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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! :)

Kindness Contest Bears Fruit For All

When I was little I wondered why neighborhoods didn’t invest in edible landscaping to build community, promote health, and promote collaboration. As adults, my husband and I decided the right way to answer this question was to do it ourselves, so we transformed our front yard with edibles, adding blueberries, strawberries, limes, pomegranates, and oranges. Every crop brought us closer to neighbors and strangers. The food was an excuse to commune. Kids in the neighborhood (including our sons) learned patience and gentle timing. When we had extra, we'd share it. Then, we received a powerful lesson; a gift hidden as a loss. Our first-ever crop of pomegranates had ripened. But at harvest, they were all gone, stolen in the middle of the night. We were shocked, sad and angry. Friends had fun suggesting deterrents. One even suggested we post a sign to curse thieves who stole our fruit. And suddenly, the lesson ... Read Full Story >>

Inspiration From my Daughter

I thought that was so sweet of her! It seems she not only reaches out to her friends these days but to her teachers and other children as well. I thought that was awesome! 

Lending a hand at the airport

I had arrived at the airport in plenty of time having checked in online. It was the weekend before Christmas and very very busy. I saw an elderly man looking lost pushing a lady in a wheelchair as well as a baggage trolley. I walked past at first but then knew I couldn't leave without at least asking if they needed a hand.

I pushed the baggage trolley while Ronald (the elderly man) concentrated on steering his mother in the wheel chair through the queues. I helped them through the check-in process, which took nearly an hour queuing and going to different desks and the bag drop.

They were both very grateful once we had cleared the check-in counters. I sent them on the way to the departure gates. I felt really happy that I had made their trip that much easier for taking a bit of time.

Beauty Tips for Your Soul

Here are a few primping tips to increase the beauty of your soul: A dear old lady was ... 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 >>

The Waiter at the fast food restaurant

My husband and I decided to go out for lunch . Our waiter who appeared to be at least 60+ years old was extremely nice and very attentive to our needs.

Since this place is almost considered as a fast food restaurant, not many tips are given. I'm a firm believer if I receive great service, I'm willing to give a nice tip.

When it was time for us to pay for our food, I gave the waiter a $10 tip. (which was more than our meal) She thanked me over and over again and stated she could really use the money.

She later walked in the back of the restaurant where her other co-workers were standing and started waving the $10 around. It put a huge smile on my face that God has blessed me to bless others.

39 Roses For Each Year

As I handed folks a rose, I said, "We're celebrating our anniversary and giving out a rose for each year...39! Would you like one?" So many smiles and hugs and stories about recipient's anniversaries we shared over the simple beauty of a colorful rose; the joy (and heartbreak too -- some partners gone) to a deeper connect of LOVE. From the library to the grocery store parking lot, from the restaurant (where I went back and gave our server another rose, because she was so very dear) to the drive-thru coffee shack...each rose my husband and I gave put put a new smile in our hearts. I'm leaving two roses on our front porch tonight (giving out these many roses is exhausting!), so my niece can pick them up on her way to work, and give one to co-worker too. My husband started the tradition of a rose for every year of our marriage ... Read Full Story >>

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 >>

Parents Are Precious

Venkatesh Balasubramaniam (who works for IIT) describes how his gesture of booking an air ticket for his father brought forth a rush of emotions and made him (Venkatesh) realize how much we all take for granted when it comes to our parents. My parents left for our native land on Thursday and we went to the airport to see them off. In fact, my father had never traveled by air before, so I just took this opportunity to ensure he experienced his first flight. In spite of being asked to book tickets by train, I got them tickets on Jet Airways.  The moment I handed over the tickets to him, he was surprised to see that I had booked them by air. The excitement was very apparent on his face. Just like a school boy, he was preparing himself for that day. We all went to the airport and eagerly enjoyed the ... Read Full Story >>

A Pretty Mission

I make it a point, if I see them, to go up and compliment teenage girls or young women. I might tell her how pretty her hair is, or how much I like her dress, or just how pretty she is. I'm usually old enough to be their grandmother so I'm never misunderstood when I do this.   I remember how insecure I was when I was their age and how much it would have meant to me to have an older woman tell me something like that and know it was said with no ulterior motive. And I see this same insecurity in young girls today. It's so hard for us to believe that we're pretty for any number of reasons.   I was looking through an old photo album with my husband and he said how pretty I was back then and I could see it now, looking back, but I couldn't ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness Knocks on the Front Door

Two years ago an African man from Malawi, Elias, arrived at my sister’s home in the rough, bush country of South Africa with nothing but the shirt on his back. He was hoping to come to South Africa to find employment in order to support his family in Malawi. Little did he realize my sister at that time was struggling to keep her body and soul together. Nevertheless, Elias was given permission to stay on the property with the understanding that she was unable to help him financially and he would have to find “piece work” employment to support himself. As unemployment is rife, Elias was unable to find work immediately, so my sister taught him how to grow organic vegetables, sew and bake. Elias is keen to learn whatever he can to take the knowledge back to Malawi with him once he goes home. Elias finally found employment but my sister hit ... Read Full Story >>

Where Does Kindness Start? With Us...

Recently at the gas station...I was walking in to Pre-Pay before being able to pump gas into my car. As I approached the door to go in to pay, there was a woman coming out.   I was about 15 feet away and she stood there, waiting and holding the door for me to enter. Usually people are in such a hurry that they dash out and sometimes even to the point of being rude and mowing me down.  I smiled and said "Thank You, you didn't have to do that"  and her reply was "No problem, take your time." Next we are both at our vehicles filling gas and she finished first. She hopped in her van and was getting ready to leave. I noticed her gas compartment was still open and the cap was dangling down.  I quickly scooted to her van and tapped  on it as she was starting ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness - Just Do It!

I drove into the supermarket parking lot and there were 2 homeless young people at the entrance with the standard "homeless and hungry" sign.  I felt the usual hopeless feeling and irritation.  I decided that I would drive out the other exit so I wouldn't have to see them when I left.  While shopping in the store I choose some really great cherries and proceeded to purchase freely.  When I was leaving the store, heading to my car, I saw the young homeless woman going around the parking lot asking for help.  No one seemed to being offering help and for a moment I could feel her hopelessness.  I was still set on driving out the other entrance believing that I shouldn't helpout and continue the homeless cycle.  As I was leaving the parking lot I thought of a talk I had listened to the night before - about kindness and how even a small ... Read Full Story >>

The Smile That Stole My Heart

Recently, I went to a small town for a short holiday with my husband and daughter. On the first evening, we decided to visit the nearest eateries to check out the local delicacies and do some shopping as well. After spending some time buying this and that, we decided to get a bite to eat. We had to await our turn at the restaurant. I stood on the street outside, looking at the crowd of holiday makers. Suddenly, I noticed a small boy of about seven clutching an array of hand -made gift bags. They were small but very colourful. The boy smiled widely and asked me to buy one. He said he had made the bags himself as he wanted to contribute in the household expenditure. I smiled back and asked the price of the bag. He named an exorbitant amount. I told him it was too much for such ... Read Full Story >>

Teaching Moment

Today I held a very intriguing and thought provoking Diversity Discussion with my staff members. As part of our weekly meetings we hold 20-30 minutes to talk about a diversity issue, and how it relates to our jobs.

Today's discussion was held on "Disability." It took a while for the staff to get warmed up, but after they did warm up, it was easy to tell they were engaged and ready to learn more. I was just extremely happy they received the information well and want to learn more.

My act of kindness: simply teaching others to see those that are unseen by society and how we as able bodied people can make the world a better place for them. 

A Five Rupee Formula for Joy

On my way out the building in the morning, I search my pockets for 5 rupee coins. If I have one, I go to the shop downstairs and buy 5 packets of Gems-- an Indian version of M&Ms. There are 3 Gems per packet, giving me 14 chances to make someone smile (there would be 15 but invariably the first Gem ends up in my own mouth!). On the first day, I gave one each to the two youngs sons of my dhobi (washerman), and to the boy who lives in the makeshift shack in front of my building. Their hands were really dirty so I put them straight into their mouths. I thought for a second about giving them an impromptu lesson in hand-washing, but they are too young to understand Hindi and I haven't learned enough Kannada to explain properly. Next time I'll pick up the basics, and use ... Read Full Story >>

"School Ambassador" decides to become an Electrician

Today I was recruiting for a business administration class. Recruitment was slow and at the end of the day I telephoned students who were given a conditional offer in May. I telephoned Blaine's mother. She was very interested in him doing my course. Quite often when a student doesn't come back to us in Further Education it means they did really well and are going to continue on at school, complete their A Levels and go to university. I remembered Blaine didn't want to go to university. When I telephoned, his mum was able to confirm that Blaine had indeed done really well. He had decided to do a course to become an electrician. I could tell his mum was anxious about this. I asked how she felt about this. She really wanted him to do my course and 'doing a trade' was very much out of her comfort zone. I ... 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 Reminder of the Kindness in the World

I stopped at a huge yard sale and was looking for that hidden treasure.  A blouse caught my eye, and as I approached the "cashier" I heard her say, "Well, can't you get some more money from someone?"  I looked over and saw that her comment was directed at a child holding a nice looking pair of shoes in one hand, his other outstretched palm displaying a few coins.  I was instantly annoyed that the lady was witholding a pair of unwanted shoes for a few more cents.  I remembered my smile cards, and asked  "how much are they?" .  "Two dollars" she replied.  "Oh, here ya go," I said, handing the boy two dollars and a smile card.   As I walked away I heard her say to the boy,   "Can I see your card?"  I decided to buy the blouse and when I went to pay the lady was clearly chagrinned.  "Where did you ... Read Full Story >>