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Compassionate Clowning

I haven't been very active on KindSpring even though it is the site where I've felt the most connected over the past month or so. I believe there is a wonderful joy in sharing acts of kindness when it isn't about ego, but just the pure happiness of having the opportunity to help others. Still, this is a tough one coming from my own personal socialization. Today I did one of my favorite activities: Compassionate Clowning. On Saturdays a group of us meet up at a local hospital and do an hour and half of clowning for kids with cancer. It's one of the most strange experiences of my life. It is both deeply rewarding and disturbing at the same time. This afternoon there were so many kids who laughed out loud from my antics, but others were simply in too much pain to show the slightest of smiles. Holding the hand of ... Read Full Story >>

Reciprocal Kindness

Today whilst visiting an elderly friend of mine in a nursing home a lady approached me with a banana for my toddler. It's the simple kindnesses and thoughtfulness like this that make your day. And make the world a better place.

P s how amazing is this banana. Google banana art! I was astonished at the incredible works ♥

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.

"Mom, Can We Give It All?"

Last night, my eighteen year-old son and I were leaving a store. At the end of the parking lot, there stood a man. He was older many--most likely in his sixties-- clean, but looked very sad. He was holding a sign which read: "Looking for work. Trying to get enough money to buy a bus ticket to Wyoming."  I drove by him and something in my heart said: You need to help him. I rarely have cash on me, but today I actually had cash in my wallet.  I looped around, stopped my car, and asked my son to get my wallet. I had a $5 and a $10 dollar bill. I said get the $5 and we will go drive by and hand it to the man. My son said, "Mom, I think that man is really down on his luck. Can we give it all to him?" "That's all the cash I have," I ... 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.

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 :-)

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 >>

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.

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 >>

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 >>

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

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!

A Gift for My Aunt

My aunt was the first in our family to be diagnosed with thyroid cancer last September. When a loved one gets cancer, the whole family goes along for the ride. I am so grateful that my aunt is stable and still fighting this disease. A friend introduced me to website, where you can help alleviate hunger, simply by clicking a button. For each click, the site sponsors will donate a cup of rice on your behalf. One day while I was on this website, I discovered that you can buy Indian head scarves at a discounted price for chemo patients. They had really good reviews, so I decided to buy eight. I picked out a red one to mail to my aunt. Then I dropped the remaining seven scarves off at the local cancer center. When I got there and explained my gift, the lady at the desk was surprised. She thought that ... Read Full Story >>

Deescalating A Frustrating Airline Situation With Raul

A funny story happened last week in Brazil. After delivering a program there my wife and I were catching the plane back to our home in Portugal. We entered the airport, passed security and reached boarding zone... and then discovered that the flight had been canceled. After 30 minutes calling the airline they told us that the only flight back would be today, (four days after the original flight). I felt my stomach tightening, my hands sweating, and my thoughts rushing about our cats, all the professional commitments I had already scheduled in Portugal, etc. I decided to take a breath, and as we were speaking with a security officer to get more information, I decided, that instead of panicking, to act with kindness and to ask about his story. The security officer's name was Raul, he wasn't happy in this job and in his country and his dream was to become a ... Read Full Story >>

Doormat Surprises

Once a year, the ladies from my church bring flowers for a special service. After the service is over, they throw them away.

This year, instead of throwing the flowers away, I took them home and decided to give them to my neighbors.

My mom helped me pair each flower with a card that read "Blessings". Then we placed them on the doormat of each neighbor. We could have left our names in the cards, but I think it always feels better when a gift is given anonymously. 

As I went from door to door, I smiled, knowing that when my neighbors go to check their mail, they will be pleasantly surprised with an anonymous act of kindness!

When we finished, I felt so full of joy inside. It was such a great feeling to share flowers with my neighbors, especially since most of them are elders and rarely receive anything at all.

A Banana Bread Thank You

We live in a circle of giving in my neighbourhoood; neighbours sharing and looking out for each other.

So, the other day when a plate of banana bread appeared on our doorstep without a note I didn't know who to thank.

Was it Leslie? We often exchange fruits and vegetables from the garden and swap baked goods. I called her. She said it wasn't her.

Was it Carol? She loves our garden veggies! Nope.

Was it Helen? I had stopped by her house with a bag of freshly picked tomatoes and although her daughter had just given us some apple cake a few days earlier she said it wasn't her either.

I was scratching my head in confusion when Helen started talking about how nice it was that my husband and two other neighbourhood men had helped her neighbour move a big mattress into their house the other day.

Then her eyes sparkled and she said, "I know who baked a lot of banana bread! It was Ellen! She wanted to thank your husband for his help with moving the mattress!" 

Mystery solved - and more friends to bake for!

Stories for an Extra Special Listener

 This isn't so much a kindness story as a lovely moment. Every once in a while I go along to a local radio station to record some stories that go out as a 'Thought For The Day'. Usually the sound engineer is very fussy about background noise when we are recording. Sometimes there are other people in the studio and he makes sure they know silence is the order of the moment. Today there were two people in the studio. One was teenage boy working at a computer keyboard. The other was a woman who might have been his mother or his helper. We exchanged some pleasantries and she asked if I was doing 'Thought For The Day'. I said, "Yeah," but joked I was self-conscious. "So, nobody listen," I said in a mock raised voice. Then we began to record. While I spoke into the microphone I noticed the woman talking to the boy - ... Read Full Story >>

Turning it Around With an Act Of Kindness

I was at work in the same aisle as a lady and her daughter when I overheard the mother yelling at her daughter. She said: "Great! No onion soup to use for my beef. Now I'm going to have to re-plan my entire meal for the day. I told you we should've went to Monroeville grocery store instead! They never have what I want here. The woman's daughter seemed upset and replied back: "Mom you don't need to be mad at me. "

I went into the back found 2 cans of onion soup and searched the whole store to find the lady and her daughter again. I asked: "Mam will this work?" The woman looked at me puzzled. (Like how did  you know?) I shared with her that I had overheard what they had talked about  A big smile came across her face and she said 'thank you'. Not only that, but her daughter  also had a relieved smile. I hope I turned her day around. :)