Search Results for 'popular' (2847 matches)

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 >>

Going The Extra 200 Miles On Mother's Day

A man stopped at a flower shop to order his mother some flowers for Mother's Day.  He was having the order wired to his mother, who lived two hundred miles away.


As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.  He asked her what was wrong and she replied, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother.  But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars."


The man smiled and said, "Come on in with me. I'll buy you a rose."  He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother's flowers.


As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home.  She said, "Yes, please! You can take me to my mother."  She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.


The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother's house.

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.

Helping A Shy Boy To Make New Friends

A few days ago, I noticed a boy standing alone in the cafeteria before school.  The cafeteria was filled with girls and boys laughing and talking to each other.  I had never seen this boy before.  I assumed that he was new.

As I looked closer at him, I noticed that he seemed to be very sad.  I then walked over to him and started up a conversation.  I found that he was a very kind boy, just a little shy.  After the bell rang, I had to go to class but I told him that I would see him tomorrow.

As I said, I did see him the next day.  But to my surprise, he was standing talking to a group of kids.  I felt warmth in my heart when I saw this.  By my talking to him yesterday, I obviously made him gain confidence in himself.  The group that he was talking to seemed to really like him.  They always sat with him at lunch, and engaged him in conversation.

At the end of that day, I saw him walking out and he gave me a heart-warming smile.  I now realize what can happen if you start a chain reaction.

A Circle of Giving with New Friends

Last month my kindness idea allowed me to meet some new people in my community. When I delivered their food, I also gave each my phone number so they could keep in touch if they wanted.  All of them have called me since.

Having a bad spell with MS has left me pretty much in bed the last two or three weeks and feeling nearly helpless.

Yesterday, the young mother I had helped showed up at my house with a casserole. While she was here, she washed my dishes and carried out my trash. The young gentleman I had helped has been here twice, just to check on me. He has no transportation so he had to walk the several miles to where I live. 

In helping others, I have made new friends . What a blessing.

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 Lunchtime Opportunity To Feed Me Plus Two

It has struck me, lately, how heightened awareness of the things going on around us can present many new helping opportunities!  Last week, I was driving through a local sandwich chain at lunchtime, when I saw two men sitting on the grass a few yards away conversing with each another. They very thin and seemed a little dirty and unkempt, and very thin. It seemed to me that they were homeless... but they were not standing around, with signs or asking for anything.    I immediately felt like I could not just buy myself a sandwich without helping them eat, too. I asked the person at the window if I could purchase two $5 gift cards. I then drove up to the two men and presented the gift cards to them. They were totally shocked! One man said "is this for FOOD?!" He immediately began thanking me, over and over again.    Both these men were tremendously grateful and verbalized ... Read Full Story >>

The Gift of Home Cooked Meals for an Old Lady

I sometimes see an elderly woman along the road across from my house. Finally, I have been able to reach out to her with daily meals. At first, I would giver her some money everyday to get some food from a nearby shop but I realised that did not suit her.  I thought that maybe this old lady needed home-cooked food, so now I provide her lunch everyday instead.  Today, I got meet this woman. I sat with her on the road to just check how she was.  The moment she saw me approaching, she wished me well with folded hands and I said "namaste" to her. I introduced myself and she said she knew I was the one giving her food.  We talked for 30 minutes. She told that she came to Delhi in 1974 to work as a domestic helper to an Anglo-Indian family from Bangalore. After some years, the family moved abroad and she continued working in different houses. Seven years ago she met with an accident and used up all ... Read Full Story >>

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 >>

Band-Aid Smiles

This idea is so simple, and I've been doing it for SO many years that I never even gavea thought to posting it here before.

I carry "children's bandages" - you know those fancy printed or brightly colored ones that kids love - in my purse, tucked into an old, small plastic "raincap holder". Over the years, I have seen quite a few parents dealing with a crying child who has fallen and scraped a knee. I immediately reach into my purse and bring out one of those bandages, hand it to the parent and move on. Of course, it won't always make the scrape feel better, but it does usually ease the crying of the child and tension of the parent. I ALWAYS get a smile.

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!

The Christmas Bike Conundrum

The Enzian Art House in Florida was showing movies in the park. One evening, a few weeks before Christmas, they showed The Christmas Story and had a raffle with a girl's bike as the prize.  It was painfully cute with iridescent streamers, flowers, butterflies, an adorable bell, all designed to delight a five year old. But fifty year old me won it! This led to a bit of a conundrum as I didn't have kids or grand-kids to give it to.  I wanted the bike to go to someone who didn't have the opportunity to own such a wonderful thing. I contacted the shelter (where I occasionally volunteered in the kitchen) and while there was a big need for a sweet bike there was also the potential for it creating strife.  I sought else where until I found out about a couple in our church who had been going through hard times in their ... 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 >>

Kindness Without Leaving Home

I'm a stay at home mum to three beautiful young boys, and some days I never leave the house!

On these days I always wander how I can do a kind act. But I realize I do them every day. Although not big and even without leaving the house we can still do acts of kindness.

I smiled at other drivers driving my boys to school, I left uplifting and positive comments on people's Facebook status. I played with all my three children and gave them attention rather than do something for me and I walked the neighbor's dog.

Things can be done every day without leaving home.

Being Alive and Well Fed

This morning I asked myself a question: ‘What does being alive mean to me?’. The question eventually led me to this moment now. Well, isn’t it only to be in the now to be alive, anyways? Well, at this particular moment-right now - being alive means sharing the abundance of kindness in a story. Two years ago, I was hitchhiking and a friendly man in his mid-sixties pulled over. Curt was brimming over with stories spiced with his joy for living. My journey to the chiropractor didn’t take it’s usual 3 or so rides.  Curt altered his route to drop me off directly in front of the office 45 minutes later. During the ride, I learned that Curt was just dropping off a van-load of free food for people in my small town.  He did this weekly just because "It is so fun to bring people food which otherwise would have gone ... Read Full Story >>

Taking the Extra Step to 'Pay-it-Forward'

I wanted to do a random act of kindness for my friend’s birthday, so on Friday I went to Walmart to carry out my gift to her because I think people who shop there do so to save money and could use a gift. My gift in honor of her birthday is a birthday cake!  I selected a cupcake birthday cake for which the recipient of the gift can pick any design they wish. My plan is for the next person who walks up to the bakery counter to purchase a cake to be told that someone has anonymously paid for their cake, and for them to then receive the receipt along with my handwritten message explaining the gift along with a Smile Card attached. It took some doing/convincing!  I had to speak to 2 members of the management and make 2 trips to the store.  I was turned down the first time ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness Cookies From A Conference

I'm attending a conference at a hotel this week. The hotel provides a continental breakfast as well as an afternoon snack selection.  When our session ended today I noticed there were still some cookies left. Knowing that the way home would take me through an area where there are homeless people I was inspired to pack up some of the extra cookies in napkins and take them with me to give away.     Granted, cookies are not the healthiest food but they are an indulgence I imagine few homeless people get to enjoy. And these cookies were really good!   I gave two to a homeless gentlemen, left two neatly wrapped on top of a container in another public place where I often see homeless people, and have two more with me to give away on the way back in tomorrow.   It's an idea you might consider if you happen to be staying at a ... Read Full Story >>

My Heart Went Out To Him

It's a sad reality that there are many homeless people in the city which I call home.

People huddled on the sidewalk, struggling to stay warm, with no shelter or food. As I got off the bus near my workplace this morning I saw someone who was sleeping on the sidewalk.

I went to the convenience store to grab something for my breakfast and I got a warm drink and a sandwich for the stranger in need. I left it by his side. I hope it was a nice surprise for him.

Kindness Is The Medicine

One of my co-workers was recently stressed because his wife is struggling through a period of severe depression triggered by a rebounding of bodily pain from fibromyalgia.  She's also been on furlough from work for a number of years, and doesn't get much opportunity to maintain social ties and a sense of purpose which are often so essential and deeply nourishing.  After listening to him unload his burdens, I decided to do something small to support him and his wife. I don't know his wife very well at all, but wanted to express some warmth and kindness to her, since it so often feels like the universal balm to soothe every ailment. I found out that, like most people, she loves receiving handwritten mail.  So I purchased a card and wrote the following message to her: Dear Nxxxx, I want you to know that you have something very unique and beautiful to offer the ... 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 >>