Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Gentleman at the Terra Linda Jamba Juice

Life has been stressful lately due to recent financial constraints among other things, so I decided to treat myself at Jamba Juice near Northgate on my lunch hour. Ahead of me was a 30-something, tall, good looking chap who, after putting in his order, turned to me and said to the cashier "and put this lady's order on my tab." Talk about knocking me over with a feather! I was speechless and open-mouthed for a moment but quickly revived, thanked him and put my order in. He said that he just felt it was the right thing to do and every once in a while you have do something nice for a stranger. No, he wasn't flirting or trying to pick me up. He was just a nice person who was feeling good and wanted to pass on his good energy ... Read Full Story >>

Flame Of Love & Kindess

"I can master it", said the Ax.
His blows fell heavy on the hard, strong steel.
But each blow only made his edge
more blunt until he ceased to strike.

"Leave it to me", said the Saw.
With his relentless teeth, he worked back & forth.
But to his dismay, all of his teeth
were worn out or broken off.

"Ha!" said the Hammer. "I knew you could not do this.
Let me show you how."
But with the very first blow, his head flew off, and the steel was unchanged.

"Shall I try?" asked the Flame.
And it curled itself gently around the strong, hard steel, and embraced it, and would not let it go.
And the tough steel melted.

There are hearts that are
hard enough to resist:
The forces of wrath,
The fury of pride.
But hard is the heart that
can resist the warm "Flame of Love & Kindness".

Unknown author

Walking the walk

I  was taking a walk yesterday and was angry because of all the garbage beside the road. And after about 5 miles I thought, "I can stay angry or I can do something".  I went to a local pub and asked for a garbage bag. They asked me what I needed it for and we had a very inspiring conversation. 

I walked back the same way and collected all the junk I saw. Very positive reactions from the people passing by and a nice talk with a nice man who offered his garbage container to collect my bag.

I had a wonderful afternoon, filed with kindness for me (walking), my environment (collecting the garbage) and all the people I encountered (by smiling).

Thanks for reading this story and sharing your energy with me !

Warm greetings Ynco, Holland

Following The Eyes

Its not difficult to help people. I realised this today. Its not necessary to make a vey big donation or publicity to help people. 

Today while coming back from shopping with my Cook,  I took a taxi. The taxi driver was a young little boy. He was driving us back home. On our way I saw my taxi driver stairing at another taxi driver who was eating a mango. I realised that this poor child wants to eat mango.

Luckily, I happened to have a few mangoes with me, so when he dropped us off I gave him a mango. By taking that mango dat 16 year old was soo happy that I could see him smiling and his eyes filled with tears.

So today I learned that its not that difficult to help others. It only takes a few momemts and a few coins to gain the happiness of others . {kindly ZAKAT}

Why I Admire My Grandma

My Grandfather has Alzheimers disease, and my Grandmother is still caring for him at home even though he is now at a point where he hardly recognises her. 

When we visited the other day, Grandad thought he could go fishing on the carpet, and then he wanted to paint it.  Instead of getting angry with having to tell him over and over again that NO, he cannot paint the carpet, Grandma kept her cool and told him very nicely that it was to late to paint the carpet today.  She was then able to have a laugh about it which to me was amazing.  After having to put up with all the stupid things he does everyday, she still was able to laugh when he said something funny (although she had heard it about 10 times that day already!).

To me, that is true Love and Kindness, and I admire her for her commitment through this tough time.

Ten Things God Won't Ask

1.  God won't ask what kind of car you drove; he'll ask how many people you drove who didn't have transportation.   2.  God won't ask the square footage of your house, He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.   3.  God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet, He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.   4. God won't ask what your highest salary was, He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.   5.  God won't ask what your job title was, He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.   6. God won't ask how many friends you had, He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.   7. God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived, He'll ask how you treated your neighbors.   8. God won't ask about the color of your skin, He'll ask about the content of your character. 9.  God ... Read Full Story >>

Super Act Of Kindness

Just read this story in our evening paper.

A local volunteer and mum is selling her £375,000 ($750,000) house to build a help centre in Northern Uganda. Over the past six years she has made several trips to the impovrished country and worked at the Kasana Childrens Centre in Luweero, now she plans to stay out there indefinitely.

She says "I have a vision to build a help centre for people who are in times of trouble there, those who have lost members of their families through Aids and other ways. For example, I met one woman who had gone looking for her eldest daughter who had gone missing.  When she got back, her house had burned down and her two babies had died in the fire."

"She had nothing.  I want to be able to help people like this and provide them shelter".

What a wonderful kind woman and  a pure shining light in this  sometimes murky world. Also we realize how fortunate we are compared to the people she is trying to help.

God bless her and her cause.

Afriendlysmile :)

Making Room for One More

My daughter has a former classmate that is a special needs child. He has lots of issues and is being raised w/ his grandma along w/ several other siblings. The grandma doesn't drive and rarely gets out. I have kinda adopted this little boy as one of my own. Whenever we take our kids out for fun activities I always call and invite him. The grandma is on a fixed income and she states because these are considered "kinship placements" with the grandkids she is not eligible to receive any state assistance. Therefore leaving her w/ money for the necessities only each month. Now, I, myself do good to get by w/ little fun stuff each month and I always utilize free first! But, no matter what I give them a call and include him along with us. One time I even invited all of the kids there at her house ... Read Full Story >>

Running In The Rain

"A little girl had been shopping with her Mom in Target. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle-faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside, the kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Target. We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. Memories of running, splashing so caref ree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day. The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in "Mom let's run through the rain," she said. "What?" Mom asked. "Lets run through the rain!" ... Read Full Story >>

Little ways to help

I have a co-worker who lives just down the road from me and her car broke down so she's had to depend on the city transportation to get to and from where ever she goes and it has not been easy for her. I guess you could say that her car is her life line to life. Any way we all have been trying to help her out as she goes through this time and since I ride the bus I've been giving her advice on the stops and the best time to catch the bus. This morning she had to go in early and of course I'm scheduled to go in later so she was going to be left alone , but I told her last night that I would meet her at the bus stop and make sure that she got to where she needed to go on time, so ... Read Full Story >>

A Kind Gesture At The Carpark

I was waiting for quite a while to get into a crowded parking lot. Then a car drove out and I quickly drove my car into its spot. However, the car suddenly stopped and the driver came out and walked towards me.

I wondered if I did something wrong? I was worried for a moment but my fears evaporated when the driver handed me his parking coupon which was still valid for another half an hour :)

What a kind & thoughtful act! From that day, I made the decision to act similarly whenever possible - kindness indeed begets more kindness!

A Fallen biker

In a town in India, I saw a bicycle being hit by a speeding car, the guy fell and the car immediately fled. The man lay bruised and injured. A small crowd of nearby stall owners gatherd but didn't do anything to help the guy who was now bleeding.

I arrived on the spot with dabs of cotten and rubbing alcohol. I smiled at the man and requested the people to give him room to breathe. The crowd thinned out. 

Next I assured him of that there were  no big injuries. He sat up and one of the stall owners got him water to drink. I used some to wash the bruise, dabbed the rubbing alcohol in cotton and applied over the wound , it was painful at first but he was pleased to have his wound cleaned.

Since then all the stall owners regard me warmly every time they see me. 

Acknowledgement

I find that when I encounter people while out in public, I can nod and smile at them and the reaction is almost exclusively a positive one. I'm not "trying to be nice." I am simply letting them know I am here and I see them and am open to greeting them for who they are. It is a way to say we are all here together and, together, we can make this moment a little better for the world.

Make-Up I Never Used

I was cleaning my make-up box and realized that I have so much make-up that I haven't used or even opened!

And of all a sudden, I remembered that I still have some of the smile cards and a bulb lit up inside me.

I decided to collect all my unused make-up -- lip gross, eyeshadows, lipstick, and lots of other things -- and put it on an Asian dress purse with a smile card.   Then, I gave that purse to my boyfriend so he can gift it to his sister.

My boyfriend told me that his sister was so excited because she got home and saw the purse with goodies but has no idea why or who gave it to her!  I just love to give such surprises. I know she is dying to know who did it.

Do something nice for someone no matter how small the act is.

Teaching Random Acts Of Kindness

I shared with a friend my discovery of this wonderful website and she was very inspired to join the "club".  I gave her the link to the website and some smile cards to get her started.

That weekend we attended a local function together but travelled in our own vehicles.  It was prepay carparking so when I stopped to pay for my carpark I handed the attendant an extra $5.00 to pay for my friend (she was following behind me). 

I explained to the attendant about paying it forward and asked her to pass on a smile card to the car behind me.  The attendant was moved by my generosity and couldn't wait to pass the card on.

As I drove off and glanced back in my mirror, words cannot explain the joy on my friends face and also the car park attendant! 

When we parked our cars, my friend was so grateful and I replied "You've just been tagged, that's how you play the game!  Don't forget to pay it forward!".

Smile Even When You're Sad

Hi, Friends, Love this story always help me to smile in hard time. About ten years ago when I was an undergraduate in college, I was working as an intern at my University's Museum of Natural History. One day while working at the cash register in the gift shop, I saw an elderly couple come in with a little girl in a wheelchair. As I looked closer at this girl, I saw that she was kind of perched on her chair. I then realized she had no arms or legs, just a head, neck and torso. She was wearing a little white dress with red polka dots. As the couple wheeled her up to me I was looking down at the register. I turned my head toward the girl and gave her a wink. As I took the money from her grandparents, I looked back at the girl, who was giving ... Read Full Story >>

Little Compliments

We all like to be recognized and sincerely complimented. So after a recent stay at a hotel, I pulled out the "We want to hear from you" insert and hand wrote a thank you for the nice accommodations and staffing. My Mom left a huge tip for the maid (hidden surprise under the bed pillow). One of my neighbors is usually out in her yard weeding and gardening . She has one of the best yards on our street so I stopped and told her so. What a bright smile after that compliment. I noticed and complimented a co-worker  who cut her long hair into a shorter, more becoming hairstyle that framed her face and made her look younger....she was pleased too. She said many didn't even notice and she was very attached to the length. I was also touched by a co-worker from another department  that sent me an email thank-you (copying my boss) for the consistent responsiveness and thoroughness in my follow-up to ... Read Full Story >>

Desire To Learn

I was out at the hobby store looking for some new enhancements for my remote helicopter and as I was leaving the store right next to it was one of those learning stores. The kind that sell educational supplies and games. I am constantly amazed at the items that are available for kids these days so I stopped in to satisfy my own curriosity.  While looking around I noticed signs that stated discounts to teachers.  I remembered a story on the news about some teachers using their own money to buy supplies so I posed as a new teacher so green that I didn't know anything about processes.  At the check out the manager told me how many teachers come in and purchase supplies the school can't or won't buy for the class.  That is so wrong.  We spoke for awhile and as luck would have it a teacher came up ... Read Full Story >>

A Box Of Kisses

Some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy." He was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found the box was empty. He yelled at her, "Don't you know that when you give someone a present, there's supposed to be something inside it?" The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said,"Oh, Daddy, it is not empty. I blew kisses into the box. All for you, Daddy." The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness. It is told that the man kept that gold box ... Read Full Story >>

Staying Late to Clean Up

A neighbor of mine celebrated his 50th birthday on Saturday. His family gave him a nice birthday party with wonderful music and food. They actually had a Pig Roast. 70 people were at his house to celebrate with him. The food was delicious and the Pig was a real treat.

We all enjoyed his beautiful back yard. We played horseshoes, bocci, volleyball and listened to music.

About 11pm everyone started leaving. I too was tired and ready to leave! Then I looked around at all the cups, plates and Soda/beer cans. Lots of food needed to be covered up and brought into the house. I said to my husband that I wouldn't be leaving yet and I was helping clean up the party area.  He stayed to help to and we all got it cleaned up quickly. Then we were invited to sit down around  a bonfire to enjoy it's beauty and relax just bit before we left a 1am.

I'm glad we stayed to clean up.