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 >>
- Posted by BeeLine
- Jan 12, 2008
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A Radio for Dancing and Singing
I was conducting an auction for a non-profit to help our senior citizens in need. There was an old battery-operated radio, never used, and an older woman came up with her friend.
She was digging in her handbag to find 50 cents to buy a ticket and her friend asked what she would do with the radio if she won it. I was eavesdropping because I was also curious. She smiled and said, "I would sing and dance in my apartment."
That really touched my heart, so when she left I found out her name and surprised her anonymously with gift cards so she could buy a radio and not have to worry about batteries. I have never forgotten that. We take so many little things for granted! And we can all make a difference!
- Posted by mightym
- Aug 28, 2012
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"Amma, Please See the Doctor"
After playing badminton, I was about to leave the facility when I saw Amma. She's the maid responsible for cleaning, an old lady in her late 60s, and she was talking to the owner, requesting some cash. Her hand was in pain and she wanted to see the doctor. The owner gave some excuses and escaped.
I felt bad for her, so although I was outside the facility and it was dark, I turned back and opened my wallet. I knew I didn't have much, but I gave her whatever came out into my hand. In my broken Tamil, I tried to say "Amma, please see a doctor" but I don't know if it was correct.
When I left for dinner to a nearby restaurant, surprisingly I had one bill which was more than enough for my meal.
I see Amma in the evenings, and even though it was pitch dark that day, she remembers me well and waves to me every time.
- Posted by kanadenipun
- Jun 24, 2018
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Money Flows - Let It
After a sick-day on the couch I was walking around the block to get some fresh air. Just as I was turning back towards home I heard someone bawling. A kid, I thought at first. Then I saw it was an adult, a woman, looking lost, crying and calling out, walking on and off the sidewalk. The woman who first crossed her path didn't stop or ask what was wrong. I guess that stopped me and made me turn around. I took her arm and gently pulled her back from the road, asking her what had happened. There was spit all around her mouth and tear streaks down her cheeks. Her eyes were swollen from crying. Sobbing, she told me she'd been on the bus with a friend. She'd given her "friend" the last of her money and then the friend had disappeared. She couldn't get the bus home now since she didn't want ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by cf
- Apr 23, 2013
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Top 10 Stories of 2012 - Story # 6 Learning Kindness From My Father
When I was 12 years old, I went with my dad to his work - a car showroom. I was wondering around and I saw a poor woman with a child in her lap standing outside the showroom. I saw that she was crying a lot and went inside and told my father. My father went out and asked the woman to come in to the showroom. He offered her some water and then asked her what was wrong? The woman said that her husband had died some months ago and that she doesn’t have anyone else in her family who can help her. She does some manual labor to earn some money to take care of her daughter but she was sick for the last three days and was unable to go to work. Now she doesn’t have a grain of food to eat. While she was relating this ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by prasiddhi
- Dec 26, 2012
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Making Someone Happy
Today I donated a large bag of clothing and other assorted items . I placed money with a smiley face attached to the bill wishing someone a very Blessed Day! It made me feel really good as I watched the driver carrying the bag to his truck.
May all the care and kindness you give so freely to others come back to warm your heart.
- Posted by deepee
- Apr 11, 2015
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Just 1 Card To Say Happy Birthday...
I have a Aunt who is deaf and lives alone. To communicate with her when we visit we write in her notebook. Her birthday is in March. Last year she was 96 years old. I thought about things I could get her but aside from food there isn't much she needs. So, I decided to I send emails out to a few friends. I told everyone about my Aunt and asked them if they could please take a few minutes and help celebrate her birthday by sending a card to her. Little did I know how this one request would impact so many, especially my Aunt! My friends asked their own friends to join in. The cards started arriving every day for a month!! My Aunt was so excited! She couldn't believe so many people were thinking about her. She recieved over 50 cards! Something so little, that takes just a few minutes ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by crosby2126
- Dec 12, 2011
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Generosity "Grande" at the Cafe
So, here's a long story made short. I love Starbucks, but I tend to get fattening items when I go, other than my usual soy chai tea latte. So, that's why I immediately gifted a $25 Starbucks gift card to my friend Cathy who, interestingly, had been teasing me about being part of this "goofy smile card experiment." Nevertheless, I gave it to her and said, "Don't pay me back, but pay it forward." Cathy went to a Starbucks in Lake Oswego and as she was paying for her own drink, she gave some money and my smile card to a lady standing behind her. Much to Cathy's surprise, the lady lit up like a Christmas Tree. She was very excited and said she was going to immediately "pay it forward" and surprise the lady behind her. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was feeling rather down this morning but this has completely brightened my day!! Witnessing her joy, Cathy immediately caught the bug and saw how much fun it is to be a part of this experiment. When Cathy told me the story, I wish I had a camera to show you her enthusiasm. It made me feel great and I hope it does you, too.
- Posted by yoyo
- Jul 8, 2008
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World Kindness Week Day 4 - Smoothies On Campus
I was walking around a college campus today (not my own) and I picked up two smoothies with the intention of giving them away.
- Posted by cabbage
- Nov 16, 2012
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Stop and Hug
My nine year old daughter has walked to school almost every day of her school life and each morning the same crossing guard, Ms. Leslie is there to help us safely cross the street. She and my daughter have a special ritual of hugging. My daughter runs to her, they hug, lock eyes and Ms. Leslie twirls her around once with the "stop" sign in one hand. Once, a neighbor driving her 3 children to school told me they feel lucky when they get the chance to witness this. Any fighting in the car that is going on, stops and they all share the joy between these two. This morning after watching them and having crossed the street to the other side, I said "That looked like so much fun can I have a hug too?" Ms. Leslie smiled and we embraced a full 5 seconds. I could feel our skin touching neck to neck and ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by klw4
- Aug 16, 2014
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Stuck in Line, Stuck with a Smile
Today, I stopped at the store to return a couple of things. Sure enough, I ended up in line behind an older woman who was questioning all the pricing on her purchases and moving rather slowly. I made up my mind to think compassionately; to be patient and wait with a smile on my face. The older woman glanced at me and acknowledged that it must be heavy to keep holding all my items while waiting for her to finish checking out. I told her I was young enough to hold them all, and that I needed the exercise anyway. She commented that she was too old for exercise, but needed it. Then she turned to me and said, "I just lost my husband on the 20th." He had died of cancer, just two weeks after the doctor had told him he had about six weeks to live. She explained that they were both diagnosed ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by bjwimmer
- Sep 18, 2013
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I Choose Kindness!
I can't stand the thought of people being forced to beg for money, even though a good number of them may be swindlers. That won't stop my kindness. One Sunday afternoon, I was on my way to a bus stop. When I walked on the sidewalk, someone blocked my way. It was a man. His face was dirty and his hair was not very neat. His clothes were rather grungy. I was terribly frightened by this man. In a low voice, he said to me, "I have run out of all my money, and now I can't go back home. Could you please give me some money?" I wondered if he was telling the truth. But despite my doubts, I just couldn't stop my heart from going out to him. From the looks of his face, I guessed that he had been refused by others many times. So I gave him some money ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by Seor
- Sep 13, 2013
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Late Night in the Company Cab
I was then working in a BPO in the evening shift. It was a tough day for me and was I waiting to go home and sleep. The time was 10pm. I got into my company cab and was glad to see that I was the only person in it, so that I could reach home in the next 30 minutes. Just then another girl got into the company cab. She told the driver where she wanted to go and it was in the opposite direction to where I was headed. The driver decided to drop me home first as he felt my place was closer to the office and I was happy. When the company vehicle moved out of my office campus, the other girl got a call on her mobile. From the conversation, I figured out that her husband was not keeping well. She was trying to tell him to eat some light food. ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by Smitha
- Nov 17, 2008
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Goodness Everywhere
This one isn't a commentary on the words of some great philospher, it's not words of wisdom passed down from bygone generations - it's just the story of my morning so far! It's a grey, blustery Wednesday morning here on the west of Scotland. A nothing-much kind-of-day. The plan was, I would take the "weans" to school, walk out to the supermarket, pick up a few things, and then my day could begin. Well the walk to the supermarket takes you, literally, across the forecourt of a Fire Station. As I came up to it I heard sirens. Not fire sirens though. Two lanes of traffic, car drivers, bus drivers, a truck driver or two, put their journeys on hold and pulled over to the side of the road. With sirens wailing and blue lights flashing the ambulance tore up the white line in the centre of the road. I caught sight of the ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by wayfarer
- Nov 19, 2008
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Always Remember Those Who Serve
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" the child asked. "Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it. "How much is a dish of plain ice cream?" he inquired. Some people were now waiting for a table and the waitress was a bit impatient. "Thirt-five cents," she said brusquely. The little boy again counted the coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and departed. When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then swallowed hard at ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by denisemj
- Sep 29, 2013
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The More I Understand, The Less I Know
After a couple of decades on this planet, many years of soul searching, and studying the "self," I feel that I am finally closer to knowing myself which ironically seems to be a journey which tells me that the more I understand myself, the less it is that I know. I now can say I have truly felt the difference between the deepest agony of the human condition and the highest state of joy. I know from my own experience that the main difference that lies between "you" and "me" is just a feeling, a feeling of being separate, isolated, lonely, lost, versus a feeling of being whole, connected, at home, and loved. I think most people, if not all, live with a kind of homesickness, a sweet nostalgia which they can't quite put their finger on as if they were once in a place that they can't quite remember but desperately, somehow, want to get back to. The mystics have said for over a millennia that in existence there ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by makingyousmile
- Jan 20, 2009
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A Pay It Forward Ripple From The Toll Booth
On the road with my mom, drove on the Thruway (I-90) for about 1.5 hours to our exit, and at the booth the guy inside questioned why we were so happy?-because mom and I were just cracking up over something. Ii paid our toll and then gave him $5.00 and a Smile Card to help pay the car behind us and asked him to please give them the card.- We drove off and that car stayed at the booth for an extra minute and I'm sure was reading the card,hopefully happy and smiling. Our light turned green and off we went. Mom said, ''Humph, wow, I'm very impressed." I said ''I know, take a look at this person that you raised'' - it was Awesome! Part 2 of the story - Driving back today in a complete downpour, lightning, thunder, sheets of rain, hoping it would get better but it just kept steady or ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by dandeliongirl
- Aug 26, 2016
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A Lesson in Compassion From My Brother
It was my birthday so my wife, my brother and my child treated ourselves to dinner in a restaurant that we had never been to before. As we walked back to our car a very thin man approached my brother saying he hadn't eaten in a while and asking for money. Usually my wife and I treat such requests with suspicion but my brother took a different approach and he started talking with the man. The man said he was a singer and had come to Dubai from Pakistan to find work. His visa was expiring in three or four days. He had no friends here, couldn't land a singing job, and was surviving hand to mouth. He had a return ticket that had to be confirmed. To do this he needed 70 Dirhams. My brother gave him 20 Dirhams for food and asked the man to give him a call from the airline's ticket office the next day. He also ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by advaitin
- Nov 20, 2010
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What I Am Grateful For
I learned to count my blessings a long the time ago. I believe that if any one stops for a minute he/she will find something to be grateful for. I am grateful for a great number of things but I am especially grateful for NOW, for this moment in time. I am grateful for the lovely town where I live. In this town the number of charity shops almost equals the number of “normal” shops. There are charities for almost everything you can imagine. Even the primary schools are charity orientated, with the Parents and Teachers Association taking responsibility for raising money through parties, discos, fairs and other events in order to be able to buy things like interactive white boards or sports gear for the school football team. I think my town is very kind and it is very easy to live here. People smile at you a lot, ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by Bluebell
- Aug 11, 2009
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An Angel In The Check-out Line
It was a busy day at the grocery store and two young ladies were in line behind me with birthday balloons. They appeared to be stressed and in a hurry so I asked if they wanted to go ahead of me. They were very appreciative. I asked what the balloons were for and one girl said they were for her nephew's second birthday. She said it was a difficult day for her with lots of family drama and that her nephew had a twin and something bad happened to the baby at birth. I noticed she had a small heart shaped tattoo on her neck with the a date in it. The date was exactly two years ago. So, I knew it had to be a significant day. They were chatting together about their rush to get ready for the party, all the things left to do, and how nobody offered to ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by kellyg724
- Oct 14, 2014
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