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My Giving Friend!

The Smile Project

In celebration of Random Acts of Kindness week, I started a project with my preschool class.  I made a smiley face recognition certificate called it a Smile O Gram.  I made copies of it for each of my 17 preschoolers.  I decorated regular business size envelopes with smiley face stickers and wrote on the front : A Smile especially for You!  The parents were to talk with their preschooler about who they wanted to send a Smile Gram to.   I talked with our local flower shop about the possibility of getting smiley face latex balloons.  Unfortunately the flu bug has hit our community and a lot of children have been gone from school so as of today we've only gotten 9 of them delivered.  We still plan on sending out another 10. Inside the envelope, in addition to the SMILE Gram was a smile card and a paper that said "Tag, You're ... Read Full Story >>

Top 10 Kindness Stories of 2011

For the first time last year, we featured a top ten list of stories published by our members in 2010 and it was very well received, so we decided to do it again and compile this year's top ten kindness stories of 2011 to share the inspiration!  1. Today You, Tomorrow Me During this past year I’ve had three instances of car trouble: a blowout on a freeway, a bunch of blown fuses and an out-of-gas situation. [...] Each time, when these things happened, I was disgusted with the way people didn’t bother to help. I was stuck on the side of the freeway hoping my friend’s roadside service would show, just watching tow trucks cruise past me. The people at the gas stations where I asked for a gas can told me that they couldn’t lend them out "for safety reasons," but that I could buy a really crappy one-gallon can, ... Read Full Story >>

Smiling In China Town

A few weeks ago I was on vacation with my family in Malaysia. We visited lots of places. One of the hotels we stayed in was near a China Town. Everything was cheap there so did a lot of shopping. I was looking for a watch for myself and one for my girlfriend. There were many shops that were selling the same watch - but for different prices.   I finally found the best price, so I bought the watches while my sister and mom were buying other stuff from the same shop. When it was time to pay I realized I was 10 Ringgits short, so I suggested returning one of the watches. The owner of the shop asked why and I explained I didn't have enough money with me. She smiled and said, "You can take it, but promise me you'll pay tomorrow!"    So I asked her what time she would be ... Read Full Story >>

Quiet Dignity at a Truck Stop

A few years ago, I had a long commute to get home from work. One morning I was on my way home and was very tired after working a 12 hour night shift. I stopped at a local restaurant to have breakfast. It was really a truck stop and I was the only customer. Right after I placed my order I saw a man come in. He was carrying a small backpack and looked like he had seen better times. He reached in his pocket and pulled out some change. He asked the waitress if 38 cents was enough to buy a cup of coffee. She looked at his hand and said, "Of course. Have a seat." (Coffee was 50 cents a cup at the time.) It really struck me how she had tried to preserve his pride and how he had not asked for any charity. Shortly before my food came. I ... Read Full Story >>

What Nelson Mandela Taught Me About Empathy

What Nelson Mandela Taught Me About Empathy Years ago, in 2007, I visited Sierra Leone to work with an organization, iEARN, which was using technology to help youth recover from the gruesome war which had left millions of lives destroyed. As I listened to stories, and then some more, as part of a project that we were doing to record peoples’ lives, I became emotionally distraught and confused, and angry at the perpetrators at the same time. However, there was an interesting demographic of people that I had mixed feelings towards, even compassion – child soldiers. Those youth who were brainwashed or forced into killing their brethren - their parents, grandparents, siblings – and becoming drugged and desensitized during the process. I wondered to myself, what was the reason for wars, in general, and how do people heal from such trauma? The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was ongoing to help bring forgiveness, ... Read Full Story >>

The Water Bearer and the Ceramic Pot

There once was a water bearer who every day to earn a living carried water from the distant river into the town where he lived. To do so, he owned two ceramic pots, which he hung at both ends of a pole he balanced over his shoulders . While one of the pots was bright red, smooth and perfectly waterproof, the other was old, discolored and a bit cracked, in fact it dripped water on the way. Each day the pot became a little more porous, and dripped a little more, till came a time it was only able to retain half of its content by the time they'd reach the town. This caused the pot great shame, and so finally, unable to contain its embarrassment, the pot addressed the water bearer: "Master, please break me! throw me! dispose of me! I can't stand this misery any longer, I'm unable to ... Read Full Story >>

Slow Down: Beautiful Things Ahead

Massachusetts is notoriously known for bad traffic and aggressive drivers. I am occasionally included on this list. The past few weeks I started to consciously try something new: When I feel myself beginning to get agitated, I try to slow down and will let other drivers pass me or pull out in front of me. This simple action brings me calmly back to the present moment and makes my commute enjoyable. While I am sure other drivers appreciate the courteous action, I know I am the one benefiting the most from this act of kindness.

Thank You Drivers

My vehicle is incapacitated, so I usually walk and ride the bus to get around. I usually make a point of saying thank you and wishing the bus driver a good day. Today, she did me a kindness. She stopped a block early and let me and another lady off, so that we could connect with another bus more easily.

People here drive rather rashly and it is tough for pedestrians cross the street easily, without nearly getting run over. Today, a woman stopped when she could of easily turned the corner before I crossed. I made a point of waving to her and saying thanks to her for waiting and letting me cross the street without the fear of getting hit.

Thanking a Tireless Advocate

At the end of a long day, I emailed a nationally known leader, a tireless advocate for a cause about which I care deeply.

"I can't imagine how hard you work," I wrote, "but I know how hard I work, and how tired I get. I pray you get the rest you need and the love you deserve."

A Thousand Cranes - A Scavenger Hunt in Reverse

Yesterday morning, I spent a glorious few hours with a group of close friends.  We were sitting down in a cozy corner of the cafe, sipping on delicious coffee and catching up on the past year.   As we were leaving, one friend found a beautiful blue oragami paper crane, casually perched on top of the mantle of a fire place.  Attached to the paper crane was along a lovely quote that read, "You don't need to know.  Life wouldn't be this grand adventure if you knew what was coming.  Love the mystery."  Later, we discovered another piece of paper that shared the story of the paper cranes.  It read... "On Valentine's Day of 2011, I came home to find a beautiful mass of moving color.  My ex-boyfriend had folded 1000 paper cranes and hung them on my porch.  He left a note saying if I made a wish, it would be ... Read Full Story >>

Reconnecting

For Day 2, reconnecting with an old pal, I sent a message to a woman I've known since pre-school (we're now 39!). She had a lot of challenges and personal difficulties in her life, struggles with drugs and alcohol, etc., but really pulled out of it and has become a counselor focusing on helping youth with drug and alcohol issues (!). Turns out that I caught her at exactly a time when she was really needing some support due to some marital issues, and she was really grateful that I had reached out and told her what an inspirational person I think she is.

Day # 11 - Spending time with the elderly!

Yesterday I invited my elderly neighbor over for lunch. She accepted but with the heavy rain that we have received she decided this morning that she preferred to remain inside today.

I was still moved to share a delicious meal with her so instead of giving up, I decided to go ahead and prepare the lunch and then fill a basket with a tin of her favorite chocolate chip cookies and a small potted plant.  

I took the lunch to her and she was delighted. She enjoyed and so did I and it reminded me of the special times spent with my late maternal grandmother, who I miss dearly! She and I would get together over a cup of coffee and some type of homemade goodie and have the most wonderful conversations. It was wonderful to remember Grandmother with a smile while sharing a smile with another sweet lady. What a nice afternoon!

Never Lose Hope

Today, a friend of mine was being picked on for always wearing the same sweater so I told the bully to stop, and he eventually did. Also, the class was being really rude to our teacher, so I told the teacher that no matter what, I was so appreciative that he was our teacher.

I just believe that it's nice to let people know how special they are and that they should never let themselves get down, because it's nice to know that you're appreciated for being just who you are. <3 (:

Thank You to Mrs. Noel, First Grade Teacher

Today's gratitude challenge encouraged me to think about something I take for granted and then to express gratitude for it by writing a story. Every day, the first things I do - and a large percentage of the rest of the things I do throughout the day - depend on my ability to read. Some decades ago , I joined 40 other six-year-olds as a member of the first township-wide first grade – the previous year, first graders in the township had still attended one-room schools, but the Baby Boom had reached even that rural corner of central Pennsylvania. Sprawling in comparison to the previous schools, the new building had a separate classroom for each grade. First grade had been assigned to a veteran teacher from one of the one-room schools named Mrs. Noel. I don’t know how she did it, but Mrs. Noel taught most of us the basics of reading. In ... Read Full Story >>

Using Skills You Have In Kindness

In my professional life I am fortunate to have acquired some skills that I find I am able to use even though I've retired.  For instance, last week while at church, I met a family that had just moved to our state. Unfortunately, they were mugged shortly after their arrival and had the huge purse the wife was carrying with all their important papers (SS cards, IDs, birth certificates, etc.) stolen. A very kind person in the neighborhood had taken them in, but they had very little money, no transportation, and no way to enroll their son in school without the paperwork that had been stolen. Enrolling that little boy in school seemed to be their highest priority for establishing normalcy for the family. The school district was playing hardball with them with no sympathy for their plight. They had gone to the library to research how to replace this paperwork, but they ... Read Full Story >>

10 Ways to Live Simply in 2015

Although simplicity has a long history, we are now entering radically changing times—ecological, social, economic, and psycho-spiritual—and we should expect the worldly expressions of simplicity to evolve and grow in response. For more than thirty years I’ve explored the “simple life” and I’ve found that simplicity is not simple. I’ve encountered such a diversity of expressions of the simple life that I find the most accurate way of describing this approach to living is with the metaphor of a garden. A Garden of Simplicity To portray the richness of simplicity, here are ten different flowerings of expression that I see growing in the “garden of simplicity.” Although there is overlap among them, each expression of simplicity seems sufficiently distinct to warrant a separate category. So there would be no favoritism in listing, they are placed in alphabetical order based on the brief name I associated with each. 1. Choiceful Simplicity: Simplicity means choosing ... Read Full Story >>

Compliments

Compliments can be the easiest acts of kindness. I truly enjoy complimenting people I see every day. I like to think about what kind of compliment would make that person's day.

For the fashionista down the hall, it's fun to compliment her on her shoes. But maybe the person that just smiles all the time would like to hear, "You have such a nice smile!" Maybe the waitress that's working extra hard would like to be acknowledged.  My 5 year old loves to hear how she is the greatest artist EVER!

I'd have to say the greatest compliment I ever gave was to a very close friend. This friend just didn't see the amazing spirit that I see in him everyday. He had ignored or doubted all these wonderful emotions and actions he was capable of.

When I complimented him on all his wonderful attributes, it was like a light bulb went off and he had received that confirmation that he was all those things. Since then, he has embraced his true spirit and it grows everyday. I'm so happy to be a part of that.

Romance

I was sitting in a coffee shop sipping on my decaf and simply watching the world go by. My eyes caught sight of a very mature couple. I knew this as their hair was very white and they were slightly hunched over. They stopped and seemed to be looking around, perhaps lost? Who knows? But what made me smile was.....they were holding hands. Was it the many years they were together or was this a fairly new romance. I wondered, as the smile on my face lingered and together they walked away.

Smiles

Watching my "baby" who is now a fifth grader take the hand of a kindergartener to walk her to the bathroom during the middle of Sunday mass made me smile. My daughter seems so small to me, but looked so big and confident helping her little friend. I smiled thinking how cute it was that they figured out a way to break up the long mass without getting in trouble too! I love friendships!