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The Ripple Effect Reaches Colarado

I spent last weekend with my dear friend from High School. We had our 30 year reunion in Upstate NY. We were so happy to reconnect after a long time. I showed her this site and told her about all of you wonderful deeply kind people who sign on every day and encourage one another. I also told her about some of the things I've done and how easy it is to be 'bitten' by the kindness bug! She called me last night to tell me this story about her daughter.  After we had gotten back from the reunion, her daughter called her from Colorado.  Her daughter teaches at a school for deaf children.  She called to tell my friend about one of her students.  This student was very sick. His daily routine was tough, he has to walk around with oxygen tank, but yet this child is always smiling. My friend's daughter had asked all the children to write down what ... Read Full Story >>

April RAOK showers bring May flowers

My daughter and I love doing this RAOK every April. It's a great opportunity for her to see kindness in action as well as the skepticism in our society. This year was similar to the others. Some people politely declined our drinks, but you could tell that many others were skeptical of "kindness with no strings attached."  I believe it's because it's so unusual in our society. "There's got to be a catch. They must be trying to sell me something or hand out religious materials." Some ignored us completely. But then, there are those experiences like the dad and his 5th-grade daughter today who stopped and got cold water.  They wanted to know what we were doing, why, and what prompted it.They stayed and wanted to hear our story. Then there was the tourist from Italy on his motorcycle who couldn't believe that we wouldn't take money in exchange for the drink. There was the ... Read Full Story >>

Loving Today's Challenge!

My 13-year old son and I had quite the adventure this morning! We frequently walk by a beautifully landscaped yard with a cute little flower garden. I wanted to acknowledge the time and effort put in by the gardener, but I've never seen him or her, so we went to a local nursery and bought a gift card that I will leave with a note and a smile card the next time that I pass by. We also ran to Target and bought a few $10 gift cards along with some notecards and our other groceries. While we were putting our things away in the car, my son observed that a lady that had just parked next to us looked a little grumpy. As soon as she entered the store, we grabbed a notecard, dashed off a quick note, and added a gift card and a Smile card for her to find ... Read Full Story >>

My First Smile Card :)

After a short vacation with my parents, I returned to the country where I'm volunteering and I was missing my parents terribly. The next day, I was back at my desk and what a surprise awaited me! The smile cards I had placed an order for had arrived while I was away and were waiting for me on my desk! My day instantly lit up, I was at peace! Thoughts of how to go about sprinkling the world with kind acts began dancing in my head. The next day I took  a small purse and a smile card with me with the intention of giving it to someone who really needed a surprise. Martha is a lady who cleans our office, gives us tea, food, etc. I found her in the office that morning touching her head in exhaustion as she ended a phone call. Turned out, one of her children ... Read Full Story >>

A Moment Etched In Her Heart She'll Never Forget

Yesterday I followed my heart to do an act of kindness for someone in need. A family who comes to our weekly homeless meal and ministry has been struggling. The mom was very upset on Tuesday, as she has not been able to get some help that she needed. She tries very hard to support her family but has not been able to get many hours for work. I stopped by her house on my way home from the office. I talked to her and her kids for a few minutes and then gave her an envelope with a note and a little help, apologizing it couldn't be more. She took it and went inside as I talked to her kids for another minute. As I said goodbye and opened the door to get into my car, she came out the door calling my name. I turned around as she came ... 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! :)

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 >>

The Gold Wrapped Gift

Some time ago, a man punished his 5 year old daughter for wasting a roll of expensive gold wrapping paper.   Money was tight and he became more upset when the child pasted the gold paper so as to decorate a box to put under a Christmas tree.  Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift box to her father next morning and said " This is for you daddy. " The father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction , but his anger flared again when he found the box empty  . He spoke to her in a harsh manner , " Don't you know young lady , when you give someone a present there's supposed to be something inside the package ? The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said " Oh Daddy , it is not empty . I blew kisses into it until it was full."  The father ... 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 >>

Kindness During Half Term

This last week we had half term holidays and my niece stayed with us for the week because my nephew ( her brother) was going to have a delicate spine surgery and it was easy for the parents to concentrate on looking after him. My daughter, my neice, and I went out for some last minute shopping and while I was on the line waiting to  pay the girls asked if they could wait for me at the door. Some minutes later they return to ask if they could give the sweets  they had just bought to a man in the street, so there they go and give their sweets away, another 2 minutes and they return to ask me if there was anything else they could give the man, I told them that I only had the 3 ginger bread men they had bought for dessert, so they took the biscuits to ... 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 >>

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 >>

The Real Gift That the House Cleaner Appreciated

This past Christmas, I wanted to give the woman who cleans my apartment a nice gift in appreciation. Since I know she doesn't have much money, I decided to write her a generous check so she could use it however she wanted, and enclosed it in an attractive large size card with a photo of a cat and dog on the cover (she loves animals). The card came with a nice message, but I also added a personal message in which I thanked her for all the good services she's provided me, wished her the best for the coming year, and for her dreams coming true. When I gave her the card with the check inside, tears of gratitude rolled down her face when she saw my message, before she even saw the check! She said, "You took the time to write me a personal message; now I feel really loved". I'm ... Read Full Story >>

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 >>

Feeding Two Teens From The Dollar Menu

I picked my daughter up from school today. She was hungry and asked if we could stop at McDonald's so she could have a quick bite to eat. I said I didn't have much money, but she could order from the dollar menu.    As we pulled up to the drive-thru window. A young man, about 16-18 years old, approached my car. He had a sad story about his mom being hospital and him having no money or food.    I asked him, "What is it you want? Food?" He said he didn't care, anything would be good.     So, I told him to go ahead of me and wait, that I would order something and bring it to him.   My daughter asked, "Mom, do you believe him?" I said, "I don't know if he's telling the truth or not, but I know he must be hungry or he wouldn't be begging at McDonald's."    So I ... 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! 

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.

Flames of Gratitude

The other day, my husband and I found out that his co-worker's house caught on fire and suffered major damages. 

We wanted to reach out and support their family, but debated whether or not we could afford to donate to the collection. 

Then it occurred to me that, even though I don't have enough to pay our bills this week, these people don't have clothes to send their daughter to school the next day!!

With gratitude for all that we have, we donated $50 to the family, and will find a way to make due for the coming week.