >>

Breaking My Six Week Streak

I'm a bit of an introvert. I've spent every weekend so far this year in my room or in the library working. It doesn't matter what kind of work, school work, debate work, just work that requires only a book, word document, and a quiet space. So yesterday when my friend asked me to go to an improv show with her after dinner I habitually retorted "No thanks, I have a lot of work to do." I didn't anticipate this being much of an argument, but 10 minutes and a few persuasive exchanges later I found myself saying "Ok I'll go, but just this once." I was still in a bit of shock about my response, to be honest. I had broken my streak of 6 straight weeks without socializing. But I couldn't say no to my friend this time.  I decided I would be a kind fellow and keep ... Read Full Story >>

Sunday Papers and Frozen Smiles

I've done it again....

I headed outside to get the SUNDAY paper, but before I got mine, I took a stroll down my street and brought the papers to the front door steps of people who haven't had a chance to get dressed and grab the paper yet. The delivery person just throws the paper on the driveway and it's cold and icy out there.  

I just returned from my  Antarctic Stroll.  My ears are chilled, my nose feels like it's going to fall off, BUT I have a SMILE  FROZEN on my face. Exercise and Smiles in store for me :0) 

Secret Snow Scraper Strikes Again

I usually carpool to work with my hubby on the really cold, snowy winter days, as I feel safer with him driving us in his huge truck vs my little car. Well, last winter, guess who was out sick for a few days? and guess who drove to work by herself? And guess how much snow fell?  5-6 inches and it froze so quickly into ice! Yep, you guessed it...."little old me!"  After work one day last winter, I carefully walked to my car, started the engine, turned on the heat and defrost and located my bright red hefty ice scraper and brush to begin the task of removing all the snow and ice from the car. It had been snowing all day so I had a thick layer blanketing the windows, hood, and roof. I worked away, trying not to be grumpy  or cranky about it, but not succeeding.  I  realized how spoiled I was because I usually get to hop into a warming truck ... Read Full Story >>

A Man Named Lawrence

This is a random act of kindness that happened to me on Sunday morning, as five of us got off of the 19 MUNI at Hyde and Fulton Street in San Francisco. It was at two in the morning, and we had just finished clubbing it up at a Persian Club and were trying to find our way back to Berkeley. There must have been this look of fear on our faces and in our voices as we were trying to figure out where the AC Transit stop was.   As we nervously chattered amongst ourselves, a homeless man a little ways away yelled at us, “What you lookin’ for?”   Ignoring him, our voices trying to figure out what to do got a little more frantic. “Excuse me!, what are you looking for? Powell is up one street.” I finally said, after much internal debating, “No, we’re looking for the AC ... Read Full Story >>

Learning the Power of Kindness Through a Quarter

I was at a basement computer in my college dormitory, when this girl comes up to me and says, "Do you have a quarter? I'm one short of putting my laundry in the dryer." I stopped to think about it for a few seconds and took a few moments to consider whether I'd be willing to give a quarter away.  I found myself judging her, thinking about why she didn't bring 4 quarters down from her room with her,as if she'd have planned to be one short so she could ask someone else for it.  Obviously that was not the case, but there I went again, judging the intent of others the way I judge myself when I do wrong things like stealing money, or lying. I responded, "Yeah, I think I have one," though fully aware that I had 3 since I just used two dollars to buy a drink ... Read Full Story >>

Dancing Through the Checkout Line

   I rather enjoy the music in the supermarket and so last week i found myself whistling and humming along quietly as i did my weekly food shopping.    I got to the checkout and noticed that the lady in front of me looked like she had had a bad day and the young kid working the checkout looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.  Still on my own little high from a good day I set about unloading my groceries and humming to myself.     When it was my turn I was snapped back to reality with the checkout kid smiling and dancing around.  When I commented on how nice it was to see him enjoying himself and that I also enjoyed the music he said, "Well I heard this noise and thought it was my mobile phone vibrating at first.  Then I realised that it was you humming and you ... Read Full Story >>

Life Is Baeutiful.

Do you remember the name of your kindergarden teacher? I do, mine. Her name was Mrs White. And I remember thinking she must be some older relation of Walt Disney's Snow White, because she had the same bright blue eyes, short dark hair, red lips and fair skin. I don't remember much about what we learned in her class, but my mother once told me that we used to write a lot. And I would bring back what I wrote and she would look at it and see there were so many mistakes. But no red corrections. And always a star. Sometimes even a Good! scrawled in that would make my heart soar with happiness. But it worried my mother, so one day when she went in to meet Mrs White for one of those Parent-Teacher meetings, she asked her why she never corrected my mistakes. Why she never red-pencilled ... Read Full Story >>

Anonymous Pizza Party

I am a student at Stanford, and last week I got an email from a wonderful student group on campus. The email said that they would be holding a meeting that evening, but unfortunately no food would be served because of the short notice in calling the meeting. Taking this as an opportunity to treat a great group of students, I biked over to a local pizza restaurant and ordered two large pizzas for the group. It was a little difficult explaining to the workers that I wanted this to be an anonymous delivery, but in the end they understood :) Pleased with my gesture, the manager taking my order even gave me a 15% discount, more than what was normal for an order of this size and completely unsolicited! I knew things would work out after that.  :) I asked for the pizzas to be delivered at the beginning of the ... Read Full Story >>

A Three-Year-Old's "Hospitable" Gift

My little boy, Matthew, had recently lost his beloved grandmother.  Matthew was just three years old and since her loss, he would often tug my hand in tears, longing for his grandmother to come back to the world.  At his tender age of three, he had an idea. He asked me if we could do something in honor of grandma so the world could remember her. When I welcomed his lovely suggestion, he said we could create something special for the children at the "hospitable", since grandma had always wanted to volunteer there. Although her heart was so ready to give, her physical capacity was limited and she could not drive or make the trek over to the hospital, and therefore had spent the majority of her days doling out her compassion to her family and friends. So, we decided to fulfill Grandma's last life wish.   Matthew and I teamed up and presented our kindness proposal to his pre-school classmates. We energized them with the prospect of going shopping and purchasing small gifts (chocolates, ... Read Full Story >>

Rainy Day Smiles for a Gardener

It was another week of puddles and downpours.  As I made a brief stop to grab a bagel I thought that a cup of hot coffee might be a nice way to make someone's day. I didn't have to look far to find my "target"--  right in front of my eyes was a raincoat-clad gardener on his knees in the dirt, planting flowers! 

I went up to the gardener and remarked on how beautiful his work was (truly, don't you just feel so thankful for all those landscape gardeners who add beauty to our days?).  I commented on how cold and rainy it was, handed him the hot cup of coffee and was greeted by a BIG smile---he was totally taken off guard and surprised!  Made my day to have found the perfect person to surprise! :-)  

Giving Away Guitar Lessons for Free!

I have dreamed of playing guitar for years and recently decided to try it out!  While I was roaming around the web a few nights ago, looking for some "how to" books and simple songs for beginners to play, I discovered a fabulous website (www.justinguitar.com) developed by a young guitarist in London. Justin's site is truly a dream come true for any beginner eager to learn. There are over 100 five minute long YouTube videos where Justin covers different aspects of learning how to play the guitar. It turns out he is a really great teacher and I'm having the best time "taking his classes." It's kind of amazing to be sitting here in Cape Ann and learning how to play an instrument from someone who is several thousand miles away and whom I have never met! The reason I'm writing ... Read Full Story >>

If Only President Lincoln Had Some Smile Cards...

Before he became president, Abraham Lincoln spent twenty years as an unsuccessful Illinois lawyer -- at least he was unsuccessful in financial terms. But when you measure the good he did, he was very rich indeed. Legends are often untrue, but Lincoln was the real thing. During his years as a lawyer, there were hundreds of documented examples of his kindness, honesty and decency. For example, Lincoln didn't like to charge people much who were as poor as he was. Once a man sent him twenty-five dollars, but Lincoln sent him back ten of it, saying he was being too generous. He was known at times to convince his clients to settle their issue out of court, saving them a lot of money and earning himself nothing. An old woman in dire poverty, the widow of a Revolutionary soldier, was charged $200 for getting her $400 pension. Lincoln sued the pension agent ... Read Full Story >>

Get 'Em Any Way You Can!

As a professor in 2008, I use an Internet Learning Platform for all my classes.  This allows me to post assignments, handouts, etc. for students to download and print before coming to class. 

This platform also has an announcements window that appears each time they log in.  I have place a Quote of the Week there for them.

But here's the catch-- on the first exam, one of the bonus questions was:  What is this week's Quote of the Week?  What does it mean to you?  Only 2 students got the question correct, but I got lots of notes that said that the students weren't paying attention to the quotes, but they will from now on!!

Get them the good stuff-- any way you can!