Search Results for 'popular' (3486 matches)

Scarf with a Mission

I recently received a story from a friend: So after a recent meditation group gathering, a wonderful soul that I trust and admire asked me to give away a beautifully constructed scarf with a smile card. I mean, living in New York City in the dead of winter, I thought this should be easy.   There is a woman who sits outside in the cold, near my office building every single day. I instantly thought, Let me give it to her. She appears to be homeless,  it is cold, and she sits there all day, everyday, outside of one of the richest jewelry stores in the world. Excitedly, I went to give her the scarf.   She said, "What is it?"   I told her, and she said, "No, I don't want it."   And in that moment I was both perplexed and humbled. I wanted to plead with her, "It's cold, it’s snowing, you don't ... 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.

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 >>

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.

An Act of Honesty Saves a Vacation

My oldest daughter is on vacation this week. She called last night to tell us that she arrived safely in North Carolina. She said, "Don't get mad but I lost my wallet." Then she quickly added, "But it's been returned to me!" She had left the highway to get gas and some food. Her boyfriend was in a hurry to get going  because they had a few more hours to drive before reaching their desitination. She placed her wallet on the car roof, put the puppy in the back seat, and quickly jumped into the car. Off they went, with the wallet still on the roof! They were about a  half hour away and they came to a toll booth. She reached in her purse for her wallet and couldn't find it. She had a lump in her throat as she remembered leaving it on the roof. She started to cry. Then, almost ... Read Full Story >>

A Sparkling Heart From A Simple Gesture

This is just a small story but it really warmed my heart.   I'd gone to collect my daughter from her music lesson when I saw this older woman walking around. She looked completely lost.   I had no idea why she would be in that area. It's in a business park and it was at the weekend when there aren't usually many people around. And why would she be in that parking lot which is totally off the beaten path?I guessed she was probably really lost. It turned out she had missed her turning and needed to find her way to the highway. I tired to explain but she seemed too upset and confused for me to just explain how to get there, so I said, "Don't worry. Follow me and I'll take you there."     She looked at me and you could see the worry leave her face. She said, "Bless you," ... Read Full Story >>

An Act of Kindness is Never Wasted

Today, I was shopping at Jewel and using the self check-out line when all of a sudden someone accidentally scanned their gallon of milk on my register when I was bagging up. It was only four dollars and they felt so bad, but I saw this as an opportunity to be kind. I paid for it and told them not to worry about it. They were extremely grateful for my act and left the store smiling. I felt good doing that for them. 

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!

 

A Good Day

Yesterday, I went to a cricket match between England Women's Team and India Women's Team. There was a wonderful atmosphere and I thoroughly enjoyed the match and celebrations.

When I arrived at the ground, I bought a programme which I read when I got to my seat. I remembered having bought a previous one and whilst it's a lovely souvenir of the day, it usually finished up filed on a bookshelf and forgotten about. Later in the day, I went into the shop and decided to buy a 'Cricket Alphabet' book to send to the boy for him to share with other students. It sruck me that rather than filing my programme, I could send it along with the alphabet I would include it in the package for Poovarasu.

Helping Out In A Phone Call

As a customer rep for a financial account of one of US' supermarket, its a daily shift of hundred phone calls regarding their prepaid debit cards. Calls that are sometimes degrading, calls that make you cringe at how the caller speaks and calls that are just purely racist. what make it different is how my mindset is. Everyday I wake up and declare myself as a helper of my callers. I go beyond our protocols in dealing with my customers. Though phone interaction is only limited to 4 minutes 45 seconds, i strive to make it as meaningful and as uplifting for someone in need. One of my callers is panicking on how she made the wrong insurance payment that will lead to his son in college not receiving any pay outs thereby leaving him without any food for a week or two. The mom said she can live going over ... Read Full Story >>

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 >>

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.

An Extra Dose of Compassion at the Hospital

Today I met an old lady when I was in hospital. I was done with my check-up and I was standing in medicine counter of the hospital to get my medicinal receipt and medicines.  I saw that the old lady was sitting in a nearby chair and waiting for something. She seemed a little distraught so I asked her if she was okay.

She told me that she was waiting for her son who was tied up with some personal work and he had told her that he could come back in a few hours. She said that she was feeling faint and tired. I rushed to the nearby hospital cafeteria and bought her some breakfast. I then got her prescription for her and paid for her medication along with mine. 

She had the breakfast and she was happy now. She also had the tablet and thanked me.

I was happier for showing kindness to her.

Giving from the Heart Always Works

I work downtown and every morning, when I walk from the SkyTrain Station (our version of a subway) to the office, I usually see people who are sleeping outside, in business doorways and on sidewalks. It is truly heartbreaking to see so many people who are homeless. Most people will just walk by and few will stop to offer a kind word or any help of any kind. When I talk with others about the homeless situation, most people will tell me that most of them are drug addicts or dealing with mental illness. While some of the homeless are suffering from an addiction or mental illness, many may have become homeless due to an illness or sudden job loss. Today, I brought a bag with a toque (warm knit hat), pair of socks, bottle of water and a mini first aid kid with me. I saw someone sleeping outside of the Tim ... 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 >>

Spread Love Everywhere You Go

Dear friends, I hope that all is well. One of the things I know is that it is human nature to want things. We all want more money, better homes, better cars, and better relationships and so on. So what is the secret to getting all that we want? I have been looking for that answer for a while and if you have it I pray you will share. Here is what I would like to share, I started tithing last year and I made the minimum amount based on my income. This past Sunday as I reflected in all that is going well in my life I realized that I was not giving back at the rate to which I am being given. This made me think of life in general and how we want so much from life but we are willing to give so little. We often agonize about ... Read Full Story >>

Just A Simple Thank You

Coffee is Out of My Comfort Zone

Earlier today, there were some men removing my the backyard fence. I was surprised to see them working even though it was cold and raining.  As I stood in my warm home watching them, I heard a family member say to me, "Nicole, go out there and offer them a coffee or a warm drink."  I didn't want to, and thus made up a bunch of excuses. Underneath the excuses, I was afraid. I had never met them and was scared to start up a conversation and face possible dismissal or rejection. Going out to them was completely out of my comfort zone...which is exactly why I did it.  I asked myself, 'Nicole, are you a kind person? Or are you only kind when it's easy and makes you feel comfortable?' I knew this would be good for me to grow as an individual, so I went out there.  Guess what? They said no. ... Read Full Story >>

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 >>

When In Trouble ... Give!

Today was the day that I paid my bills. I was feeling a little under the weather financially and worrying myself about it. I was praying and thinking about the problem when, just like that, I got the solution. I’m a firm believer in the concept of “a blessing given is a blessing received.” So I went to the grocery store to do an act of kindness.  Since I wanted to do this act anonymously, I couldn't figure out the right person for a long time.   Finally, I went in line behind the person that I wanted to pay it forward to. When the cashier rang her items up I handed my debit card over and asked the cashier to charge it on me. The lady in line was confused at first, but I explained to her the whole concept of paying it forward and even told her about HelpOthers.org. ... Read Full Story >>