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This is How She Spends Quality Time With Her Aging Mother

I am feeling blessed to have my mom. I've been going on regular walks with my mom who is 75 years old. Spent most of her life in Vietnam under the rule of the communists whose husband was taken to prison for fighting with the South/American's side. Each walk, she would tell me some great story; one recent story made me teary. When she was pregnant with me and my dad was not around, she was struggling to raise 4 kids on her own, and had no money. She had to go borrow money from a friend when her water broke. She had to get herself to the hospital in a crowded bus. She was abandoned by the nurses because she had no money to bribe them. She was not allowed to see me for days after I was born because I was 3 months premature. Again, she had no family ... Read Full Story >>

Helping Someone Find Her Way

I heard from a good friend of mine recently. She called to let me know that she recently has become separated from her husband who has bad gambling problem. She asked if I would fit some lino in her bathroom for her, so of course I agreed. Transpires that her husband has left her and her children with a great deal of debt through rent arrears. So I asked her if she would like me to call citizen’s advice on her behalf and see what is the best way forward as she’s been threatened with eviction. That opened a way for her. When she called CA herself she said that the lady there couldn’t have been more helpful, more reassuring or more positive and came away with the feeling that someone really had her back. They have referred her case to the Law Centre who will call her back today. I then heard ... Read Full Story >>

Common Sense of a 9-Year-Old

My son is only 9 years old and is a pretty small guy for his age.  But he has a heart of gold. Today, he went swimming with some friends and my husband at a local pool.  My husband didn't swim, he was just watching from the side.  At one point, one of the boys cried out to our son, "Help me, my legs and arms are tired and I can't swim!" Upon hear this, my husband set off to jump into the pool with his clothes on.  Before he could do that, our little hero had grabbed his friend around the waist and swam him to safety.   We think his friend's legs were probably cramping from being tired. When I returned home, my son told me the story and acted as if it was just the common sense thing to do.   When I asked him about it, he responded, "I'm not ... Read Full Story >>

Giving Away Flowers is Addictive

I love to surprise people. I like to start things with a "bang" and finish them with another "bang" usually related with acts of kindness.

This year on my last meeting as a chair of the PTA, I offered each member of the team a rose and a card.

Though they know me by now I guess I can still surprise them with unusual surprises from time to time.

The other day I gave a chocolate and a smile card to a charity worker, who seemed quite puzzled ...

Today I gave a rose and a card to a lady that I know who has been working very hard.

Giving flowers is lovely, the only danger is that it is highly addictive.

;-)

My Mother Taught Me a Lesson I Needed to Learn

My mom is a volunteer in a public hospital. She and her friends sell things to obtain money for medicines or supplies that may be needed by the hospital. They also bring dinner every Monday to the people waiting for their relatives outside the hospital. One Monday, I stayed after school to make up a class. When my mom picked me up, she asked me to go to the hospital with her and help with dinner. "At least, this one time" she said. At first, I didn't want to, but in the end she convinced me and I went; obviously unhappily. After we arrived and took everything out of the car, we set up the table and started serving dinner. The more food we gave, the more people would come. Looking at people's faces, especially those from children, was amazing! The way they brightened up reflected their gratefulness for receiving this meal,  and ... Read Full Story >>

A Kindness "Chain Reaction" in a Traffic Jam

My 17 year old granddaughter is an accomplished flutist.  She recently gave a farewell recital to her friends and family at her high school in Chicago, which was followed by a homemade buffet supper.  After the recital, she had a 3 hour drive home with her mother and sister.  They decided to load up the car with the left-over food from the recital, which included barbequed sandwiches and cream puffs.  They packed the food on plates which they placed in zip-lock bags. On the drive back, they stopped to give the zip-lock bags to homeless people along the way.  At one junction, there was a traffic jam even though the lights were green.  My granddaughter decided to run through the cars to take a plate to a person on the side walk.  As she ran back, some of the other cars started to honk their horns. The lights had already turned red, so my daughter ... Read Full Story >>

A Mother's Patience and Love Offered Her Daugther Many Lessons

I helped my daughter to become unstuck as she begins the 'teen years' and projects become overwhelming. Our lesson was patience, organization and understanding that it is OK to ask for help.

I can't (won't) "do" the project, but I can help to create an easier journey for her. It's a learning lesson for me as well. It's easy to be reactive when others are struggling. It is easy to celebrate when things go well.  

My hope is that I can help her to see big projects can be broken down into smaller more manageable ones. That we are all here to help each other. I truly enjoyed the smile she had when together we completed part of the project and she could see the light was truly at the end of the tunnel. The project isn't done, but she is no longer stuck in the process. 

Balloon On A Kindness Journey

I finally did it! I am so happy! 

I've had this idea for a while but I didn't have the guts to actually go through with it - until today.

I bought 10 helium filled balloons, drew a smiley face and wrote the date they were released on each them. I had set up another e-mail account for the project. I wrote the e-mail address on Smile Card and attached them to the balloons.

Then I took them outside and released them into the air. I hope to get some awesome stories back in return.

Soap Story

The washrooms at university do not have soap, and a friend and I felt that this was a very unhygienic practice. So, we decided to initiate a small project where we would place hand wash in as many washrooms as we can, with little notes pasted on the washroom walls.

We went to a store and bought loads of hand wash and refills, and began placing them in the washrooms near our classrooms. We've provided an e-mail id in our little notes, and told students to inform us when the hand wash becomes empty, and we will refill them within 24 hours.

The reactions from those who are using the hand wash has been very pleasing. We decided to remain anonymous, however there is a great deal of speculation going on, and that's exciting.

It's a wonderful way to serve, and this idea emerged in my head, while attending a Moved By Love retreat recently. I am so grateful to my friend for helping me implement my idea. 

Paying It Forward On The Ski Slopes

My husband and I were excited to take a day off from work to ski Winter Park and then continue on to Grand Lake to snowshoe for the rest of our anniversary weekend this past winter.  We arrived at Winter Park with discount coupon in hand, but to my surprise, the clerk pushed it back my way stating that it was not valid on this particular day.  The discount was to buy two tickets for $50 each.  Being very disappointed I asked how much a regular ticket would cost, and she said $94!  Needless to say, I was very unhappy. As I waited for my husband to return, the universe was lining me up for some wonderful kindness.  A mother and her daughter approached me asking if we needed tickets.  They were on a band trip and found out that the daughter could not ski due to an injury.  As a ... Read Full Story >>

Helping Others Heals Ourselves

College was the best of times and the worst of times for me. I met the best friends of my life, had unimaginable experiences, and traveled to new places, but I also folded under more stress than I ever had to deal with before. As a result of bad grades, bad study skills, and pure burnout, I ended up being asked to take a semester off at the end of the first semester of my senior year. All the friends I had made were going to graduate and all I knew was that I wouldn't be graduating with them. So I ended up going back home to live with my father and stepmother. To their credit, they were very cool about me coming back. I felt their support from the moment I walked in the door and they refused to let me feel like a failure. No matter how much they ... Read Full Story >>

Babies on Planes

The flight that I was on had these two babies less than a year old, probably twins, who were howling loudly. They were probably uncomfortable with their first flight. Everyone in the plane was disturbed with the loud crying. The poor parents were having a really really tough time and didn't know what to do to help the kids calm down. Both the mother and father stayed peaceful with the babies.
 
Even though almost every passenger on the plane was disturbed, no one said anything which to me was a sign of supreme patience and kindness of strangers that goes unnoticed. I want to thank all of you who have a large heart and stay patient and tolerant when facing such issues in public places. When the flight landed, I went and patted the father's arm and told him that I thought that both of them were wonderful parents. He laughed and thanked me for the compliment. His laughter made my day!

 

Harvesting Kindness From An Orange Tree

I have an orange tree that keeps giving and giving. 

I wanted to use my smile cards, so I picked about 60 oranges, divided them up among ten bags or so and taped one of the smile cards on each bag. 

Then I went around my neighborhood leaving these bags of freshly picked, juicy sweet oranges by the doors of my neighbors. 

I hope they'll enjoy them.

Like Sandpaper

At my workplace there is not much opportunity to be different. We administer care to others and, in the process, sometimes we forget to care for ourselves and each other.  So, I print inspirational messages, happy pictures, quotes, etc, and post them on a blank space I've found in one of our utility rooms. I also print stories from this site, and some others I subscribe to, and leave them in the staff room. I believe it adds to our "emotional education."  One person asked me, "Why do you do this? Why do you try to help these people, they are not very nice?"  My response was, "If it affects one person then it's a good thing."  Often that one person is me, because I know I have done a kind thing, a good thing. It doesn't matter if it doesn't affect anyone else. What matters is that I'm the best person I can ... Read Full Story >>

Low Income Rich

I am a low-income senior, but I have enough food, water, medicines, human contact,enough access to grass and trees and views of the sky.

I have enough clothes, books, music, paper and pens. I have enough access to information via the internet. I have enough to amuse, entertain, inform, astonish, challenge, heal, and sustain my soul.

I have a lifetime of experience and wisdom hard won from life lessons. I have enough  memories and enough hopes and visions to keep me moving into the future.

Best of all, I have enough to keep giving away. I am rich, and for all this I am grateful.

A Snack That Turned Into Balloons

Often we do little acts of kindness and can’t really know what happens next… the people who benefit from the act return to their lives and we return to ours!  Our paths may never cross again.  But that’s not the case when a member of HelpOthers does a kind act to another member of HelOthers!  Here we can chart the ripples as we guide the kindness on its way!  Here’s one such story. You may have read Aurelia’s post about making Chex Mix for her family, or Bluebell’s post about receiving a snack from a friend in the US.  Well I sent some Karmabucks to Aurelia to find out more about her amazing snack and she offered to send some to me if I was based in the US.  Unfortunately I’m not, I live in the UK but luck would have it that I was off to America for a company event last ... Read Full Story >>

A Charmed Life

I ride the bus to work everyday. I'm a people-watcher, and I live in a small town, so I see many of the same people get on the bus with me everyday, on their ride to and from work. For many months, I noticed an elderly man get on at one of the stops, and always head to the back of the bus. He wore the same clothes every day, and they were well-worn, but clean. I never spoke with this gentleman, but I could tell he seemed like he led a simple existence. One day, I had decided to drive to/from work, and I noticed the gentleman on a street corner I was passing, with a sign in his hand asking for financial assistance. I went home that day, and wrote him a note, saying I was grateful for what little I had in my life, and that I wanted to ... Read Full Story >>

When Kindness Doesn't Need Any Words

On 'Pay-it-Forward' Day, our family knew we wanted to pick up someones tab at the grocery store but we didn't know what we would say to them.

We took the kids and told our oldest to find someone checking out. I felt drawn to the first man I saw, we all agreed this was the one. It was a family with two small children. They had A LOT of items. Still not knowing what to say I went to the cashier when she rang their last item, gave her my card and told her we were paying.

The mother holding the baby was confused and handed  her welfare card to the cashier, her husband signaled to her to put it away. We didn't have to say anything, the couple was deaf. We hugged and cried and left the store. It was a moment we will never forget.

Reconnecting a young women with her father

Decades ago I ended my relationship with my beloved fiance after another young woman made it her life's goal to have this talented man.  I left but never stopped loving him. We remained close and kept in contact by phone and rare visits until he died many years later. We always loved each other but because the shock of our ending was so traumatic for me I always refused to return to him.  When he died, his friends treated me like his widow which, in a strange way, I was.  Several years ago, I saw a note on the internet asking if anyone knew of him. I replied to it and learned it was from his daughter who had never known him. We eventually spoke on the phone several times. She is a well known singer. (Her father was a brilliant pianist and arranger.) She wanted so much to know why she had never known ... Read Full Story >>

Finding That Positive Note

My step-son is going through an extremely difficult time in his life and is battling many personal issues.   He calls his father several times a day, often consumed by sadness and negativity, sometimes near his breaking point. Trying to be supportive and non-critical takes it's toll on us all, but we keep trying.    This morning on our drive to work I asked my husband to try ending the telephone conversation with his son by simply saying, "Now, tell me something good about today".     Some days that might be an easy thing to do, other days it may be nearly impossible. But even if the only thing he could can up with to say is, "You were there for me again today, Dad," that would at least give him something positive to focus on.    Tonight, I heard my husband say to his son, "Okay, now let's end on a positive note. Tell me ... Read Full Story >>