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A Little Sister's Love for Her Brother

It was several years ago when my brother was diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis). The message was hard to grasp for my parents as well as myself.   At the time , he could barely walk or stand -- he either used a cane or was in his bed.  He didn't want to do anything for himself: he didn't want to get out of bed and he ate all the wrong foods for his body (junkfood). He was basically  giving up and letting go.  It was hard to understand why he is doing this. Our parents wake up every day to go to work and help my brother who I think, thinks nothing of their very kind and very strenuous efforts to help him.  You may have heard of the term, "God helps those who help themselves," but he wasn't helping himself. I then decided to take matters into my own hands. I walked to his apartment and told him ... Read Full Story >>

Survival Kits For Healthcare Provideers

Survival Kits for Healthcare Providers: A few days ago, I saw a post from a fellow KS member talking about gift bags for the nursing staff at a hospital or nursing home. It got me thinking about the wonderful staff at the Assisted Care home I visit on a regular basis. So I found this run "survival kit" idea and purchased the items to make several of them. I am putting the kits together tonight and will deliver them to the staff tomorrow. These are the items I am including:all which all came from the Dollar Tree. - A package of mints: A reminder that you are WORTH A MINT - Roll of lifesavers: To remind you of the many times you have been one - Rubber Bands  Because you often are called upon to stretch yourself beyond your limits - A Package of Band-Aids - For when things get a little rough (I ... Read Full Story >>

Gifts for My Birthday

At home all day today because of car getting serviced provided me with great opportunity for some birthday kindness :)).

Collected various household items, foodstuffs, books and clothes to donate...one item for each year of my birth! (Don't try and count! A few items are hidden...)

Bringing them to the appropriate donation locations tomorrow <3.

Truly a joy to be here another year on this wonderful Earth! Blessed and grateful.

Final Resting Place

As I left my home this morning, I found three small feathers on my windshield, which I kept in the car.

As I was heading into work, outside in the parking lot, I noticed that there was a dead sparrow on the pavement. She must have been less than a day old since she passed. I know that the ultimate act of kindness would have been to nurse her wounds had it been alive, but at this point, there was only once choice for me.

I put my laptop bag down on the ground and made room by an adjacent flower bed, in between the mound junipers, for her to have her final resting place... It felt right.

I gathered all twigs and leaves that I could find and covered her body.

Thank you little sparrow for your journey in this reality..

A Birthday Dinner Becomes an Opportunity to Practice Patience and Kindness

The other day my daughter and I went out for dinner to celebrate her birthday. We went to a place she loves. The restaurant is on top of a hill and when we arrived the sun was setting behind the mountains. The kind waitress met us at the door but mentioned that, without a reservation, we would have to wait a very long time for our order because they were short staffed. She said that it could be over an hour before we would get our order. Well, we decided that we would leave because she strongly advised that we should! We stood outside wondering what we should do next when the owner came out and insisted that we stay! So we went back in. The waitress was right. We waited close to an hour before we got our appetizers! But do you know what? It was ok because we had tea and ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness Rewarded With a Book

I've been handing out smile cards for quite a while now with the singular objective of seeing the person smile and today because of that I won a contest which was very cool!

My daily newspaper ran an article about 'spreading joy', and had a contest at the end of an article asking how people spread joy.  I entered and told them all about 'HelpOthers.org' so people could check it out.  In today's newspaper I saw my name in print, I was one of 4 winners.  I won a book about Joy and Happiness!!

How about that??

Unexpected Roses During Challenging Times

I live in a small friendly town. Due to the current challenging times the number of charity shops is almost the same as the number of  " normal" shops.

I am a regular costumer at the local charity shops, lately looking for teddy bears. There are people that I see working there on a regular basis and I think how lovely it is that they always have volunteers to run the shops.

Today I decided to visit each of the charity shops and leave a rose, a 29gifts and a smile card to each of the volunteers working there. Most of them were surprised, one asked if I was selling the roses ( meaning, I hope, they looked good enough to be sold ) and a lady commented that it was a lovely idea.

My next project is to do the same on the villages around my town. One village at a time.

A Kindness Idea to Remind People That They Matter

I received the most exciting message today!  My kindness idea was selected!

I am going to make up some baskets complete with "You Matter" and Smile Cards and take them to local retirement homes.  I will ask a staff member to give the resident most in need of this gift while explaining to them the idea of paying forward the kind act for someone else.

I hope this will start a kindness "epidemic" in the retirement homes that I take the baskets to.  This is just my way of telling them that they are not forgotten and they matter!

Thank you HELPOTHERS!!

"Do You Like Chocolate?"

While grocery shopping today, I saw that my very favorite chocolate was on sale. I bought three of them and decided to share one with someone.  As I walked to the register, I noticed that the cashier was smiling at everyone. He was asking them how they were doing and wishing them a nice night. When my turn came, he asked me how I was doing.  I replied, "Great!" and then asked, "Do you like chocolate?" "You bet," he said.  I smiled.  As I finished checking out and was about to leave, I grabbed one of the chocolates that I had in my bag, pulled out a Smile Card from my wallet, and gave it to the cashier.  He smiled, "Are you sure?" "Yes."  It was great to see the big smile on his face when I did that. :D

Dairy Queen Worker's Good Deed Goes Viral

A Minnesota Dairy Queen manager is getting widespread kudos for an act of kindness that required giving one customer the deep freeze treatment after some questionable behavior. Joey Prusak had just finished serving one of his regular customers when the visually impaired man unknowingly dropped a $20 bill from his pocket. A woman in line behind him quickly picked up the money – and then put it in her purse. "She picked it up so quickly that I thought she was going to give it back but she just stood there and waited," Prusak told TODAY.com. "I was extremely confused when she let the man walk by. She just stood there and put it in her purse and I was like, 'Really?' Prusak, 19, said the experience left him feeling "violated." After taking a few seconds to compose himself, he politely asked the woman to give the money back. The woman refused, insisting ... Read Full Story >>

The Blessing Of Friends

Was able to listen to & encourage two good friends (who are always there for me when I need a friend) this week. They just needed to share some feelings.

Easy to do..listen, hug, bring snacks :))

A Generous Gesture That Made A Dream Come True

I had a dream for over a year, to attend the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December. I had even reserved a hostel room a year in advance  because I so wanted to be there. I had worked very hard to arrange things, but was having trouble raising money for the trip. I asked one of my MBA professors who is connected in investing circles to ask, if I were to write an appeal letter, would he please send it to his contacts? He apologized, because he said there is not much money available right now because of the economy. Then he paused, and asked me where I was flying from. When I told him, he asked me if he could help me out with flight miles to Copenhagen for the trip. I was awestruck by the offer. I hurried to tell him that I had not mentioned this to ask ... Read Full Story >>

A Heartfelt Way to End the Year

There is a family in our neighborhood that moved here from Sri Lanka. Their daughter goes to the same school as my children so we see her at the bus stop often. They have had a tough time since they came to America. They had some medical bills last week that made Christmas gifts not possible.

I told my wife that we needed to help her. We got the family a gift card and two toys for each of her two children. When my wife called her mom and told her what we were going to do, she wanted to help too. She bought a few gifts for each child as well.

We took over the gifts, some cookies and wrapping paper for the gifts. The woman was so happy and excited that the kids would have some things to open for Christmas. We couldn't be happier ourselves that we had spread a few smiles.

Some friends and I are doing 10 kind acts for the last 10 days of the year starting today. I thought this was a great way to start it off! It was six years ago today that I joined HelpOthers. It has changed my life in the BEST way, causing me to do more things like this than I ever have! Day one down, nine to go! :)

MSS

Three Feet of Snow and a Very Kind Neighbor

It's no secret that we've had some pretty crazy weather in the Maryland area this past winter. We had 15 inches of snow during one month followed by 28 more inches. Whenever it snowed like that, I packed my things up and stayed at my mom's house, both to help her with shoveling and for the ease of getting my car out of the driveway to get to work rather than attempting it from my mountain side driveway. I did about 4 hours of shovelling one day and only managed to dig us out of the house and a small walking path to and around 3 sides of my car.  To make better headway the next day, I set the alarm and got out there preparing to do the necessary 3 or 4 shovelling rounds before being able to relax and watch the Super Bowl. My whole body was in pain from the ... Read Full Story >>

Small Gestures in the Workplace

One day, while I was walking to work, I decided to bring some flowers that I had picked from my garden that morning. I came across a random stranger, and was inspired to give the bunch to him with a smile card.  Struck by the sense of joy I felt from giving flowers to another person, and maybe brightening his day, I wanted to do it again. When I got to my office, I had the idea of anonymously leaving flowers around the workplace. Sometimes, the impersonal atmosphere of the building where I work numbs my spirits a little. It's a nice building, with great light, but it just feels a little sterile sometimes. I figured lots of people might feel the same way, so why not put a little beauty there, and throw in an inspirational quote while I'm at it? After all, who doesn't like flowers? So, for the past month, I've been putting flowers ... Read Full Story >>

Simple Loving Kindness Wherever You Are

  A good friend came to visit yesterday and really helped me appreciate a lot of things we take for granted.   She is French and lived here in the U.K. for several years. But recently, because of work commitments, she moved to a third country. She said it was such a culture shock and she cried for the first six weeks she was there.    What upset her was the lack of personal freedom and the lack of almost any expression of humanity in the government organisations. The people always felt they were being watched and the only way to get decent food and equipment was by taking part in a frightening black market economy.   But! Even in the midst of such darkness it is still possible to find some beautiful people; like her landlady, who visited her every day, helped with the three children - and even cooked for her! And the Head Teacher ... Read Full Story >>

Painted Rock Treasure Hunt

My sister-in-law just sent me an invitation to participate in this fun activity that is taking place in our community. It sounds like fun and is something that any community or group could do! You can change the "rules" to suit your group or situation.

Here's how it works: Just paint a rock with art inspirational quotes of your choosing, write "Go to PNW Rocks on Facebook" on the bottom, and be sure to seal it so it holds up in our wonderful rainy weather. Then, hide it around town where people can come across it in their daily activities. If you would like, post a picture of your rock art. Give a hint as to where people can find it.

If you find a PNW ROCKS painted rock, post a picture of your find on the Facebook page. You can choose to keep the rock or re-hide it. The whole point is to use art to brighten someone's day! Please note that there is no guarantee your painted rocks will be found, and they are given freely.

Sixth Graders and the Smile Deck

I teach a sixth grade religion class, and today I played the Smile Deck game with my students.  They each left with two kind acts to complete and were very enthusiastic as I handed them regular Smile Cards to go along with the Smile Deck Cards.

One student was able to complete one of her acts that day itself, when class ended.  She held the door for those leaving the building, handing out Smile Cards to those who would take them.  It was uncomfortable for her at first (12 years old is an awkward age, at best), but she got the hang of it and started to enjoy her 15 minutes as 'Door Woman'!

I am excited to hear about how the other children's acts of kindness go.

I hope that my take on the ways we can “take care of God's creation” will sink into these kids, and they will carry forward the idea of embracing kindness as a meaningful part of life.

This is just the beginning for me!!  Thanks for the forum of inspiration!

Cookies And Tea With An Extra Helping of Kindness

  I had just finished my shopping and was crossing the busy street when I saw an elderly man walking in my direction. He was leaning on a walking frame and I felt that he might need a little assistance crossing the street. So, I walked up to him and volunteered my help.    It seemed that my hunch was right. He wasn't aiming for the proper crossing place, he was keen on crossing the street from where he was to get to the bus stop on the other side.   I stepped out and waved my hand for the drivers to take notice of the man and slow down a little.   He got safely to the other side. But, somehow, I felt I could do more than just help him cross the street. So, I reassured him he was at the right stop, then I ran back across the road to get him some tea ... Read Full Story >>

What Makes a Grumpy Bus Driver Laugh?

I often take the bus for my daily commutes, and one of the drivers on the route to my house isn't known to be very nice. In fact, not many people like him at all. It doesn't take much for him to turn up his nose, or to ignore members of the community who are stranded when he drives by. That didn't bother me, though.  I decided that, no matter what his mood is on a given day, I would continue to greet and smile at him. Unconditionally.  Now, after awhile of doing this, I've noticed that his overall demeanor towards me has changed.  He not only smiles at me, but he cracks jokes, too!  One time, I fell asleep on his bus, and when I woke, I said, jokingly, "Why didn't you wake me? You know where I live!" We both laughed hard, and since then it has been an on-going joke ... Read Full Story >>