Search Results for 'popular' (2839 matches)

Salvation Army Snail Mail

I recently got some smile cards and was looking forward to doing something great for someone, but I wasn't quite sure what to do.

Then, the other day, I received a random letter in the mail. It was from the Salvation Army.

Inside, there was a blank card. Attached was an invitation to write a note for a homeless or lonely person inside the card. There was a free post envelope to mail it back, as well, and this could all be done anonymously!

It was the perfect opportunity-- I absolutely jumped at the chance to do this! As I wrote the card, I smiled at the thought of its future recipient--whoever he or she is. I thought about how that person might feel when they receive it. I hope they know that someone out there cares about him or her!

I also included a Smile Card before mailing it off! :)

3,762 Miles Walked And 100 Tons Of Trash

On an unassuming weekday evening, Jane was at home… as usual. As her thoughts swung between what she was going to do with her life and their dinner plans for the evening, she was unexpectedly interrupted by an urgent call from her sister “get over here! Turn on NBC and check these guys out, they are just like you…” One facebook message and a phone interview later, Jane found herself on a bus with 8 strangers in the middle of the sweltering desert heat of Utah, picking up trash and raising awareness about zero-waste and climate change. Armed with a deep love of the environment and a desire to make a difference, Jane, Davey, and a group of self described “environmental pick-up artists” went on a coast to coast road side trash pick-up. As they walked, sometimes only covering 0.9 miles in an entire day, they slowly and steadily made their ... Read Full Story >>

Custodian Finds A Card!

How did you hear about us? My Friend handed me a card. What inspired you to join? The joy of doing good things. --Joshua, in New York This is my second time emailing you. First, I only asked for a few cards to try this at our school and the response has been great. Both teachers and students have been coming to my office in the Guidance, where I am Academically Gifted Resource Teacher, asking for more cards and wanting to join in this game. Also, some were quite excited when they had been tagged. Your cards really brighten our school days. If you could send us some more to brighten our already sunny days in North Carolina, we would appreciate it very much. Many thanks to you from all of us at Lufkin Road Middle School. We are getting ready to take the EOG's this month and could use some extra acts ... Read Full Story >>

Art with heart...

Last week, I arrived back home to our flat in London from my trip to visit my family in California to find a "mystery package", which someone had left with the porter in our building some time while my husband and I were both away. It was a large envelope with a wooden backing, and a small note on top reading "Deep and Trishna, Enjoy!" As soon as I opened the flap, I discovered a Smile Card attached, and I knew instantly that someone had anonymously reached out to us with an act of kindness. As I reached into the envelope, MUCH to my surprise, I pulled out a sketch by Manohar Devadoss. My heart instantly melted by the idea that someone reached out to us with such a beautiful drawing by a person, whose life has touched mine from the minute I read Pavi's piece on him and his wife. ... Read Full Story >>

Dubai Market

A few of us friends got together for a random acts of kindness event at a flea market in Dubai. 

We collected items from our homes, our neighbors, and our friends, which could make good gifts. Then we put up a bright and chirpy stall at the market, put all our gifts on display, and took a lot of people by surprise! 

We had a gratitude board too, where people pinned up their answers to the question, "What are you grateful for?" 

And we had a basket full of kindness ideas for people to pick up and, hopefully, put into practice!

It was a beautiful, beautiful day!

Patience is a virtue

Over the Christmas holidays my young boys were driving everyone in the house bonkers with their fighting, usually it's worst just before bedtime. Yesterday, at separate times of the day, I sat with each of my sons and told him "I love you".  A few hours later, I realised those words had been missing from my regular vocalbulary since the holidays started. I felt guilty.

With so much time to do things together, it's inevitable that friction happens.  It was kind of like coming up for air, when I said "I love you". My sons are more affectionate and calmer when they are around me now.  I know it won't last, but if I keep positive, patient and loving, then life will be a lot more peaceful.

Kindness Ideas For Kids?

My aunt just asked me for some kindness ideas, so I tossed together this list ... Free Car Wash: I saw this story for a 10th birthday and it seems like a grand time! Miles of Smiles: stand on busy street intersections with "smile" posters.  Non-stop fun. :) Clean-up Public Places: help clean a beach or a local park, adopt a highway.  Extra credit if you can take some of that waste and create a public art piece (see garden-art from trash). Balloon stand: hand out free balloons with smiley-art on the balloons and perhaps even on your faces. :) Plant trees: visit Arbor Day Foundation -- "We inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees" -- to find local organizations that can help you plant.  You could also volunteer ... Read Full Story >>

Being Present

She looked really pretty, I thought, as I glanced across at the young lady opposite me. Everything from her manicured nails, to her designer sunglasses symbolized that she was the kind of girl who had it all. I stared at the floor, at the large European woman in the seat next to the pretty lady, and back at the floor. I studied the tube map - again - as if I had to check something important, then starred resolutely back at the floor. I had mastered the art of avoiding eye-contact on the Tube as if my very existence depended on it. I was a Pro. But, I couldn't help wonder what the pretty lady was doing. I was acting dumb, but I wasn't dead. Why was she fidgeting so much? She's never going to sleep in that awkward position....is something wrong? She looks like she's drunk, not sleeping. Maybe she has a ... Read Full Story >>

The Crying Baby

Today was dreary day in Seattle.  It is the start of our rainy season. While I was at the supermarket, standing in line, a young mother with a small child was behind me.  The child must have been 3 months or so; and man, she was crying!  And I mean crying. The young mother did absolutely nothing to calm this child; it was almost as if she didn't know what to do. Usually when a child cries like this -- and I know this from experience -- it is either because the child is bored or hungry.  So I turned around and started to talk to this child. And all of a sudden -- she stopped crying!  In fact, she began to smile and laugh. The mother asked me what I did and I said, "Well, I talked to her."  She replied that she never thought of this.  As a single mother working two jobs, she ... Read Full Story >>

While Yet There Is Time

Many years ago when I was in college, I came across this very inspirational poem: While Yet There is Time   The hours slip past, Our moments melt into the eternity behind us Time sweeps us onto a destination from which there is no return. While yet there is time, Look out upon the world, Devour it with your eyes, And if your spirit demands more Add at least one stone to the edifice being built Fill your lungs with the smell of flowers, Let the first cool breath of dawn blow through your hair While yet there is time Let us greet the dawn together, While yet there is time, Love and be loved, Let your thoughts throw light in dark places, Let your lips blossom in a smile. While yet there is time, Let the hand of a friend feel the warmth of your hand, How much we have to do, to create, to express. While yet there is time Graft a slender bough to a mighty tree Do not say I love to ... Read Full Story >>

March To Your Own Drummer

A few days ago I was about to begin teaching a class when one of my students came up to me and said she had to talk to me---she seemed quite upset and close to tears so I took her out in the hallway to find out what was wrong.  She started sobbing uncontrollably and told me that she'd been feeling so stressed out and depressed because her mom was pressuring her to go to medical school and she didn't want to--- she felt like she'd be letting her mom down if she went against her wishes and she felt very helpless. I asked her what she wanted to do and she said she wanted to work in the biotechnology industry.  I told her that she would be really good at that (since I have her for a lab class, I know that she's really good)  and that she should try ... Read Full Story >>

Quotes Celebrating Fathers

Father’s Day Quotes (Don’t Forget Father’s Day on Sunday, June 14th!) He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.  ~Clarence B. Kelland My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard.  Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass."  "We're not raising grass," Dad would reply.  "We're raising boys."  ~Harmon Killebrew When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.  But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.  ~Mark Twain, "Old Times on the Mississippi" Atlantic Monthly, 1874 One father is more than a hundred Schoolmasters.  ~George Herbert, Outlandish Proverbs, 1640 Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope.  ~Bill Cosby A father carries pictures where his money used to be.  ~Author Unknown The greatest gift I ... Read Full Story >>

What If Everyone Thought About Others Once A Day?

I have had the most amazing two days. Browsing through some threads on my favorite forum, I came across this thread where a guy was asked by his gardener to build a PC for him and his kids. He brought him an old box with some hardware in it but it was not working at all. The guy started looking at it and found out the specs and what he needed to do to fix it. He started a thread explaining the situation and asked if somebody had some cheap memory that he could buy (at his own cost) to fix this person's computer.  Not only did he get the memory for free, but a number of people offered him 2nd hand PC hardware that they were not using for no cost. It looks like he would have been able to build 2 PC's because of all the 'donations' this started as ... Read Full Story >>

Making Sure to Thank the Referees

I spent my Saturday at the basketball court watching all three of our kids play their games.  My older two had playoffs as they worked to be in the championship game.  During the third game of the day I commented to my husband that these playoff games were getting a little overly rough and competitive and it was making me nervous. As my son's game continued, the fans around us starting making light-hearted comments about the refs' calls - or lack of.  These were the same ref's my son's team has had all season and I think they are a GREAT pair - which I said often during the game.  The refs had a sense of humor and grinned and nodded as the comments continued to come. It was an intense and physical game and I was cheering loudly!  It was a tight game to the end, but my son's team did end ... Read Full Story >>

Thanking A Veteran

I was headed into Walmart. I grabbed a shopping cart and noticed this older man with a walking cane struggling with his cart, As I approached to help him I noticed his cap with WWII and some decorative pins on it. I was more determined to help him now. :0) 

I asked can I help you? He said his cart wheels seem to be jammed. I took his two bags out and put them in my cart and asked can I help you to your car?  He was a proud man and said "I'm ok now that you've given me your cart".  I said "My pleasure and I patted him on the back of his shoulder and blurted out the words "Thank you for all you did for our Country"... He looked at me and said "WHAT?"  I repeated myself and tapped his hat.  Then he smiled widely and was on his way.  

I grabbed another shopping cart and would have been whistling a tune if I knew how to whistle that good.  I was happy that I made him smile like that.

I used to be afraid of not saying the right thing, but "Thank You" was all I needed to say.

The Patient Patient

I had been waiting in the doctor's reception area for more than an hour and was getting little restless! 

I saw this frail lady trying to open the door to leave. I got up right away, opened the door, and took her out to the bus stop. As I was helping her climb the steps onto the bus the driver asked for a dollar. She was ready with the money in her hand but, before he could take it, I handed him a dollar of mine! 

The lady looked puzzled at first but then her eyes showed her gratitude. She thanked me several times. I just gave her a big hug and big smile! 

The driver just looked at me - and then smiled too. 

I returned to my seat in the reception area, smiling, and waited for my turn like a good patient ... patiently!

A Small Act - But A Big Impact

I am the mother of three little ones all under the age of five. One of my children has Celiac Disease, I have Multiple Sclerosis, and other members of our family have various food intolerances. None of these titles or limitations has ever stopped us from finding a balance and being creative in our thoughts towards happiness. We help out bodies to be their strongest, and happiest, through the foods we eat. This means getting creative in the kitchen to make all bellies happy but I have to be especially creative because our food budget is very stretched. My hubby took a brave journey and switched careers about five years back and went to medical school. He graduated this past spring and when he finished the finances, or lack there of, really began to be felt. We have kept on smiling because we know in the end it will all be worth it ... Read Full Story >>

Top Ten Kindness Stories of 2012, Story #10 - 8 Things To Do Every Day That Will Make You Happier

1) Thank someone First thing in the morning, send an email thanking or praising someone. Research shows this can brighten your day.   2) Spend money — on someone else Harvard professor Michael Norton, author of Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending, explains how spending money on other people can generate more happiness than spending on yourself: 3) Give 5 hugs People assigned to give or receive hugs 5 times a day ended up happier than the control group. From Sonja Lyubomirsky’s very interesting book, The How of Happiness: In a one-of-a-kind study, students at Pennsylvania State University were assigned to two groups. The first group was instructed to give or receive a minimum of five hugs per day over the course of four weeks and to record the details. The hugs had to be front-to-front (nonsexual) hugs, using both arms of both participants; however, the length and strength of hug, as well as the placement of hands, were left ... Read Full Story >>

The Insight of Children

I took my children into the city last night to meet up with my husband to celebrate my daughter's 6th birthday.  We walked through the downtown area while we waited for him to get out of owrk.  In front of one of the subway stops was a woman sitting with a can.  As we walked by, my daughter asked what she was doing and I told her that she was probably homeless and was trying to get some money.  My daughter  looked back and asked if on the way back she could give the woman some money.  I told her that she absolutely could do that, and we continued exploring.   Later on during our walk, we  found a bed of cardboard and blankets.  My daughter knew what it was and wanted to know who it belonged to so she could give them a dollar or two.  We moved on, and she played ... Read Full Story >>

The tiny, mud-free space that meant a lot!

I'm in Boulder, Colorado, and am one of the fortunate ones without much flood impact on my home. Today, I went over to a friend's house to help with the cleanup there. The house is less than a block from one of the creeks, and the flash flood broke a basement window, filled the basement up to eight feet, rushed up the stairs to the ground floor, and flooded that floor as well.  A crew of her friends had been pulling up carpet and moving furniture all morning when I arrived. She asked me to help move damaged items out of a back room where carpet was already pulled out, and start getting the layer of chocolaty mud out. With one other helper, I got busy shoveling and scraping; once we got the heavy layer off, I started running the wet vac. There was a three-foot square of tiled floor in front ... Read Full Story >>