Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Lift To An Anonymous Old Man

Since we don’t know the way, we have to ask for directions every two minutes. Instead of mapquest-dot-com, India relies on human beings. That’s bad in some ways, that’s inefficient in certain other ways, but it’s heartwarming in few very important ways. - Nipun And so it was that an elderly man asked me directions for some Nirmala Convent in Malleswaram. It was a few days ago, I was just leaving the hospital to visit home after having spent the morning with my new born son. I was just starting my scooter, when he approached me. I had no idea about the location, but I knew a Cluny Convent school since I’d studied there and guessing by other details he’d said, I felt it might be somewhere around. I was just about to leave, but he looked tired, so I offered him a lift. I was wondering if he’d manage to sit on the rather ... Read Full Story >>

1819 Reads

A Chair For Our Friend Walt

We live in a small town and the staff at our office frequent a small coffee shop on a regular basis for our morning coffee break. We get to meet all sorts of people who are regulars. One older couple who came in regularly on Thursdays and we would greet them and exchange a few words.  They had travelled from an adjacent community to do their grocery shopping (they liked our smaller town because there was less traffic).  They would hold hands and smile as they came in each Thursday morning.  One Thursday we saw that the husband came in alone. He looked tired and stressed out.  It turned out that his wife had taken ill and was in the hospital. I think he continued to come in for the next few Thursdays as a diversion from the stress of his wife's illness. We didn't see him for some time and then ... Read Full Story >>

1877 Reads

Four Girls Who Pushed My Car

Being a single mother, working a few jobs and trying to finish my schooling leaves very little time for a social life. So when I had a date with a guy I had met, I was super excited! I had a sitter who my daughter loved to play with and kissed her goodbye. I started off in my jalopy of a car. The thought to get gas crossed my mind, but I ignored it, wanting to be punctual. I was cruising down the freeway when I realized there was no way I would make it and should pull off at the next exit to get gas. Well that next exit was quite a few miles and as I got off my car sputtered to a stop. I restarted it and it went another block, so I could see the station now! With the car dead in the lane I became ... Read Full Story >>

4992 Reads

The Seed Has A Sprout

I am a single mother of a darling 6 year old girl, Haley. With a six year old come a lot of questions! Who is that? What are they doing? Why? Where...and on and on.  I love her questions! Sometimes I do not have an answer, sometimes we brainstorm the possibilities of what may be together. Children are very, very observant and have excellent memories! One example that comes to mind is right around Christmas last year. We were heading out to her Grandma's house -- an hour drive, so lots of time for chatting!  We were waiting to get on the freeway when she noticed a homeless man, no sign in hand. "Mom, is that man homeless," she asked.  I told her I believed he was. We got on the freeway and away we went. She was pretty quiet in the back on they way there. We spent a ... Read Full Story >>

6409 Reads

How My Father Taught Me Non-Violence

I was 16 years old and living with my parents at the institute my grandfather had founded 18 miles outside of Durban, South Africa, in the middle of the sugar plantations. We were deep in the country and had no neighbors, so my two sisters and I would always look forward to going to town to visit friends or go to the movies. One day, my father asked me to drive him to town for an all-day conference, and I jumped at the chance. Since I was going to town, my mother gave me a list of groceries she needed and, since I had all day in town, my father ask me to take care of several pending chores, such as getting the car serviced. When I dropped my father off that morning, he said, 'I will meet you here at 5:00 p.m., and we will go home together.' After hurriedly completing ... Read Full Story >>

92.3K Reads

Secret Angel

My older sister and her companion recently broke up after about 4-5 years together.  It has been really hard on my sister so i wanted to do something to make things a little easier for her.  I got a gift bag and filled it with different things she likes (tiger things and things with smiles) and a poem telling her that things will get easier with time and that she has people that love her and are praying for her.  I signed it from her SECRET ANGEL.  While everyone was away from her house one day i snuck over and stuck it in between her two doors so i was sure she would find it when she got home. 

Let's just say she was in total shock and still to this day has no idea who would do something so nice for her!!!!  It made her smile which she hasn't been doing to much of lately but it is also driving her crazy trying to figure out who it is!!!!

2409 Reads

All It Takes Is One

One song can spark a moment,

One flower can wake the dream.

One tree can start a forest,

One bird can herald spring.

One smile begins a friendship,

One handclasp lifts a soul.

One star can guide a ship at sea,

One word can frame the goal

One vote can change a nation,

One sunbeam lights a room

One candle wipes out darkness,

One laugh will conquer gloom.

One step must start each journey.

One word must start each prayer.

One hope will raise our spirits,

One touch can show you care.

One voice can speak with wisdom,

One heart can know what’s true,

One life can make a difference,

You see, it’s up to you!

6025 Reads

Drive-By Lift

[ Last time I posted a story and the response I received was overwhelming. Truly, I felt great inside. Thanks a lot to all for your appreciation. Today I am posting another story. ] Last Sunday, I got ready to visit my daughter. She lives with her mother in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. I stay about 35 kms. away and go every sunday to be with my daughter. Usually I carry balloons for her.  In fact, balloons have become my trademark of my fatherhood. That's how my daughter recognizes me! :) This time, though, I left from home feeling a bit lazy. I would have actually left half an hour earlier but somehow I  was lazy in doing my chores and left a bit late. As usual, I drove to nearby garden to get some balloons but it was Sunday morning time and no balloon-wala was around.  So I thought, "Why not get ... Read Full Story >>

1986 Reads

Small Child, Big Heart

I want to share a surprise letter I received from my 9 year old son just the other day:

Dear mum,

You are the best mum I've ever had.  You always complete me.  You have the best smile I could ever look at.  You always full my heart with love.  You are my very important person.

I love you very, very, much.

love from your precious son Jaxon.

Isn't it wonderful that a chld so young can come from the heart? 

Spread the love everyone.  The negative energy is stronger than ever, so let's spread the positivity!

1563 Reads

Just A Text Message

One of my main ways of communicating to the outside world is texting. I feel really blessed by the wonderful people I have in my life, and each day I just feel so grateful for them.
 
Through out the week, I randomly text these special people, saying something thoughtful and nice, sometimes its long, other times, it’s just a short sweet message, saying good night and wishing them a sweet sleep.   
 
These small messages have such a wonderful affect on them. Sometime I won’t see that person for a week or more, and the first thing they say to me, is thank you for the beautiful text you sent me last week.
 
It’s just a small act of kindness I can do for other people, it’s just awesome randomly letting people know how much I appreciate them and are grateful for them, for no reason or occasion, just because I can.

1478 Reads

Just My Job

Recently, a business associate and I went to call on a retail customer, and we experienced one of the real challenges in visiting a very large regional shopping centre that is over 2kms long, with in excess of 300 shops spread over three shopping levels. How do find a store when you haven't been to this shopping centre for some considerable period of time? Well when we first arrived at the centre and had parked our car, the first thing we did was look for a centre directory or the customer service desk, but without any success. As we weaved our way past a host of customers and shoppers who all seemed to be well aware of where they were going, out of the crowd appeared one of the shopping centre security officers. He was as you may well expect dressed in a black suit, white shirt and dark tie, with ... Read Full Story >>

1273 Reads

Share Your Knowledge

"If you have knowledge, let others light their candles with it." What a fantastic quote from Winston Churchill. Each of us has tremendous resources, gained through years of learning and experience. Yet, how many of us realize the potential of what we know in helping others? So many people belittle themselves, believing that they don't really know enough to offer any advice to others. They underestimate the value of their experience, which is often vast. Yet, every single day, our experiences provide us with more useful knowledge and skills. Over time, this accumulates and makes us skilful and knowledgeable in many different areas. Yesterday, one of the readers of this blog sent me a personal e-mail. She asked me to keep her name private, however she spent 20 years as a full-time mum bringing up her two boys -- and didn't think she had much to offer the outside world. A friend of hers suggested that she ... Read Full Story >>

1902 Reads

Penpa Tanging with Neha

Neha is the recently-turned-eight year old across the street. Every encounter with her is an Edifying Experience. A few mornings ago she skipped over with her grandmother and our share of homemade Divali sweets. I was en route with basket in hand to our back yard to gather the morning flowers- “Pavithrakka can I also come? I am loving flow-ers very much,” says Neha in her fun, formal, not always grammatically correct but unfailing confident English. Of course I say and we head towards the Coral Jasmine tree out back- a tall slender trunked tree that rains white fragrant blossoms with bright orange stalks on the grass during the nights all year round- but in the monsoon season when it rains it pours and the grass and the ground beneath the tree is literally carpeted in white and orange – blossoms that can be picked up by the careful-not-to-crush fistful. ... Read Full Story >>

7489 Reads

If You Don't Believe Me, Try It!

Since I've joined this fanatastic site, I've paid a lot more attention to people and reaching out in more ways.

On my way to work this morning, I gave a guy a chance to filter in ahead of me.  I smiled and waved him through and he honked and smiled in appreciation. As a matter of fact, I let all 4 cars behind him go ahead of me! 

When I looked up the road, the guy I let pass returned the favour to someone else trying to filter.  I'd like to think that he did so with a smile and a wave. 

It totally changed my mood this morning. Being the middle of the week and also not getting a good night's sleep, I was tired and a bit grumpy. However, this simple act boosted my spirits and made me feel happy.

It really does work. If you don't believe me, you should give it a try today! :)

1570 Reads

Love Knows No Bounds

There is this poor peasant from a backward village of Bihar. He belongs to the class of people who live below the poverty line. Manjhi is his name. He is now almost sixty years old.

Some five years ago, Manjhi was troubled to see his wife go around a hill to fetch water for the family. His old lady had to make a long and tiresome trip to the river, fill her pitcher with water and make the trip back home.

So Manjhi decided to do something about the problem. He is illiterate and a very poor man, but he began hacking, chipping and cutting a path through the hill. It was a herculian task. The people around scoffed at him. But Manjhi went on attacking the hill day after day, month after month and finally carved a path through the hill after three years, to the river. He did this job alone and single handed with simple tools. So great was his love for his wife that in the end he succeeded.

This is a true story. Today the government has given him a reward and are now working on enlarging the road this poor farmer had begun.

2088 Reads

Double Double Kindness

I was in the drive-thru at Tim Hortons by my house and had just ordered a coffee and croissant. I waited to get to the window and they handed me my order and said it had been paid for already. I curiously asked, "Who paid for it?"  And the girl said, "The woman ahead of you.  She does it all the time for people.  And all she asks me to tell you is 'pay it forward.'"

This made my entire day, and I made sure to tell everyone at work about it!

The next time I was in the same drive through, I paid for the person behind me. The best part about the whole thing was that I could spend the rest of the day imagining how that person felt. I know how good it made me feel, and it stuck with me.

You never know how someones day is going, and a small act like paying for a persons coffee can turn their entire day around.

39.6K Reads

Duck, Duck Goose

As I was leaving work last Friday, I saw two older ladies  pulled over to the side of the road. They were both out of the vehicle and standing on the grass. 


I turned around and ran across the street to see if I could help them. I asked them if they needed and help.

They said "No, we just stoped because we saw two ducks and we did not want them to get hit by a car".

1572 Reads
  • Posted by kitkat1970
  • Sep 10, 2007
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One of a Thousand Stories to Tell

Hello, my name is David G. Nadeau and I am from Monroe, Michigan, hometown of General Armstrong Custer. I am a paid-on-call Firefighter for Monroe Township Fire Department and I was at Ground Zero for one week starting September 12, 2001. Some of my hundred or so pictures from Ground Zero have been published in EMS magazines. Newspaper reporters from Cooperstown, New York and Lexington, Kentucky call me wanting to publish this story. That is because someone from the family of the business card I found at Ground Zero told the reporters this story – a story about a business card which is just one of a thousand stories to tell. I arrived at Ground Zero on September 12, 2001 with another Firefighter. After several hours of working at the front of a bucket brigade on Friday, September 14 – just one of many bucket brigades -- there came an opening ... Read Full Story >>

6174 Reads
  • Posted by David G. Nadeau
  • Sep 10, 2007
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Smile Card For a Soldier's Wife

While we were out eating last night I observed a service man in his fatigues sitting with his wife and young child.  It was obvious that he was just back from overseas and was enjoying the time with his family.  Whether we support the military action or not, I always feel thankful that there are those who are willing to risk their lives for others and who make so many personal  sacrifices like being away from their loved ones.  I looked around the restaurant and saw few other people observing them also. As we finished our dinner, we paid the check and then I walked by their table.  I laid down one of the Smile Cards with a $50.  I looked right at the soldiers wife and said, "Thank you."  Without waiting for a response, I turned and walked away.  This morning, I received a call from my friend who ... Read Full Story >>

2001 Reads

From Crying To Cruising

Recently, I really was feeling sorry for myself. I was sad and then I turned grouchy. 

Then an "angel" appeared at my door. My good friend rang the doorbell and returned something I had left at her house. I don't know if she saw it in my face that I was having an "off day" but she said that her husband was working and invited my to go to the car wash with her to get her car cleaned. I accepted the invitation to get out of my house and go for a cruise with her!

It only took a few minutes to get to the carwash, but we chatted and I shared my thoughts with her. When her car was finished she treated me to an Icecream cone and we chatted some more. By the time I got home, I felt so much BETTER. 

It doesn't take much to help change the way someone's day is turning out. A simple ride in the car and an ice-cream cone was like a million bucks to me!  :)

1251 Reads