Search Results for 'popular' (3456 matches)

An Act Of Kindness Kept This Homeless Man From Stealing

The other day I was doing some grocery shopping and a man, who was unkempt and spent most of the time talking to no one in particular, walked toward a group of us at the checkout stand. I overheard him say to the man in front of me, "I don't wanna steal from this store...would you buy me some food?" The man in front of me pretended not to hear him; it was as if he were invisible. I waited patiently for my turn to be questioned, but it never came. So I asked him, "Can I buy you something to eat?" He gladly accepted. The man got a bag and began putting samosas in the bag. As my items were being rung up I watched the man put the samosas into the bag; 1, 2, 3... He finally stopped and I asked him how many he had got and he replied ... Read Full Story >>

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 >>

A Midwife, the Sea, and Sharing

I have been trying to think of ways that I can give without having to spend money, as I've been finding it quite hard to do. I was cleaning out my 18-month-old son's bedroom when I found the packaging to his sea-life-themed bedroom set, which cost about $250 and included stacks of things to create a full bedroom theme. I loved it and really enjoyed putting my baby in a room with these surroundings. I justified the price at the time by keeping the packaging and vowing to sell the stuff when I was finished. However, i decided that instead of selling it, I would wrap it up with a gift bag and a card and take it up to the hospital and let the maternity nurse decide who needed it the most and who may not be able to afford something similar. The midwife was really touched by the ... 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 >>

Leaving Sweet Treats

I have been "tagging" at work, which is very easy since I work late and everyone else is gone by the time I leave.   The people at work  have begun to pass it on to others, as well.  We work in a kitchen at a college so to say it is stressful is an understatement. These kids eat alot!  Our  work space is very tight and crowded in the kitchen , which is one reason I work later.

I've been leaving tea and mugs with candy with a card for a sweet treat.  Others I have heard have copied this idea and it has become like a game. Only one person was annoyed. I was so surprised when I heard that someone had reached out and this person was annoyed because she now felt like she had to do this.

I guess you can't expect everyone to feel the way you do when you give , but it is good to know that others have gotten the positive out of it.

Helping My Little Brother

   My little brother is in the fourth grade and has always had problems with his homework.  He would come home from school distraught and angry because he knew he had to do homework.     When i first started helping him with his homework, he was always focused on being angry and negative because he just did not want to do it.  Many times, he would sit in the chair and not do anything. When i asked him a question he would not answer or answer in a very low voice.    Slowly, though, i made things more fun for him. I also realized i had to stop being so hard on him. He is just ten years old and should enjoy his childhood. I wanted him to be happy. I gave him fun examples he could relate to with his math problems and used chess pieces to help him understand the principles. ... Read Full Story >>

Secret Santa for a Family in Need

I have always hated how Christmas has become more about the commercial side and less about the giving.  So, a few years ago, I was without a job (between jobs, but not working none the less)  but knew I wanted to give something to someone that needed things more than I did.  I searched around and found a local community centre (this isn't my home town, so I wasn't familiar with the area yet) and asked if there was anything I could give to help someone else.  Well, it was just a couple days before Christmas and the lady there told me that there was a family in need, who had submitted their names, but had somehow gotten lost in the system.  They didn't know what they were going to do about it, so, my boyfriend and I decided to take them on and be their Secret Santa.  All we ... Read Full Story >>

Folded Napkins For Stevie

I try not to be biased, but I had my doubts about hiring Stevie. His placement counselor assured me that he would be a good, reliable busboy.  But I had never had a mentally handicapped employee and wasn't sure I wanted one.  I wasn't sure how my customers would react to Stevie. He was short, a little dumpy with the smooth facial features and thick-tongued speech of Downs Syndrome.  I wasn't worried about most of my trucker customers because truckers don't generally care who buses tables as long as the meatloaf platter is good and the pies are homemade. The four-wheeler drivers were the ones who concerned me; the mouthy college kids traveling to school; the yuppie snobs who secretly polish their silverware with their napkins for fear of catching some dreaded "truck stop germ" the pairs of white-shirted business men on expense accounts who think every truck stop waitress wants to ... Read Full Story >>

An Unlikely Buddha

My brother, Patrick is undergoing surgery to give a friend 2/3 of his liver in a live donor program at the University of Minnesota. 

I have a great deal of admiration for him and yet he takes it as, "Just something I am doing for a friend who would die without it."  He is an unlikely Buddha -- Harley riding tatted up and always the rebel -- and he was a perfect match. 

I love you Pat and admire you more than you know.  Pray for his safety.

How John Touched My Life

I met him on his birthday when he truned 20 years old.  He was very pleasant and had outstanding, loving eyes.  He reached out his left hand and said, "Nice to meet you."  Nice, indeed. This young man touched my life as well as my heart in the most profound way.  When my husband met him, he felt the same way.  I got to know him very well over the next year as I had the privilege of "working" with him.  See, he got around using a walker or was in a wheelchair and when it was time to get down, or out of his wheelchair he would crawl! John is a shining star to me.  My family just adores him.  He loves talking on the phone, singing, "dancing", noise of any kind, toys that wind up, wiggle or glow, music, cheering, "holding" me while watching tv and his never ending collection of keychains.   It broke ... Read Full Story >>

Gifting Knotted Bag

When our daughter and partner meet up with us in Durham they are coming with Jack's parents. His mum is called Helen as well and I've briefly met her before. We are taking them to Durham Cathedral because they've never visited and there's also a special exhibition on. I knitted a bag for my daughter last year so I've knitted one for Jack's mum.

A Small Gesture on a Hot Day

I work in a school.  Yesterday we had a whole bunch of textbooks delivered.

When the delivery man arrived, he asked for a different way to bring the boxes in as he said it would be dififcult with the stairs at the front door. 

There is a way through a different entrance which has ramps.  He used the ramp to bring in over 50 heavy boxes of textbooks.  He was sweaty, grumpy and complaining as he was stacking them up outside my office. 

A coworker said what a ray of "sunshine" he was. She was being sarcastic, of course.  I just said that it is really hot and he's probably just wants to go home by this time of the day when it's 90 degrees outside.

When he was finished stacking all the boxes, he came to me to sign for the packages.  I had kept a bottle of water ready for him and offered it to him. He was so thankful and left with a smile.

I hope this little gesture helped brighten up his attitude for his next delivery.

Customer Service Smiles

I work as a contractor at a senior center and absolutely love it. My days are spent coordinating rides for seniors from volunteer drivers. Today, a lady called saying she was unable to get her medication from the pharmacy. Usually, our center requires a three-day advance notice for local rides. We also require folks to fill out an application and a waiver.  With these things in mind, I decided that this was my opportunity to go above and beyond the call of duty. I filled out the application and told her I would come pick her up. "You will?" she asked, slightly shocked. "Yup." I sent an email to my manager and off I went. It was a nice day to be out. We had a pleasant ride, and along the way, I found out she has cancer. Despite the illness, she still embraces life with a lot of faith. After arriving back at her home, I gave her ... Read Full Story >>

An Anonymous Wedding Gift

When my sister got married some time back, we were all excited.  After her honeymoon she invited me over to her house to help her unwrap the gifts and send some thank you notes to all the people that came to the wedding party.  As a side note, my sister works at Standard Bank in Malawi. Going through the gifts, we came across this precious exotic ice bucket in silver and gold.  I had never seen such a beautiful ice bucket.  Inside it was a note that read, "When I heard you were getting married, I asked around for the details and somehow managed to get here.  You might not know me but I know you.  I am a regular customer at Standard Bank and you helped me a lot when I was applying for a loan.  I will never forget what you did, God bless you.  -- Anonymous" When I showed my sister the note, she couldn't remember who the person ... Read Full Story >>

Growing From A Rescue Opportunity

We had a marvelous 10 days in Idaho and were driving home a day earlier than we'd planned. We just wanted to have a day to rest and prepare for our work weeks ahead. Little did we know the impact our leaving early would have on someone else. We left Caldwell, Idaho at around 1pm and went through a small town called Marsing, population 790. They have a volunteer fire department, a couple of gas stations and a small market. About 10 miles on the other side of Marsing, we saw thick black plumes of smoke miles down the road to where we were driving. It didn't look good at all. We got to where the smoke was, and discovered a Big Rig (18-wheel truck) on fire and the driver was sitting on the side of the road. Another car pulled over to see if everything was okay too. We pulled up to assist ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness Runners

I used to live next door to a wonderful old couple, Mr Mitchell and Mrs Mitchell.  They used to love gardening and had planted a beautiful garden.  Sadly, Mrs Mitchell died and Mr Mitchell's health began to deteriorate and he wasn't able to garden much anymore. Over the years their carefully tended garden became a jungle. One day, Mr Mitchell's health took a sudden downturn and he was taken into hospital.  I wanted to do something for him so I decided to tend his garden.   I wanted to get it nice again for him so that when he came back home he would have somewhere to sit in the sun while he was recuperating.  So I went into the garden armed with saws, a spade and clippers.  Over time my gardening trips became a regular thing and Mr Mitchell's garden begun to take shape again. Mr Mitchell never came back home.  He ... Read Full Story >>

Bagged by an Anonymous Act of Kindness

I was at the grocery store last Friday buying some milk, bread, and juice for my family of 3. At the check out the total came to about $25. I swiped my card but it didnt work. I tried again. No luck. I was quickly becoming embarassed as my 18 month old became fidgety and I scrambled through my purse looking for another way to pay.

I only had 6 one dollar bills in my purse. I asked the cashier to move on to the next person while I tried the ATM. That didnt work either. I finally resolved to write a check but when I came back to the checkout the cashier told me that my groceries had already been paid for!

Tears instantly came to my eyes. I have no idea who the person was that paid for my groceries.  They have no idea how much their act of kindness meant to me. Things like that give me hope and faith to carry on through the day.

Thankful for a Mother-In-Law's Advice 9 Years Later

When my husband and I became engaged some nine years ago, I felt slightly perplexed when my mother-in-law  offered us the following advice: "Be kind to each other."

I thought that was so obvious at the time, but over the years it has stuck with me and I have realised that it is one of the best pieces of advice I have ever received.

It is all too easy to take our nearest and dearest for granted and not show them the appreciation that they deserve.

I recently thanked my mother-in-law (mummy 2, as she prefers to be called) for those words.  It was nine years late, but I always think: better late than never. I told her just how much I still appreciate her words of wisdom that she shared with us all those years ago. I could see that I made her day too! :)

Tuning 'Possessions' Into Inventory to Share

Ever since my new laptop arrived, I held on to my older one thinking it would serve me some day. In the last few months, every time I opened the closet and saw it, I felt depressed. Here was a perfectly good laptop gathering dust, and I had turned it into inventory. Cutting-edge inventory control systems encourage us to shed our inventory because it  takes up space without creating any value. :)  I got the chance to change that a few days back, when we had a visitor who was having a crummy time in life. After helping this friend with ideas on how to start a massage business and spread the word,  I suggested, "You need to get out there on the Internet and set up your homepage." My friend replied, "For that, I need a good machine. My machine is so slow that I can't really do anything on it." ... Read Full Story >>

Live As Though Everything Is A Miracle

The following passage is a healthy prescription of how we can approach life. It is not about being famous or being wealthy or about our good looks. Truly, it is all about love. There are times when we feel as if we are separated from the rest. This illusion creates a mental prison. Hence, we should strive to internally liberate ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living things. "Open your heart to others and try to understand, When someone reaches for you, hold out to them your hand, Follow your heart, no matter what other people say, Do things that make you able to smile throughout your day, Treat other people, the way you would like them to treat you, Do what you know is right and to your heart and self stay true, Remember what life is all about, it is how you make people feel, What you do, where you go, and making dreams become real, Helping people through, in hard times of ... Read Full Story >>