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Even Ants Need Kindness

Today I met with a very unique person who spreads food for the ants to eat. Every morning he walks for 5 to 10 km to feed ants.

I am very impressed by him. I think he is a very kind person and want to salute to him for his kind work.

A 5K Run Becomes An Exercise In Compassion

Sometimes the people who are noticed the least can do the most to lift us up... On Thanksgiving morning I got up early to run in the local 5K run. I figured it might give me the motivation to get back into running.  It was nearly freezing that morning so everyone getting ready to run was hopping around trying to stay warm.   On the side of the road, sitting in the grass, was a man wrapped in a blanket.  It was pretty obvious he was homeless and as usual, most people pretended not to see him.  I went over and talked with him for a few minutes before the race.  In the midst of the idle chit-chat, he told me that he was a veteran and had hoped he might be able to earn a few dollars that morning to be able to go buy a Thanksgiving dinner.  He had a glimmer of ... Read Full Story >>

I See You

She sat in my class. A teenage girl. All the girls had grouped their desks but hers sat in isolation. I reformed groups and ensured that she never sat alone. I encouraged group ethos and it worked well. In this country, girls love to bring flowers and gifts for each other. Not Amani though. She had no friends to either give to or receive from. She has special needs and her communication level is low especially in English (I am teaching in the Middle East). Watching her face and it's lack of emotion pulled so hard at my heartstrings. Seeing her walk about alone during recreation was painful for me. What could I do? I couldn't be her classmate, I was her teacher. Despite this, I had to reach out. On the last day before school broke up at the end of term I brought a gift for Amani. It was a very generous gift ... Read Full Story >>

Sandwiches On The New Floor

  I recently moved to a new town in a new state. It's hard to learn where everything is.   I have this really nice man putting in hardwood floors and stairs in my new house. He has been working very hard. His hands are all blistered from removing the tiles and preparing the floor for the hardwood - but he never complains.   I was at the house yesterday while he was hard at work. I thought to myself that he might like a yummy lunch but I don't live in the house yet and so I don't have anything to cook with. So, I asked him if you would like a Subway sandwich as a treat from me. A huge smile came across his face and he said, "I would love one!"   Being new to the area I didn't know where to go. He told me exactly how to get to the right place!   I ... Read Full Story >>

Customer Ahead Of Me In Line

Customer ahead of me in line was short a few dollars on her order. As she was directing what items to put back, I offered to pay the difference. The customer graciously accepted :).

After the customer left, cashier thanked me as well :)).

Grateful that the Universe put me right where I needed to be of assistance. Abundant blessings, my kind friends.

Jaw dropper!

Tonight two friends and I were out to dinner at a sushi restaurant one town over from ours. We were enjoying each others company, laughing, and catching up from the week we hadn't seen each other.

We had finished our dinner and were waiting for the waitress to bring over our bill so we could pay. It seemed to be taking longer than normal, but we didn't mind.

All of the sudden, our waitress came over to us and handed us this smile card. She then told us a random man paid for our entire bill as a random act of kindness. We were speechless and our jaws dropped. This random act of kindness made our entire week and inspired us to go do random acts of kindness we should be doing on a weekly basis.

There are good people in the world, we just have to open our eyes to them. If you receive this card, pass on the act of kindness. You never know how big you can impact someone else's life by doing a small act, be the good in the world.

"You Look Nice Today!"

About seven years ago, whenever I would notice that someone looked nice, I started telling them that they looked nice. Shorty afterwards, I came up with an observation: If you tell five people during the day that they look nice, at the end of the day, six peole (you have to count yourself!) feel great. Over the years, I've had many fruitful experiences with this. Here are a few: One day, I was riding around town with a friend when we rolled to a stop at a traffic light. As we waited for the light to turn green, a man walked across the crosswalk. He looked very together, so I called out, "Hey, you look sharp today!" Pointing towards a building, he said, "Thanks, but I was more sharp in there." His comment puzzled me. But before I could ask about it, the light turned green, and we drove on.  I ask my friend who was driving, ... Read Full Story >>

Father And Son Bonding

Last night  it was still light out when I returned home from work. My new neighbor and his son were in their favorite place, outside in the yard, playing ball. The young boy always reports to me how many "home runs" he hits and I always clap and cheer for him. These guys are something else. Where you see one of them, the other is not far away. The dad is always engaging the child in conversation, focusing on the child...not talking on a cell phone or walking ahead of the boy so that he has to run to keep up with him. This guy is the real deal. It warms my heart to see a father and son enjoying each other's company like they do.   As they were returning to their upstairs apartment, when the boy out of earshot, I asked the dad if his son had a bike. He said ... Read Full Story >>

Trees DO grow in Brooklyn!

Almost forty years ago, back on 12th Street between 8th Ave and Prospect Park West in Brooklyn, a group of people decided to hold a block party.  The money raised was for planting trees on each side of the street. 

And so we planted some trees.  The trees were so small, they were almost comical!  Still, they meant a lot to a small group of teenagers who lived on the block.  Teenagers like me.

Fast forward some years, and the last time I went back to Brooklyn, I actually saw those little saplings turn into beautiful, full grown, majestic trees! 

I looked up to the sky and thanked God for such a creation, for giving life to such a small seed planted in the hearts of a few people so many years ago!

Sunshine Smiles in the Rain

Today it is 39 degrees and supposed to be raining. It would have been the perfect day for me to act upon my Kindness Idea.   I was the lucky winner of the December Kindness Idea's Contest on Helpothers.org - where they give you $100 to carry out your kindness idea.   My idea was to purchase umbrellas for shelter on a rainy day and small towels to wife your face and hopefully bring a little smile into your day and hand them out to folks who find themselves caught out in the weather unprepared.    Once I received the check for $100 I ran right out and purchased umbrellas and towels. I laundered the towels and wrapped them around the umbrellas and banded them with a smile card.  I placed them them in plastic bags to protect them from moisture, dirt and grime! Then I waited on the rain!!!  Lately we’ve had plenty snow…but no rain. Yesterday the rains came! Where were the ... Read Full Story >>

The Karma Effect

Some of you know about my marvelous Mom who had a stroke seven years ago. She is unable to walk, talk or move her left hand. But she is an absolute inspiration. Every Tuesday night we go out together. I take her to a mall and out for dinner (she loves a glass of pinot grigio). Anyway tonight was a bit miserable due to a big snowstorm. So we just stayed in town. Off we went to Wal Mart and as we were in line I noticed a fairly disheveled man a bit ahead of us in line. He was looking at us as people often do when someone is in a wheelchair. I gave him a big smile and started to chat with my Mom. A minute later he came up to us and gave my Mom these two lady bugs. He paints them and gives them to people. He said when you "See a ... Read Full Story >>

Secret Santa with a Difference

This will be the second year at our company when we do a Secret Santa exchange that makes a difference.

As with the usual gift exchange we all pull a name out of a hat and purchase a gift for that individual. The difference is that we envision our recipient as a child & choose a gift the child would enjoy. After we have all opened our gifts & gotten a good laugh, we collect up the toys and take them to one of the many Christmas toy drives in our city.

This is such a great way to have some fun together & make a difference in the lives of needy children during Christmas.

Hand in Hand on a Stormy Night

The train was not working that night as I was heading home.  I had to catch a bus and 2 hours later was dropped off in the middle of the town I was staying in.  The ice storm froze the ground and it was very difficult to walk.  I asked three people for directions, but they were too hurried to help.

Then I saw an old lady holding onto the corner post with her packages, afraid to move.  I asked her where she was going and it was at least 3  miles away.  I tried to find a cab or police car but I was told they do not stop in this neighborhood.

So, we proceeded to walk along, holding onto each other for dear life.  The roads were layered with a sheet of ice.  Then and there I decided that I could not leave this old lady alone like this.  So, I decided to walk her home, hand in hand, for a good 2 hours.  Later that evening, I finally reached my destination  wet and exhausted but filled with joy and love for life.

A Tale of The Missing Flowers

I allowed myself to receive. These flowers were gifted to me by our local florist. I had placed an order with him for flowers to be delivered to a dear friend overseas. For reasons unknown to both my florist and myself, the flowers were never delivered and after multiple contacts with the overseas supplier, who kept saying "tomorrow" for days on end (with no explanation!) we canceled the order. My florist called to apologize and said he wanted to send me a bouquet of flowers to make up for the mishap. Even tho I assured him it wasn't his fault & that he didn't have any control over the mishandling of my order, he insisted he wanted to send me flowers. We went back and forth on this & finally I realized this was something that would make him feel better and that I should just say thank you and let him ... Read Full Story >>

Chocolate bars, flowers, and a morning I'll always remember

This morning, I arrived at my office a bit earlier to catch up on some emails. It was relatively empty, with people trickling in here and there. On the way to work today, I had also stopped by the grocery store to pick up some fruits to share with my colleagues during our morning meeting. I couldn't help it when I passed a fresh stack of yellow flowers on my way to the cash register... I had to pick some up, along with a few chocolate bars, to gift in some way. With the office so empty, I decided to take the opportunity to pick a few random desks to plop the chocolate bars on. :) My heart raced a bit as I scurried through the office, headed towards cubicles and areas where no one had come in yet. :) I placed one on the CEO's desk, and snuggled a smile card ... Read Full Story >>

The Imperfect Act of Kindness

I am in the midst of prolonged frustrations at work. Today was more of the same. I walked to the car remembering my act of kindness and feeling a little pressed for time and creativity. As I drove to the grocery store to pick up milk, I ran some scenarios through my head not landing on one I was satisfied with. I walked in, there was a table of vibrant yellow mums. I chose one and put it in my cart still not knowing what I was going to do with it. I find myself trying to figure out the perfect scenario for these acts of kindness knowing that it defeats the purpose, but I can't help myself. I left the store and while I was backing out of my parking space, I saw an older woman walking to her minivan. She was by herself and did not have much in her cart. I ... Read Full Story >>

Grocery Store Commotion Turns Into Kindness

"Some people!" snorted a man standing behind me in the long line at the grocery store. "You would think the manager would pay attention and open another line," said a woman. I looked to the front of the line to see what the hold up was and saw a well dressed, young woman, trying to get the machine to accept her credit card. No matter how many times she swiped it, the machine kept rejecting it. "It's one of them welfare card things. Damn people need to get a job like everyone else," said the man standing behind me. The young woman turned around to see who had made the comment. 'It was me,' he said, pointing to himself. The young lady's face began to change expression. Almost in tears, she dropped the welfare card onto the counter and quickly walked out of the store. Everyone in the checkout line ... Read Full Story >>

A Bed Of Clouds

I saw a tired and dirty man struggling to walk in the heat of the day. I pulled over and offered him a ride. 

He said he was trying to get to the bank to pay in a dollar someone had given him. It seemed he had a lot of medical expenses he was trying to pay. So I gave him a ride to the bank and waited outside for him.

He was surprised I was still there. I asked if he wanted to come to my house for a shower and a meal. He was delighted to accept.

He showered, put on some of my husband's clothes, and ate some of my leftovers. (He didn't finish them because he wasn't used to eating so much.) Then I offered him the chance to take a nap in my spare room while I washed and dried his clothes. 

He crawled into the bed and let out a load moan. I asked what was wrong and he said he had never felt anything so soft. He said it felt like he was laying on a cloud.

He slept for about two hours. Then he got dressed again in his freshly laundered clothes.

He told me more of his story and I offered more help. He refused, thanked me, and went on his way.

Shine Brighter

Dealing with the gal at the front desk at the doctor's office is sometimes less than pleasant. She can be quite off-putting and not at all welcoming. It can make a stressful time even more stressful. 

So, today, when we walked in the office, we were determined not to allow our light to be dimmed by her energy. We smiled at her and complimented her about the flowers on her desk. She smiled and chatted back.

We just need to shine brighter instead of being "reactive". Perhaps she's doing the best she can. We needed to be less reactive to her and more compassionate. We give away our power when we allow ourselves to be reactive.

Giving a Stranger Some Hope

My ex-husband gives me money to help me pay-off a joint credit card we had when we were married. Since he doesn't have good enough credit to have a bank account, he gives me $500 in cash every month. 

Once when I was returning from his place with the cash, a woman at the corner held up a sign that simply said HUNGRY.  Where I work, there are the same few panhandlers every day, but this was in a residential part of town and it was starting to snow.  I rolled my window down and passed her a bill.  She started to mumble thanks, but then smiels as she noticed it was a twenty.  I said she could get a nice hot breakfast a block away at the pancake house.

Twenty bucks isn't going to pay off my debt any sooner and maybe it will give a stranger strength and hope to go on.