Stories of Kindness from Around the World

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.

Update On Aurelia's Mom

UPDATE: Just found out my mom has 2 brain tumors. She will go for radiation treatment to try to reduce the size. They are hoping to give her some pain relief. We are not looking for a miracle, we only want her quality of life to be improved from whatever time she  has left her on earth. Please continue to pray for all of us as we make some really difficult decisions over the next month. The doctors say that "just because we start something/radiation, doesn't mean we will  have to continue if we don't like what we see in mom." Please be with me. I thank God for all my friends across the world. AMEN. ~Aurelia Unfortunately, my mom had to be placed in a nursing home yesterday. I was full of grief over this decision. My dad is 86 and just could not care for her because of her ... Read Full Story >>

Never Underestimate The Power Of Kindness

As I picked-up my daughter from school, we saw a small puppy who had fallen in a long ditch in the middle of the street. We knocked on some doors and people in the area said they had heard a dog crying for the past 4 days. We bought some chicken and tossed it to him, the doggy ate it voraciously. There were some rough and serious men digging the street across to replace some water tubes. We didn’t think they would stop their work to help but we told them that we would pay them something if they helped. They actually spent about an hour and a half running back and forth the long 7 block ditch trying to catch it, until the doggy got tired and they were able to catch it. It was so afraid that it bit one of them. A man watching from outside said ... Read Full Story >>

Grime Does Pay!

Almost every day my boyfriend and I take a leisurely walk down to the 7-Eleven for a coffee. We take grocery bags and our picker sticks and collect litter along the way. We generally follow the same route which includes a back alley that the children use to walk to and from school. It took about a week before we were hearing comments from them about how nice and tidy the area was looking. And we do all this during school hours so they're wondering who's been doing the cleanup. Our walk takes us through the schoolyard and we go along the fence that's bad for catching wind-blown papers etc. I'm amazed at the difference we have made.  We also tidy along the fence that surrounds the cemetary on our walk home. Visitors have often stopped us to ask questions because they think we're part of the grounds crew. And so we've familiarized ourselves with ... Read Full Story >>

Lessons from an Orphan

Last year our school's interactive club went to the orphanage  to donate clothes, food and money to the orphans there. I was one of the volunteers to go. It was so touching!! All the orphans there came out to thank us.

There was one orphan who's name was mal who had been neglected by her parents. She showed me how fortunate I was. She was a jovial child who love to smile. Mal offered me a packet of twisties to me the ones give to them by our students.

I realised that if an orphan can give something to me, why can't someone who has everything  provided for them give out a little bit?

Let Me Talk To Your Manager!

Today as I was filling up my car with gas at a local gas station, I ran into problems with my debit card and was forced to have the attendant reset the pump.  This has not happened to me many times, but I have been victim of my own fumbling fingers on occasion. The attendant that helped me out went out of their way to make sure that my experience with their station, with my purchase and that little part of my morning was ideal.  When I entered the station to pay for my gas manually (I had given up on the pump at this point) he explained to me that he saw I was in a little bit of a hurry and wanted to help me out.  It wasn't much for him to do.  He recognized that I was having troubles and reacted pleasantly and effectively.  He could just as ... Read Full Story >>

While Yet There Is Time

Many years ago when I was in college, I came across this very inspirational poem: While Yet There is Time   The hours slip past, Our moments melt into the eternity behind us Time sweeps us onto a destination from which there is no return. While yet there is time, Look out upon the world, Devour it with your eyes, And if your spirit demands more Add at least one stone to the edifice being built Fill your lungs with the smell of flowers, Let the first cool breath of dawn blow through your hair While yet there is time Let us greet the dawn together, While yet there is time, Love and be loved, Let your thoughts throw light in dark places, Let your lips blossom in a smile. While yet there is time, Let the hand of a friend feel the warmth of your hand, How much we have to do, to create, to express. While yet there is time Graft a slender bough to a mighty tree Do not say I love to ... Read Full Story >>

Positive People Make A Difference

Over the past year my family and I have had some very tough times.  From financial to physical, it just seemed as if we had Murphy's Law plastered across our foreheads. It also seems as if when you're struggling, you gravitate toward people who are in similar situations.  How do you become positive when everything and everyone around you is negative? My wife and I were fed up. We wanted to get out of our rut, change our lives and ultimately become an example for our family and friends. To show them that life is truly what you make it in any given situation. Everything happens purposefully. I was at work and my wife called me in a panic over car trouble. She was late for everything; she had to pick up the kids, etc. I consoled her with words like "be strong" everything will "be alright" just "be careful" etc. When I ... Read Full Story >>

My Daughter The Good Friend

When I dropped my 3 1/2 year old daughter off at day care yesterday, one of her friends was sitting at a table alone crying. She sometimes gets upset when her mom leaves. My daughter plays with her and they are good friends. When we were sitting down and saw the little girl crying, I asked my daughter if she might want to go and sit by her sad friend. She said "Yes, I don't want her to be sad", scooped up her breakfast and went and sat by her friend. I watched her share her cereal and talk to the little girl. As I walked to my car I was very happy to see that my little girl has a kind heart. When I got home last night, I asked her how her day was. She said it was good and that her friend wasn't sad anymore. She was proud to have ... Read Full Story >>

Comforts Of Home

We recently went to St. Louis from New England via train. On our return trip, the train was late arriving in Boston. About an hour before our arrival, we knew we'd miss our connection to the last bus to our home in NH. I pulled out the cell phone and my husband called around trying to find a hotel close to the station. No luck. The lady in the seat across from us had slept most of the trip so we didn't get to know her along the way. When we finished calling around for a hotel, she requested use of our cell phone to make arrangements to be picked up at the train station. We obliged. My hubby and I started talking about what we would do, and finally I told him it was so late that we might as well stay in the station and wait ... Read Full Story >>

Sharing My Photography Skills

I was asked several years ago if I would be willing to volunteer my services as a photographer to a charity golf tournament that a co-worker had helped to organize just outside of Houston, Texas. I had been an amateur photographer since high school and the event sounded like fun so I accepted his offer. It was Johnny Lee’s Second Annual Country Swinging Golf Classic for Project Joy and Hope. I photographed the celebrity players, the sponsors and volunteers and had a ball doing it and continued to volunteer annually at this event for several more years. The experience helped opened a door for me into the world of community service, volunteerism and those that give of themselves to their community I have since relocated thee times, and have been forced to be away from those I love for long periods. But I have never forgotten that first time I got ... Read Full Story >>

If I Could Give Her Just A Part of Me...

The Internet connection at home was set-up for two months already. My family back home has a Web cam so I see them regularly, say twice a month, via the Web cam, but not my little sister. Whenever my mother, father, and little brother are on the chatroom, my little sister is busily doing something in her own room, or anywhere around the house. It's always been like that for the past two months. But yesterday, it was different. As I was chatting with mom, I saw my sister on the background. So I was surprised to see her there - sitting beside my mother, wearing her hair short! In fact, I was told by my older sister that little sister was the one who asked mom to cut her hair short. I was feeling so happy to see my little sister on the Web cam. I immediately captured that ... Read Full Story >>

True Story of A Grateful Whale

If you read the front page story of the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday, Dec 15, 2005, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. The fifty-foot whale was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her her tail, her torso and a line tugging in her mouth. A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallone Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her - a very dangerous proposition. One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer. They worked for hours ... Read Full Story >>

Complaint-Free Zone

A couple of months ago I received an email about this church who was on a mission to provide people with a challenge to stop complaining.. They were making these purple bracelets that had stamped on them "Complaint Free"and sending them out to anyone who requested them.. The challenge was to see if you could go a whole month without complaining. What you were supposed to do was to wear the bracelets around your wrist and every time you find yourself complaining you would have to switch the bracelet to the opposite wrist. The idea behind was that if people were more conscious about how much they complained that eventually after switching the bracelet many times it would become a habit not to complain and therefore each person would be nicer to be around and we would all have a nicer village in which to live. In my work place there are approximately ... Read Full Story >>