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Police > Gratitude

Yesterday I wrote a mail to several senior police officers of my city thanking them for all that they do. I feel that their job is very tough. They deal with all the negatives of the society, the works seems very twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, in all weather conditions. Also, their jobs could be very dangerous.

Yet no one says thank you but instead one only hears about the negative aspects of the police. Usually the media reports one case that might not be solved, and neglects to mention the hundreds of others that might have been solved, or cases where the police was very efficient.

So as a citizen of the city, I wrote a mail expressing my heartfelt gratitude to all people who work with the police.

Bidding For A Wedding Dress

I found a website where people auction clothes. 

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.

Kindness video

My kind act for today was making a video of my fur brother Max for my mom. Today I am grateful for play, fun, silliness. :))

A Wave and a Smile Worth a Million Bucks

I was late for work, another 14 hour day.

At the stop sign on my way to work, it was unusually busy. An Indian family with a child who had disability was sitting on the wheelchair waiting for the traffic to clear in order to cross the street. The boy had a deformed face, not to mention the rest.

Finally after all the cars flew past the intersection, the family wheeled the child to the other side of the street.

The boy's sister(?), a young girl, suddenly turned around and waved at me with a big, bright smile. It seemed that she was saying, "Thanks for waiting so long."

All of a sudden, I realized that however busy it was at work, her smile was a million dollars to me. I didn't do anything but I received such precious gift of the day.

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 >>

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!!

Strawberry Smiles

My husband and I were driving back home when we saw an elderly lady selling strawberries on the street corner. (It's not too common to see people selling fruits on the street here - as I don't think they are allowed to.) I thought of how hard it must be to make a living like that, and even though I didn't really need strawberries (I had some already at home), I bought a huge "flat" of strawberries from her which had 6 containers of the juicy strawberries!

Now, it's just my husband, my son and me at home and we were never going to be able to eat them.  So I knew just what to do. When we got home, I took little baskets of strawberries around to our neighbors, especially to the elderly living alone and the kids with single moms. The berries were juicy and sweet.  They loved it!  We enjoyed them too, and had eaten them all within a day or two.

I kept hoping I'd see the lady selling them again, and lo and behold....there she was the following week. So, I did it again and gave them away to different neighbors this time! It was such a great feeling :-)

Making Things Better With Kindness Medicine

I was at the bank applying for a new  ATM card because mine was damaged. As I was filling in a form given to me by the bank officer, a middle-aged woman came and asked the banker if she could withdraw a certain amount of money and showed the officer her bank book.  The banker checked her pass book and told her she could withdraw the amount requested.  She then returned to the line to wait her turn, saying she needed the money to pay for her medicine. 

While I was filling out the form heard what she said and suddenly my mind suggested that I give her the amount she needed.  I quickly turned to her and confirmed how much she needed and told her not to withdraw money from her account.  Instead, I said I would give her the money. 

She was shocked and looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, "Thank you, daughter. When ever I take my medicine I will remember you."

Tears came to my eyes, too.

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 >>

It Is In Giving That You Get

It was one of those unexpected moments of generosity that just takes your breath away - I called up my favorite sandwich shop, ordered two veggie hoagies, and arranged to pick them up in ten minutes. Parking places are hard to find around there so my wife dropped me off, saying she would pick me up again in a few minutes.  I walk in and mention my order. "Ah yes! Here you go. That'll be $14.87," the burly man behind the counter said.  I gave him the cash and he handed me my change. As I picked up the napkins he handed me a giant empty glass. "Here you go," he said. "That's for your drink."  I took it, not really sure why he had given it to me. "Um, I actually didn't order a drink," I said and tried to hand him the glass back.  "Oh, I know. Go ahead, help yourself to a ... 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 >>

A Few Kind Words

My son and I went out for coffee this morning, and had nice coffee and a muffin. My son initiated conversation with a man sitting next to us. I was very surprised, my son is not really very outgoing with people he doesnt know. When the man had left, my son said "he looked lonely" I am proud of my son.

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 >>

Pizza Thanks

I was in our local pizza takeout today when a couple of teenagers came in to order pizzas. They each ordered a small personal size pizza for themselves and 3 large pizzas to be delivered to the fire department. which was having a training night. They asked the delivery person to include a note they had written thanking the members of the fire department for all they do for the community and for helping their friend when he was in a serious accident. They explained that their friend had lived because of the actions of the emergency personnel. I don't know these kids, but I am very proud of them.   ... Read Full Story >>

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!

Her Quiet Sit On A Park Bench, Has Become A Place of 'Therapy' For Passers-By

The past two days, when I sit on a bench after my park walk, an acquaintance comes over to sit by me and needs to 'vent' about something that is apparently troubling him. He goes on and on, and sometimes repeats himself. I listen patiently and let him vent. He thanks me for letting him vent and apologizes. I tell him no apologies necessary, that we all need to be listened to.

I am learning as I listen, as some of what is irking him helps me understand some similar things that sometimes irk me as well.

I also like thinking that by sitting there on that bench in the sunshine on a glorious park day, I am getting an extra kindness act in by listening and occasionally sharing some thoughts with him that might help him. 

“There are times that all you need is someone who will listen to you without judging you — not telling you what you should have done or should do, but simply, listening to you” ― Bernard Kelvin Clive

A Small Gesture Makes A Big Impact

I feel so fortunate as I write this. I signed up to this website last week after my Grandmother died.  I’m hoping to make a difference like my Grandma did. I've been thinking about things to do for others and I've been reading all of these wonderful stories from all of you- and it is truly inspiring. I took my daughter school shopping the other day.  She was on a budget and didn’t want to spend all her money in one place so she was being careful of what she was picking out and how much it cost. We were in the (long) line waiting to pay, and we were adding up everything she had bought.  The lady in front of us must have heard us because she turned around and handed us a 40% off coupon and said we could use it if we liked as she already had one.  My daughter ... Read Full Story >>