Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Five More Minutes

While at the park one day, a woman sat down next to a man on a bench near a playground.  "That's my son over there," she said, pointing to a little boy in a red sweater who was gliding down the slide.  "He's a fine looking boy" the man said. "That's my son on the swing in the blue sweater." Then, looking at his watch, he called to his son. "What do you say we go, Todd?"  Todd pleaded, "Just five more minutes, Dad. Please? Just five more minutes." The man nodded and Todd continued to swing to his heart's content.  Minutes passed and the father stood and called again to his son.  "Time to go now?" Again Todd pleaded, "Five more minutes, Dad. Just five more minutes."  The man smiled and said, "O.K." "My, you certainly are a patient father," the woman responded.  The man smiled and then said, "My older son Tommy ... Read Full Story >>

$1.75 to Make 7 People's Day

I work in the beautiful city of Barrie, Ontario.  I usually try to walk everyday on my lunch break at work for about 4kms, which takes me about an hour.  People in my town are courteous, appreciative and easy going, which makes my walks pleasant and highly enjoyable (part of the reason I take them!). The route on my walks varies day-to-day, but almost always takes me through the downtown core of the city.  The streets of downtown Barrie are littered with streetside parking spots, all of which are metered.  Now, the metered parking around the downtown core is certainly not expensive.  Usually, 25 cents will get you 25 minutes.  I've often noticed many of the meters are flashing red with an expiry warning and thought, "Thankfully I walk, I would hate to get a ticket."  Today, as I was making my rounds in front of a popular park in town, I ... Read Full Story >>

The Simple Truths About Giving

One of my best buddies loaned me a great little book called Smiple Truths by Kent Nerburn as she knows I love to read, be inspired and collect quotes, poems and great prose. Here is Kent's take on GIVING: "Giving is a miracle that can transform the heaviest of hearts. Two people, who moments before lived in separate worlds of private concerns, suddenly meet each other over a simple act of sharing. The world expands, a moment of goodness is created, and something new comes into being where before there was nothing! ...true Giving is NOT an economic exchange, it is a GENERATIVE act. It does not subtract from what we have, it MULITPLIES the effect we can have in the world. Many people....think of giving only in terms of grand gestures. They miss the simple openings of the heart that can be practiced with almost anyone....saying "Hello!" to someone everyone ignores, offering help to ... Read Full Story >>

Positive Side Effects of Helping Others

My friend had mentioned the other day that her father had a lot of children's toys that he was looking to give away.  She knew that i have a three-year-old daughter so she thought of me first. I told her I would love it if I could get some nice things for my daughter, which I wouldn't otherwise have been able to afford. When I met her father, he began to explain that he was poor once too and that he would hate to throw away things that can be very useful.  At first, he thought of taking everything to the Salvation Army but then he decided to see if anyone he knew could use these things first. Before he showed me what he was giving away, I thought the toys would be mostly lego's or lincoln log's or things like that.  When he was showing me around I saw a bed, a slide, a kitchen set and many other things that just ... Read Full Story >>

A Student Council's Kindness Campaign

The Student Council met today and shared their first kindness acts. A few of them stood out as special. Here they are...

L: Did something nice for her sister. Her sister had a test the next day, so she did the dishes for her so she can study.

CH: Wanted to help her mother. Her mom works a lot of double shifts (16 hours). She gave her a nice back massage to help her relax and fall asleep. She needed it.

A: She is my protege in the making. She adopted a grandmother at St. Barnabas Hospital. She reads with her, takes walks, knits or just talks to her.

Can't wait to see what they do next week...

Weekend Meals Delivered

Have you ever had one of those thoughts that just won't go away??? Well this last week I had one of those and although my week was going to be very full, I followed through. I hold a position in my church where a lot of my time is required to give service to others. Usually it is for those who are sick or have had an emergency come up in their lives or their extended family. Well I have had a strong feeling that someone who isn't sick needed that same kind of help- my Bishops wife. She has 5 children of her own, just fostered a teen and found out she is pregnant.  I have personally been trying to get everything done for the week so that I could go out of town- making sure my family is packed, house is clean, meal made for the hubby (he was staying home) ... Read Full Story >>

Do Not Fear, Smile Retrievers Are Here!

Last-weekend, my kids along with few other kids from the neighborhood volunteered to help me wash my car. We embarked on our car cleaning mission when my 10 year old came up with the idea of washing other people's cars as well. It was pretty hot outside and I had no plans to continue being in the bright sun. She further wanted to give lemonade to passerby's for free. I had seen little kids serve and sell fresh lemonade for a small cost (may be 25 cents) but not free. I felt fuzzy and decided to help her out. She promptly asked me, "What if we make this a smile car wash mommy"? I couldn't hold back my tears and encouraged her and the other kids to go inside the house and get creative and come up with ideas. While I kept myself busy in drying the car, the ... Read Full Story >>

Hard of Hearing Club

I have enjoyed mentoring the hearing impaired and deaf in my community. I urge you to give it a try -- working with children or the handicapped is so inspiring and rewarding!  I have given some inspirational speeches on how I accepted and overcame my own hearing loss at work and through various organizations. Over the past few years, I have been in email correspondence with a deaf young man who did not believe he was college material.  I found out one of my salesmen had a deaf son whom he wished would go to college (to ensure the best possible future and because he was so bright and excelled in math & science).  He asked me if I could befriend his son and share my experiences. I gladly agreed and had a grand time emailing back and forth.  His son is a lovely person, smart but lacking confidence and a sense of adventure. We were in contact for ... Read Full Story >>

Video: Are You Somebody's Favorite Person?

A subtle, poignant and charming film about the need for deeper connections in our lives.

If you ask yourself, are you somebody's favorite person, what would be your response?  Perhaps you can forward this video to your favorite person.

Tomato Soup to Chase Away the Flu

My friend fell sick with the flu yesterday, so I sent him some tomato soup and stuff.  We're all a bunch of students living away from home so I could make out how touched he was by the gesture.

He told me it was extremely sweet of me and he felt like he had a mom away from home now.  :)

George Carlin's Message

I was deeply touched by the wise, spiritually profound, and ironically humorous perspectives on life often shared by George Carlin.  He apparently wrote this message below shortly after his wife had died. Now, George has passed and we are left with only the memories of his beautiful and funny thoughts.    If you're so moved I hope you will pass this message on as a way of honoring the insights and legacy of a wise man who brought great laughter to our world.  Thank you for the laughter, love and joy you brought into my life George. A Message by George Carlin: The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but Less ... Read Full Story >>

She Smiled and then Passed Out

When you donate blood in the UK they don't let you leave without sitting a while and having a cup of tea or juice and a biscuit. It helps restore your energy level and gives the nurses a chance to make sure you are okay afterwards. Well, while I was taking some refreshmen after donating, I noticed a young woman in the recovery area. Overhearing her conversation, I could tell this was her first time donating. She had moved away from the main table and I saw her rest her head on a table. The nurses were all chatting to each other and not looking in her direction, so I said something to get her attention. At the sound of my voice the young woman looked up. "Oh, are you all right?" I asked. She said she was fine and ... Read Full Story >>

The Name By My Door

Beside my front door is a rough brass nameplate. It says D. McLaughlan. The letters aren't all perfectly lined up, some are punched deeper than others and the spacing is off just enough to know that this was not done by a machine. In fact it was my Granddad's name. He died before my Grandmother and when she died my Dad and Uncles didn't want anything kept. They just wanted the whole house cleared. They were hurting and just wanted the whole thing done as soon as possible - man style! But I rescued the family photos from the bin and unscrewed the nameplate from the door. Because I was named after my Granddad I have put the nameplate on the door of every house I've had since then. Later on I heard how the nameplate came to be.  My Granddad worked in the coal mines alongside his dad since he was fourteen. ... Read Full Story >>

Power Of A Smile on a Morning Walk

If you've ever felt that a smile is wasted think again. This morning I went out for a beautiful woodland walk. To get there I have to pass several houses in nearby cul de sacs. I smiled at the first few people I met and was sternly ignored because they were either wearing an iPod or because they just didn't know who I was. I wasn't going to be deterred. By the time I reached my woodland entrance I had managed to get at least 5 people to beam at me. The power of a smile far outweighed the grim outlook of the first two.

I'm not sure who came away the happiest today, me for receiving five big kind, smiles and a 'good morning' or the 5 individuals who took the time to welcome a stranger to their neighbourhood.

Why Tell Stories Today?

“If you want your children to be bright, tell them fairy tales; if you want them to be brilliant, tell them more fairy tales.” —Albert Einstein Meaningful stories are one of the essential ingredients of any culture. Our minds hunger for a good story from the time we are young. It is as if they hold a wisdom in them that our unconscious needs; tales contain certain nutrients that nurture the depths or the soul of a human being. There are parts of us that cannot mature without stories: in this way, they are food. And there a times when a story will heal a wound faster than any poultice. In this way, they are medicine. Unfortunately, our popular Western culture has gradually stripped the stories from the folk, re-packaged them, and sold them back to the people in a processed form. A family or village storyteller used to be the birthright ... Read Full Story >>

Driving Down A Different Path

My car was parked in the lot on Castro Street in downtown Mountain View just outside the Shambhala Meditation center. Anxious to move along on my Sunday afternoon, my efforts to move my car were immediately halted. A triple AAA truck that stretched more than a stretch limo was literally blocking my path to exiting. My initial feelings of “I’m upset” and “How could someone just box me in like that?” began to surge, but then, I paused. I took a look at Sakyong’s face (my new favorite Tibetan Guru) as he looked at me from the cover of his book, titled, “Ruling your World.” In that moment, I remembered, I have a choice.  I decided to make that mental switch that Sakyong often refers to, and just gave myself a chance to experience what taking a step down that road might feel like. I listened to some tunes in ... Read Full Story >>

A Precious Piece of Family History

I'm a bit of a family historian (not that we have much of a history outside coal mining in Scotland and farming in Ireland.) One of my most precious possessions, which probably dates from about 1915, is a family portrait. My great grandmother sits on a chair all stiff and formal with her brood of babies around her feet and on her knees. My great grandfather stands behind her the picture of authorirty, but he is actually standing on "tin" legs after an accident with a railway truck. One-by-one the people in the picture left this world. My gran died aged 82, but in this picture she is about 3 forever. One of her sisters, Lena, outlived all her siblings by quite some way.  Going to visit Lena not long before she died it occurred to me that she might not have seen this picture for many decades. So I made a copy, framed ... Read Full Story >>

Childhood Memories of Helping the Elderly

My first memories of acts of kindness are from when I was about 12 years old. I always helped out at home and with friends. It just came from within me I guess. When I was a kid, I noticed that many elderly people had difficulty getting to the grocery store after a snow storm. It started with one person and kind of grew. I would spend part of a snowy Saturday knocking on apartment doors to ask if anyone needed anything from the store. The grocery store was down a huge hill and I would bring back a couple of bags of groceries for them. I liked it and it made them so happy. My friends in the building asked what I was doing and after a while a couple of them joined in and it became a routine. I never asked or took money for the errand. Sometimes the ladies would ... Read Full Story >>

A Seven-Year-Old's Stained Glass Gifts

My seven-year old son had been given a gift of "creating stained glass kit" decorative pieces and enthusiastically went to work making beautiful color combinations that could be hung on a glass window.  The kit had 4 different pieces to complete and two of them got ruined in the process.  But the other two were real "masterpieces" of kid artwork and he was very thrilled to see them hanging on our window.  The pieces remained there for some months and then one day my son's piano teacher came to our house (which was not usual) to give him a lesson and he casually admired the stained glass. As soon as his lesson was done, my son ran out of the room, wrapped up the stained glass piece and presented it proudly to his teacher!  A few months after that we had a friend visiting from out of town and she too admired ... Read Full Story >>

A New Attitude Makes All the Difference

I hated closing.  I'm a person who claims that I do not hate, but I hated closing.  Period.  And by that I mean the closing shift at Domino's.  We close at 11pm on weeknights and midnight on weekends.  And I HATED closing.  I hated it because we close at 11pm, but people call late at night and then we have to clean up and do all the paperwork, etc.  So, I never get to leave until 11:30-12:00.  It got to the point where I didn't like customers who called after 10pm.  That felt bad.  I got bitter and angry inside. But alas, I decided I needed to change myself and little by little I developed a new attitude.  Now when I go in to close, instead of saying we close at 11, but (wah-wah)  I won't get to leave till 11:45 and I won't get home till 12:30, I simply say I work till midnight.  Then, ... Read Full Story >>