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Happiness Shared

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 >>

FEED SOMEONE IN NEED

My heart is overflowing with so much gratitude and love for my amazing life which is simply filled with lots of blessings, sunshine & flowers.

I still remember that one special day when I had just finished dropping off stuffed animals at the emergency room at the nearby hospital - so nurses can give away those cuddly teddy bears to hurting & sick children.I was on my way home and thought of a nice yummy organic salad for dinner.As I was about to walk into the store, I saw a young man sitting on the bench right in front of the store.

He looked fragile and hungry.I stopped right in front of him with a big smile and "hi my dear, how are you doing?" he smiled back and said that he was trying to sell his flutes so he could buy himself some dinner.I smiled and said "please join me - I'd love to buy you your dinner."

He smiled and opened his arms and gave me a big warm hug and then he said the most beautiful prayer for me before we entered the store... and this became another beautiful moment of heaven on earth... be kind to strangers because you never know you might entertain some angels... ;-)

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.

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 >>

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 >>

Cutest Moment of My Day

I live near a bay in Sydney and I go on a bike ride almost every day. I see lots of people riding their bike and others just walking and enjoying the view. On Sundays, there are more people around the bay. I love riding my bike then so that I can give as many smiles as possible.  Today, on may way back home, I noticed a little girl with walking with her mom holding a box of her things. It was so beautiful so see how happy they were. I kept riding my bike and I noticed a shiny necklace on the ground. I didn't do anything at first, but then I thought maybe it belonged to the little girl. I turned around to pick up the necklace. Luckily, it was still there, but for a second I thought that maybe it did not belong to her. I decided to go ... Read Full Story >>

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 >>

A Volunteering Experience that Became a Lifelong Connection

Last year, I kept having this nagging feeling I was living just for the "me, me, me.” With this in mind, I decided to volunteer to break out of this me-centricity. After reaching out to a number of organizations, I got a call back from a dance studio in New Jersey. On my first day volunteering, a remarkable young girl caught my eye. That girl could dance! Aside from her natural skill, which was a delight to witness, she simply lit up the room. She was African American, ten years old and she wore the more endearing big-rimmed glasses. At the end of class, I had to ask her, “How long have you been taking lessons?” She replied shyly, "I wish... I have never taken a class.” I was speechless.  Her teacher told me she lived in a group home, and then and there I knew what I felt called to do. ... Read Full Story >>

"Meet la Bestia, the Beast"

One of the few freight networks that still makes the rounds on Mexico's rugged countryside. Immigrants from Central and South America board the trains in an attempt to reach Mexico's northern border quickly. The trail is dangerous: the travelers face mutilation and death from falling off the train. Criminal gangs stalk the southernmost lengths of the network, stopping the trains in their tracks. The travelers are lucky if they are left alive. The few women that board the trains' roofs are raped and kidnapped. On the central and northern lengths of the trail, narcos are always prowling, ready to scare the travelers into surrendering their belongings. Some of them are forcibly recruited into the narcos' ranks as slave footsoldiers. Some are killed in cold blood, their bodies ditched into mass graves. They are chased by inmigration officers and federal police, who have been known to commit shameless acts of human rights ... Read Full Story >>

A Thanksgiving Tradition

I'm starting to actually feel the "connect" that many here always talk about. Today we went out for Thanksgiving dinner with my husband's family (it's a new tradition. I don't like it, I'd prefer to cook but due to transportation problems that's just the best solution for now) And, same as last year, I think that if the waiters have to spend their holiday working, then I'm going to tip them as much as I possibly can to express my appreciation, and I put the tip in a handmade thank you card and I write them a short message. So that's what I did today. My husband gave the server the card and a few minutes later the server came over, and I saw his hands shake really bad. And he thanked us profusely and he said that holidays are traditionally "bad tip days" (he said because people go gift shopping right after) ... Read Full Story >>

Sandwich Therapy

Last night, I was waiting in line to place my order at a fast food place. The lady just ahead of me was taking a long time to order and asking the cashier many questions about the options. That slowed us all down, just enough for me, who seldom notices what people wear, to notice that she was dressed like a person who has been living on the street. Maybe she was homeless and was having a hard time placing her order in a place with limited choices on the menu because this was already more choice than she had ever had in her life. I saw this as an opportunity and walked up to stand near her by the cashier. When she had finished ordering, I asked her if she would mind if I just paid for her sandwich. She looked at me and asked, "you want to pay for my sandwich? ... Read Full Story >>

Lovely Quote and Words

Lovely quote and words to live by. I'm getting there, but still working on it, especially under times of stress.

"When you go out into the woods, and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn't get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don't get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree.

The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying 'You are too this, or I'm too this.' That judgment mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are." - Ram Dass. 

What a beautiful reminder!

My Turn

Today it was my turn to receive a random act of kindness.

I was visiting relatives in Anchorage, Alaska, and my wife was in the hospital with viral meningitis. It was her first day and she was feeling poorly.

I went to the cafeteria to get some breakfast and after looking around, I decided on eggs and sausage. As I went to pay, the clerk said there was no charge because the person in front of me had paid my bill.

I looked up and didn't see anyone at first, but when I went around a corner, she was standing there. I asked if she was the one who had bought me breakfast and she said that she was.

I thanked her and asked if she often "paid it forward". She was surprised that I had recognized her act as a random act of kindness.

She said she did it to welcome me to the hospital and hoped I would enjoy my "day on the planet".

At that moment, I found myself in tears. It gave me a boost to handle the issues that were facing me.

For Us And Them.

A friend and I decided to go for a vegetarian dinner today. We went to a nearby restaurant run by a beautiful lady, who is really warm and kind. We ordered our food, which turned out to be delicious and light as usual, and we enjoyed our meal so much. We were being kind to ourselves by eating simple, nutritious, food cooked with care and love. However, there happened to be SMILE cards on my person and another greeting card, so we decided that this was a great opportunity to be kind to someone else too. We had a hush hush chat with one of the lovely people who were serving us, and pointed,winked,gestured at the couple sitting at the next table, and told him that we wanted to pay their bill. He agreed, and my friend wrote out a beautiful card for them, and we attached a SMILE card as ... 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!

Rewarding Kindness

I was in getting coffee one time and the girl behind me needed a bit more change so she didn't have to break a bill. Without hesitation a gentleman behind her gave her the necessary change.

I thought it was a generous thing to do and I paid for his coffee. There is a lot of good in this world and it is often hidden by the bad.

A Cup of Kindness

   They have introduced a coupon system in my workplace for coffee where we have to produce a coupon to get coffee. And we must collect the coupon booklet from admin people on the first of every month.    Yesterday i went to collect the coupon from our cafeteria on the 9th floor and then went to 2nd floor where the coffee machine is to grab a quick cup of coffee before starting my day at work. As i was waiting for the lift after getting the coffee I saw a senior person about the age of 50 being informed by the attendant that he could not have coffee without the coupon. And he had to go to the 9th floor to get the coupon and then come down again for coffee. But then it would be late for him to start his work since we have strict reporting time in our ... Read Full Story >>

A Creative Way to Teach My Children an Important Lesson

I have two sons who are 5 and 3 years old.  They love to take walks outside and one of the walks we often do is along a cycle path through some fields. This path eventually leads to the local high school, so  there is always some litter scattered on the sides, even though the city's cleaning squad sometimes tidies it up.   One day an idea occurred to me, I decided to show my children that we could do something to make a difference.  The next day, we took a plastic bag and some rubber gloves with us and the children and I collected whatever litter we found on our way. My sons had so much fun, since at that age they love picking up things from the ground (and with the rubber gloves I did not need to be scared they would catch something) and it was a creative ... Read Full Story >>

My First Thanksgiving

At 47 years old who would have thought I would have been wearing a "Baby's First Thanksgiving" bib? Although I didn't actually wear a bib, last year was my first "real" Thanksgiving. I came from a broken home and when I married 25 years ago, I sought to make my family everything I didn't have growing up. I'm afraid I had that "white picket fence" mentality. Every holiday needed to be picture perfect. The food, the dishes, the house decorations, even down to the cozy sweater I had purchased especially for the occasion. I was so wrapped up in how things were suppose to be, losing sight of what meant most. So many of my years wasted on being decieved. That was then this is now. Being alone now, separated from my husband, and our son serving in the military, I was blessed to have the opportunity to truly serve. A small group of friends and ... Read Full Story >>