Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Looking For the Magical Mustard Seed

There is an old Chinese tale about a woman whose only son died. In her grief, she went to the holy man and said, "What prayers, what magical incantations do you have to bring my son back to life?" Instead of sending her away or reasoning with her, he said to her, "Fetch me a mustard seed from a home that has never known sorrow. We will use it to drive the sorrow out of your life." The woman went off at once in search of that magical mustard seed. She came first to a splendid mansion, knocked at the door, and said, "I am looking for a home that has never known sorrow. Is this a place? It is very important to me." They told her, "You've certainly come to the wrong place," and began to describe all the tragic things that recently had befallen them. The woman said to herself, "Who is ... Read Full Story >>

Taking Someone In

One of my friends has never known how to take care of herself.  Ever since high school, when her grandma passed away, she just gave up hope on anything and stopped caring about herself or anyone around her.  Her mom is just as bad as she is -- still jumping around and staying with random people or with her other daughter who is 15.  During her struggle, I took my "friend" in.  I say "friend" because she has never said a thank you or given anything back.  I let her stay with me for a long time, fed her, let her wear my clothes and even sleep in bed at times.  I say at times because she got pregnant and her back was always hurting.  I have a child of my own, so it was especially hard to take care of someone else that acts like a child.  But I ... Read Full Story >>

Coffee For Two For Who?

Last night my husband, another friend and our children went out for dinner. 

When it came time to pay the bill, I asked the waitress to add two coffees to the bill.  She thought I was crazy until I said to her:  "Please use this money to pay for the next two people that come in for coffee. "

I then gave her a smile card and asked her to give it to them.  She read the card agreed to do it and not to pass on my name (we live in a SMALL town.) 

So I'm not sure who I bought coffe for, but then, it really doesn't matter.

Shipwrecked Prayers

A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on it were able to swim to a small, desert like island. The two survivors, not knowing what else to do, agreed that they had no other recourse but to pray to God. However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island. The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the land, and he was able to eat its fruit. The other man's parcel of land remained barren. After a week, the first man was lonely and he decided to pray for a wife. The next day, another ship was wrecked, and the only survivor was a woman who swam to his side of the land. On ... Read Full Story >>

A Happy Bus Driver

Upon receiving my Smile cards I decided to put it to the test and see what happened.  Being summer here in South Africa now, it becomes rather hot and Thursday was one such day.

I decided to buy a cool drink for the driver of our Metro bus and give it to him on boarding the bus on my way home.  Having purchased the cool drink, I boarded the bus and paid, after which I produced the drink and smile card.

I sure wish you could have been there to see the man's face break into the biggest smile which I have ever seen.  According to him, it was the first time in the 37 years of being a driver that he had received some sort of acknowledgment from anybody. 

This brought a smile to my face and a tear to my heart.

Thanks to helpothers.org for my smile cards.

Witnessing An Act of Kindness

While waiting in line at the grocery store, a young girl with 3 babies, was ahead of me in line.  She had lots of food for her babies, and when the total was rung she was over 20 dollars short. I felt for her but had no more money with me to help, as she started putting the food back.

Just then, a gentle voice came from behind me.  It was an elderly woman.  She said, "Don't put those baby's food back.   God has this covered with a blessing I got yesterday in the mail.  I knew He had something in mind for it." 

With a sweet smile she handed the cashier the money and wished the good mother a blessed life. 

It was a gentle, beautiful and selfless.  How she touched my heart with her special kindness.  I had a smile all day knowing there are wonderful people around me!

Lost and Found: A Ten Dollar Bill

Last week I was visiting my best friend in Cincinnati.  One morning as we walked to breakfast, I spotted a piece of paper on the street and it turned out to be a $10 bill!  I was determined to use it as a special treat and carried it around for two days as we brainstormed ways to spend it. Since we are both huge fans of Dairy Queen, we decided to head there after dinner on my last day in town. His blizzard and my sundae came to $5, so when the employee handed me $5 bill as change, I turned around to the lady (and her son) behind me and said, "Here, this is for you!"  Seeing her startled reaction, I told her, "I found $10 the other day and since we've already received our treat, you guys should enjoy the rest!"  She was very gracious and took the money and ... Read Full Story >>

Getting a Smile on the Road!

While sitting at the traffic lights yesterday, a young boy approached the window of my car. 

A little bit hesitant to wind the window down, I did it thinking "What's the worst that can happen?!"

Much to my amazement, the boy handed me a card and said, "Today, I'm doing kind things for others to promote anonymous acts of kindness.   I dont know you but I hope you will follow my lead.   Smile.  You've been tagged!  Pass it on."

Then he walked away.

That just really made my day. How awesome is it for someone to take time out to make others smile!!

And now im going to do the same. Smiles are indeed contagious!

My Simple Smile Card Story

About a month ago I learned about “smile cards,” which can be found at www.helpothers.org. Smile cards are “an experiment in anonymous kindness,” as stated on each card. Each card, when used in the spirit intended, serves at least two immediate purposes. One, it becomes the physical marker of an event of anonymous kindness. This is important because, physically persisting, it can serve as the template for the perpetuation of the idea of itself: new acts of anonymous kindness. As an object carrying an explanation of itself, it also will serve as a reference point for the recipient of the anonymous act of kindness who, besides being grateful may well be befuddled. Anonymous acts of kindness verge on the incomprehensible to most of us in this culture. The mere idea remains a little shocking. Imagine how disorienting it might be to receive an anonymous act ... Read Full Story >>

What Can You Do With Ten Bucks?

The week before Thanks Giving, I did a little experiment with my class, leaving $200 in ten-dollar bills outside my classroom.  Lots of great stories unfolded. Katrina Kapetanovic was one amongst the students.  Like everyone else in the class she struggled mightily with what to do with her $10.  Some quotes from her essay:   "What if I got a bunch of people to each give $10 to a beneficial cause?  Could that do more good?  Will it really end up making a substantial difference long after the money was given?  I still find myself to be stuck, constantly researching and questioning myself and how I could get the $10 to trickle down.   It doesn't seem like it could do a whole lot of good for just one person with $10 to give it away.   That is when it suddenly dawned on me.  This $10 serves as a reminder that I need to ... Read Full Story >>

Planting Date Palms

[A Sufi Story]

Harun al-Rashid was once walking through a plantation when he saw a hunched man with a long, gray beard, putting in sapling date palms. He greeted him, saying, ‘Take it easy, father!’

‘Thank you, my son,’ the old man replied.

‘What are you doing, father?’ he asked the old man.

‘As you see, I am planting sapling date palms.’

‘How many years does it take a date palm to bear fruit?’

‘Ten, twenty, thirty years. Some take as long as a hundred years.’

‘Will you be able to eat the fruit of these palms you are planting?’

‘I may not live to see the day,’ said the old man, ‘but we eat from those our forebears planted. So let us plant, that those who follow us may eat in turn!'

Run Shay, Run!

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: 'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?' The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. 'I believe, that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.' Then he told the following story: Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay ... Read Full Story >>

Being Present

She looked really pretty, I thought, as I glanced across at the young lady opposite me. Everything from her manicured nails, to her designer sunglasses symbolized that she was the kind of girl who had it all. I stared at the floor, at the large European woman in the seat next to the pretty lady, and back at the floor. I studied the tube map - again - as if I had to check something important, then starred resolutely back at the floor. I had mastered the art of avoiding eye-contact on the Tube as if my very existence depended on it. I was a Pro. But, I couldn't help wonder what the pretty lady was doing. I was acting dumb, but I wasn't dead. Why was she fidgeting so much? She's never going to sleep in that awkward position....is something wrong? She looks like she's drunk, not sleeping. Maybe she has a ... Read Full Story >>

I'm Not In A Hurry.

Sometimes just the little things mean so much. I was at the grocery store on a Sunday afternoon. In my neighborhood it seems that people think this is the only day and time the grocery store is open. It was surprising to me how many people were uptight and impatient. On a Sunday! Supposedly the most peaceful day of the week and a lot of these people just came from church. Well, whenever I got a frown I gave a smile. When I was in someone's way I said, "oh my goodness, I'm sorry".  As much as I tried to kill them with kindness, I got little or no response. I wasn't going to give up. After swimming with "sharks", I made it to the check out counter. I got to the cashier and she had this face like she'd just been dragged through the mud. She had her guard up and was ... Read Full Story >>

Colourblind Kindness

He was a tall black man, with a generous build and he was walking straight towards me. Dressed casually in a gleaming white tracksuit that hung loosely on him, and a hood that covered both his head and part of his face, he looked like any of the number of black men described in daily news bulletins as being wanted for robberies or similar crimes. If it had been dark, I would have moved quickly in the opposite direction. As it was, it was broad daylight and I was waiting for a bus with my sister. We were on a quiet side street: no cars or people in sight. I unwittingly inhaled sharply, my body cautiously preparing itself for fight or flight. I shudder at the thought of being a racist, but even racists hate the idea of simply discriminating against someone based on what they look like. What we hate, ... Read Full Story >>

Mother’s Last Laugh

Consumed by my loss, I didn’t notice the hardness of the pew where I sat.  I was at the funeral of my dearest friend - my mother.  She finally had lost her long battle with cancer.  The hurt was so intense; I found it hard to breathe at times. Always supportive, Mother clapped loudest at my school plays, held a box of tissues while listening to my first heartbreak, comforted me when my father died, encouraged me in college, and prayed for me my entire life. When Mother’s illness was diagnosed, my sister had a new baby and my brother had recently married his childhood sweetheart, so it fell to me, the twenty-seven-year-old middle child without entanglements, to take care of her.  I counted it as an honor. “What now, Lord?” I asked, sitting in the church.  My life stretched out before me as an empty abyss. My brother sat stoically with his face ... Read Full Story >>

Changing the world one snack at a time

I recently burned my left arm pretty badly and had to go to the hospital. I didn't stop to take something to drink or a snack since I was in so much pain. After they took care of me I went to the cafeteria and was counting my little change to see what I could get. I settled with a cup of ice water and decided to wait till I got home to eat anything. A lady was in line as I was getting my ice water. I was depressed and in pain but was thankful I was going to be okay. She noticed I was a little shaky and asked if she could get me a snack. I was very thankful and thanked her. I told her maybe one day I can return the favor. All she said was just help someone else who was in the same situation ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness On The Move

I was taking a bus with my friends to campus when I saw a man with a lot of groceries. I discovered he was fumbling with his groceries because he was blind.

When his stop came, although it was not my stop, I helped him get down the bus and carried his groceries for him. When I came back onto the bus people were smiling at me including the man driving the bus.  :)  It felt so good to help someone out.

What Goes Around Comes Around And Makes a Difference

Yesterday I was in the grocery store and ran into an old client.  (I worked in Social Services for 14 years and recently left to pursue other things).  This particular person had been a very abrasive, beligerant and loud client, which intimidated some of the staff.  Somehow I became the person who was best at dealing with these sorts of folks and I was called to the front desk to talk with him.  He was tall and, well, scary looking.  Wild hair, missing teeth, buggy eyes.  I brought him to my office where he began crying and we talked about his life and what he needed help with.  I then did my job, and helped him to the best of my ability.  He soon found employment and went on his way and was one of my best success stories and I was proud of it.  This was over 4 years ago. Anyway, yesterday ... Read Full Story >>

Rewarding Kindness

I was in getting coffee one time and the girl behind me needed a bit more change so she didn't have to break a bill. Without hesitation a gentleman behind her gave her the necessary change.

I thought it was a generous thing to do and I paid for his coffee. There is a lot of good in this world and it is often hidden by the bad.