Search Results for 'popular' (3486 matches)

A Treasured Gift For A Young Couple

I met a really nice young couple about a year ago through mutual friends on a social networking site.  They have just adopted a baby girl.  This is a beautiful gift to the world on its own, but what makes it even more special is how many hoops they jumped through and how much time and money they spent to get to that stage. I was going through some boxes from my mother’s house (she passed away at Christmas time in 2007) and I found some beautiful vintage baby dresses. So I thought, wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if I sent some of this lovely vintage clothing to the couple for their adopted baby?  I knew they would love it.  This was truly a gift from the heart; I had planned on saving those for my daughter if I had one someday.  But, given that my husband died before we had any children, ... Read Full Story >>

She Got 'Heart Bombed" By Her Colleagues

Here's a great opportunity to let a friend, co-worker or family member know you care... Do a "Heart Bomb" when they least expect it. A colleague did it to me a year ago and I still have the little colorful hearts they papered my desk with all around my cubicle. They give me a warm heart and make me smile each time i look at them. Highly Recommend sharing a "Heart Bomb" with someone this week.

Giving a Blanket on a Cold Florida Night

Last winter in Florida the temperature dropped into the 30's.  Since it was so cold, my mom got this idea to give blankets to homeless shelters.  We looked up some locations, and found one was in North Miami Beach.

We drove around for some time looking for the shelter but never found it.  Apparently the shelter had shut down, but was still on the Internet. Instead of going home, my mom and I decided to give away as many blankets as we could to homeless people that we found along the way.

We gave our last blanket to a woman sleeping in a bus stop. She was very hesitant to receive the blanket, but we insisted and told her that we'd be very grateful if she took it.  She finally gave in and thanked us. It was so rewarding to see her guard come down. It was the best winter that I've had.

Scarves For The Homeless

😊From Baby Blankets to Scarves.....

I have, for now, switched my crochet "give-always", from blankets for babies, to scarves for the homeless. The switch was motivated by mindyjourney's post about providing scarves for the homeless population in South Dakota. Another KindSpring inspired RAK.

Love & light in every stitch is my crochet mantra. Blessed to serve.❤️

Her Act Of Kindness Inspired The Restaurant Staff

I was having dinner with my Mother on Sunday in a restaurant. We had a lovely time but I noticed a gentleman was having trouble paying his bill. I remembered I had a $10 bill in my wallet and I wanted to give it to him. So I walked over to this table and said would this help? He said yes and was ever so grateful to me and called me an angel. I returned to my table with my Mother and finished our dinner. In the meantime, I could see my $10 was helpful but was not going to cover the whole bill. So I decided I would pay it forward and cover the rest of the bill when I paid for our meal. As I went over to the counter to pay I noticed the server on her way back to the table. I then asked if things had been sorted. ... Read Full Story >>

A Pocketful Of Peanuts And A Heart Full Of Smiles

As I write it’s 11.00 a.m. in the morning with a winter weather forecast of possibly minus 35 degrees wind chill temperature. I’m staying cosy inside and keeping busy by baking experimental vegan items to take to my daughter-in-law when we visit. I’m also making a variety of craft kindnesses to share as we journey. I venture out only to replenish my bird feeding stations with extra seeds and suet, and refill the heated bird bath by lugging buckets of water from inside. Every scrap of food that isn’t eaten, even those saved toast crusts from breakfast at a local diner, goes on the platform feeder for the crows and squirrels, or in the compost, which all the creatures root through for something edible. A few seeds, and sometimes a sliced carrot or apple, may fall to the ground for hungry deer or wild turkey.  Bundled in layers of long underwear and clothes, fleece hood ... Read Full Story >>

Three Men in a Convenience Store

How much love is latent in a few bananas, saltines and a few bottles of Gatorade? Bear Necessities Grill & C-Store is a convenience store for students at Cornell University. Seth, George, and Harry are men who work there. I have not met them. I have only spoken to them on the phone. What I found these guys carry in their store is immense amounts of beauty, warmth and kindness to strangers. It will stay with me for the rest of my life. It floods me with Awe at the tapestry of life where someone takes the time to listen, notice, share, and make choices. My freshman son was in his dorm room feeling very weak and unwell. He had no energy to go down to the dining hall because he had been up the night before due to food poisoning. His roommate hadn’t yet arrived. I googled and found the convenience store, Bear Necessities Grill ... Read Full Story >>

Trying Harder...

I'm trying really hard to 'be present' and putting my phone away and ipad away. I'm limiting my time on FB (and had a lovely comment from my son this afternoon, "Mum are you there? if you are not there, where are you?") which shows I spent too much time there, if that's their first stop to find me! My second thing on a different vein is when school goes back, no gossiping, which for me isn't saying it, its listening to it. I've got some strategies (changing the subject, walking out, and saying I'm not comfortable talking about the person when they are not there) I want my workplace to be one of kindness and I'm starting with myself.

Sundae In Dallas

  I got back to Dallas yesterday after a two week trip and  the first thing that hit me was the scorching heat! A forty degree change in temperature, almost hitting a hundred degrees Farenheit.    On top of that the apartment's air conditioning went bang and wouldn't work any more.    On the plus side I also got my package of Smile cards today, so I decided to use some of them right away.    My friend and I went to have an ice cream at our favourite store. Once we had placed the orders I told the man behind the counter I wanted to pay for an extra ice-cream sundae and told him to give it to the next person who asked for one, along with the smile card.   We were still enjoying ours when we saw the next person get their free sundae. And it was delivered with a smile card too!    It was worth it ... Read Full Story >>

A Third Grader's Gift Economy Experiment

I run a classroom economy with my 3rd grade students where they apply for jobs, get weekly pay, pay monthly rent for the desks, can buy their own desks and even buy their classmates' desks and become landlords.

With their income they can buy items at our class store, purchase bigger items at our monthly auction, or pay for experiences (lunch with me, rent me for recess, paint my nails).

One student decided to cash in a lot of his funds in order to do a RAOK for the class. He bought a class party...for $2,000. Just to give you an idea of how difficult that is and how giving it is, most students are paid $15 weekly. Rent is $100 a month.

So, instead of using his savings for himself, he decided to use it for his peers. Warms my heart.

#AprilRAOK #BeKindToOneAnother

A Valuable Lesson Learned From My Child

I always try to encourage my children to be, think and talk positive but one day I was caught not practicing what I preach by my son. My son is 7 ½ yrs old son and he was preparing for a sketch at his school for the occasion of Mother’s day. He was playing the role of an angel. On the evening before the show, we were having a casual conversation while I was preparing dinner in the kitchen.  He asked me: “Mum, can we see angels?” As usual, I seized the opportunity to encourage him to be positive and I said: “Yes, but only those who are, think and talk good can see angels.” He responded by asking: “You must have seen them then?” I paused a few seconds. I was touched by his innocence about the fact that how he thought his mother was a perfect person. Impatiently waiting for his answer, ... Read Full Story >>

The Power of a Handwritten Letter

Our world is so dependent on email that handwritten letters have gone by the wayside.  At a service I attended recently, the topic had to do with how important and touching handwritten letters are. 

I followed my heart, which had tugged at me for some time to actually write letters. I started by writing a letter to my grandfather and nothing could have made him happier. Even though I see him every week, he said so many times how much it meant to him. So now we write each other a letter each week. There is something so special about seeing a real letter when you open the mailbox and something even greater about sending it to someone special. I write at least one letter a week now to family and friends -- it reconnects you in ways that no email ever will.

"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.
 

That Special Moment Between Mom and Daughter, Over Baklava

Lately, following the most recent fall a month ago, which in itself didn't seem too disastrous (cracking a rib bone only slightly), my 90-year-old mom has been more and more quiet and sleepy. For a person who by everyone's accounts walk, moves and talks a mile a minute and is a firecracker of a personality, this is very odd. And disconcerting. In the last 4 years since she broke first one hip and then 2 years later the other one, her osteoporosis has worsened and so has her condition of frailty. At the same time, my 92-year-old father has been suffering his own health problems. Some of this many of you in the KindSpring community already know, but perhaps you didn't realize her situation has worsened in the last 2 weeks. My father says she is "just not her old self"-meaning she was still talkative until a couple of weeks ago, when ... Read Full Story >>

Finding the Courage to Smile

I was at a coffee shop last night where there was a wonderful folk music performance. I was busy tapping my feet and singing along to the soothing beats! As I got up to get a cup of coffee and a cookie, I noticed this middle-aged woman near me. She had obviously been caught in a fire of some sort. Her face was severely burned that it looked very tight.  She barely had a nose and her eyes were extremely tiny.  I took a deep breath and went back to my seat. I thought about how brave she was to come out and appear in public. I also felt ashamed of myself for mildly shuddering and looking down while I headed back to my seat, unable to send even a feeble smile her way. As I sipped my coffee and ate my cookie, I just kept thinking endlessly about whether I should ignore this ... Read Full Story >>

In My Late Twenties ...

In my late twenties I taught aqua-fitness for three years (three times a week). I was also teaching swimming to people afraid of the water. I had an amazing lady of 77 years old, that just began to love water at that age. It was beautiful to see her new love story with water as she was so scared of it for so many years before. I was also finishing my bachelor in psychology at that time and thought about the incredible positive psychological impact all that had in her life. It was beautiful to see her evolve in the water.... playing and having fun! She felt so good about her swimming,that she started to become more active. She used to run on the her roof top, begun to do yoga again and she fell in love with a new neighbor.... her eyes were twinkling! she told me it was like ... Read Full Story >>

Living on the Street

I was headed to the UMW womens basketball game yesterday, and I saw an older man, maybe 65, sitting next to a stop sign on William Street at the intersection of Route One and William Street. He was sitting down wearing tattered clothes, and an oversized jacket. A homeless man holding a sign that said: "Hold care in your hearts Thanks very much And God Bless!" I parked my car in the Goolrick Gymnasium parking lot and walked up to the old man and asked "How are you doing?" He looked at me suprised, like I was going to injure him, kind of caught up in words he just said "I am fine, just making a living." Embarrassed, he said "I live on the streets." The one thing that suprised me was that he never asked me for anything, no money or food, seeing that he was homeless was given he even told me so. Even his sign didn't ask for ... Read Full Story >>

A Chocolate-Chip Birthday Cake

I work in a small department store. I decided to celebrate my fellow employees birthdays - if they wanted to be remembered! 

A Smiling Face at the Store

I needed to get some supplies to clean the house this weekend, so I headed over to a local store. While walking through the aisles there, I realized that I wasn't smiling at anyone. That was out of character. I almost always smile at strangers with the hope that it might brighten their day a bit. But in that particular moment, my mind was focused on events that had bothered me earlier in the day. Not really in the mood to smile, I thought, Oh well, and continued through the store. When I went to check out my things, I was met with a very long line. People were stocking up on Christmas gifts and things for the holidays. To help minimize the first line, a second register opened up. I quickly switched over to the it. After a few moments, I began to notice that all the people in front ... Read Full Story >>

Looking for Ways to be Kind to Strangers

Over the weekends I often find myself leaving home at around 9:00am. I find it hard to stay indoors on a Saturday, so I either head to the office or to town to run some errands. Towards the end of last year, after being encouraged by various acts of kindness from this website, I resolved to make it my mission to touch people's lives unexpectedly.  My target was the underpriviledged in society and in my country the street children were my target group. Each Saturday morning as I would go to get some milk and bread from the nearby shop, I would see how many kids there were in the vicinity and buy them milk and bread also. They would of course have no clue of this and all I would do is creep up on them and give it to them. One day, I was heading back to my bus terminus and saw this beggar on the street in a wheelchair. ... Read Full Story >>