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Love Goes Round, Round, Round

About a year ago I learned to knit on a loom, which is a circular device that lets you knit without needles. The yarn goes around and around just like love we give to others. I love making baby hats using the loom and giving them away as gifts. In my free time, I volunteer at a non-profit that assists children and families in need, and I noticed that many of the clients we served were mothers-to-be or mothers with newborn babies. Most of the families we serve need a great deal of help just to get through each day. As I worked with more and more these mothers and families, it struck me: Wouldn't it be nice to share my newfound skill and make hats for these precious little babies? I have since then been donating my hats, and I always attach a small note on the bag that reads "This handcrafted keepsake is ... Read Full Story >>

2341 Reads

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.

3208 Reads

Nightshift at the Marriott

It had been a long, hot August day. We'd driven over six hundred miles and it was nearing 11 pm as we entered Kingman, Arizona. We pulled off and picked a motel. Much to my surprise, it being mid-week, the deskman informed me they were full. Next place, same story. This time, I asked the clerk for suggestions.      "Try the Hampton Inn."      At the Hampton we were greeted with, "We're booked. Sorry."     "What's going on?" I asked. "Is there some kind of convention in town?"     "A tour bus just pulled in with 60 people," he said. "Plus lots of people are heading up to the Grand Canyon. It's an unusual evening. You might try the Best Western. I think they had one room left about an hour ago."      We tried the Best Western. No luck.      By that time, we'd traveled to the west end of ... Read Full Story >>

12.4K Reads

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 >>

2150 Reads

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 >>

2081 Reads

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 >>

2362 Reads
  • Posted by kellyg724
  • Oct 14, 2014
  • 11 Comments
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A Lesson In Kindness From My Mother

I was at the drugstore getting ready to leave when I saw an old lady standing at the main entrance. She looked like she might be lost, so I asked if she needed any help. She said, "Yes, please. Where is the drugstore window? I need the get some medication but I don't see very well."  
 
I took her by the hand and led her into the store. I helped her get her medicine and helped her get the money from her purse to pay for it.
 
I asked her how she had managed to get to the  drugstore and she told me she had walked from her house, which was four blocks away. I offered to take her home and she agreed to let me. She told me she was a widow. She had no children and lived by herself. She was 95 years old. 
 
I helped her to her door and she told that she was so blessed to find people like me who would help her. In truth it was all down to my mother who had passed away five months before. The time I spent caring for mom taught me a lot about compassion. She taught me the real love and kindness aren't just reserved for family, but are meant to be shared with everyone.

13.8K Reads
  • Posted by irmamurphy
  • Jun 2, 2013
  • 11 Comments
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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.

As I was walking a young man joked, "Hey, she got a smoothie for me!" 
 
I walked up to him and said, "You're right! Please have it." Of course, he was a bit taken aback and said no. I said, "It's okay. I have one for your friend too." 
 
They took them and we started walking and talking. He asked if I was a professor and I said I was but not at that college. We had a long conversation about their academic and career plans, etc., and I gave some mentoring advice to them.
 
It was so great to just connect for that time with those students who were new to their campus. It made my day!
 
 

 

3225 Reads

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 >>

2708 Reads

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 >>

2497 Reads

Grandpa's Investment Pays Off

When I was a student my family went through a few rough financial years. We got by, but only with much effort and many worries. I had a pick-up truck that was forever breaking down and the thought of the 600km drive to school in it was a worrisome one. As I drove away from home my uncle walked up. I stopped and he threw something onto my dashboard. He leaned in the window, speaking softly. "Years ago," he said, "when I was a poor student myself your grandfather once did this to me. I swore one day I would return the gift. And now I have."  Then he walked away without looking back, and I sensed he did so in order to hide his emotions.   A few miles later I opened the envelope. It contained a few bank notes. It was a gift returned more than two decades later to a second ... Read Full Story >>

6237 Reads

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 >>

7334 Reads

Ever Been Nudged?

My husband and I were shopping in a local grocery store one day and as we were ready to leave, I had a nudge to go into the coffee shop they had added a few months before.  "Are you hungry?" Gene asked.   "No, but I just have a feeling we should go in for a cup of coffee or something".  As we neared the back corner table, I smiled at a lady sitting alone at the table next to ours and asked her how she was today.  She turned and began to tell me.  She talked for about 10 minutes of all that was going on in her life with very few words of encouragement from me.  She then smiled and thanked me for listening but she had to go.  I asked her if she needed a hug and I was immediately enveloped in the strongest yet tenderest hug I had ... Read Full Story >>

2780 Reads

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 >>

4990 Reads

The traffic that made me smile

Today, I was late for work. All because I got stuck behind a mini bus on the narrow streets of my neighborhood. As I sat there fuming, I looked up to see a crooked little man, wearing a uniform and carrying a lunch box, coming out of a house. I could tell by the slow way he walked and the crooked bend of his body that he had special needs and that the bus blocking my way was for him. He turned around and waved good bye to his very elderly mother who was watching him from the porch of the house. Then, as he was about to board the bus, he turned, smiled, and waved at me. My anger left and the tears were rolling as I smiled and waved back. That smile made me late for work and I had the best day ever! I smiled at everyone I saw. 

2960 Reads
  • Posted by elizabethgarza31
  • Sep 13, 2015
  • 11 Comments
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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 >>

7085 Reads
  • Posted by advaitin
  • Nov 20, 2010
  • 11 Comments
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The Challenges of Travelling with Children

For my birthday, Julie booked a coach trip to Liverpool. It's where I went to college thirty years ago and I hadn't been back since. We had a great time!   Watching the passengers embark on the coach as we got ready to head to Liverpool, I was a little dismayed to see a couple get on with two boys, both under five. We were gonna be on the coach for four hours. Would they act up? Or be sick? Or would it just be too boring for them?  It turned out they were great!  No doubt about it. Travelling like that with two lively little boys would take both parents full attention. And they did seem to work well together. In the hotel (a hotel that was once the pride of the city, now a bit dowdy, but still spectacular!) the parents got through the meals by working as a tag-team and never leaving ... Read Full Story >>

4752 Reads

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 >>

9228 Reads
  • Posted by denisemj
  • Sep 29, 2013
  • 11 Comments
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Getting Things Moving by Blocking the Way

I love my truck! I have a big old 99 Suburban Chevy model. One of the biggest they made. I love driving on the road with my Burby!   So there I was driving, singing, having a fabulous time when suddenly I saw ahead of me a congestion of traffic. A three car accident had slowed things right down. It seemed they were all okay and the police were handling it. Meanwhile, everyone was crawling along.  I was watching and waiting for my opportunity to get past all of this congestion. What had been six lanes of flowing traffic was now only three, one lane going west, another east, and a single turning lane. It was horrible.   I slowly came closer to my chance to make a move. Looking around I could see an older woman in the turning lane, obviously upset. Horns were blaring behind her and she hadn’t managed to make ... Read Full Story >>

2228 Reads

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 >>

2987 Reads




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