Search Results for 'popular' (3484 matches)

Seeing the Same Stranger Twice

It was a freezing cold winter day. During a late night run to the grocery store, I saw an old man slip on some ice.   An ambulance came but the man didn't want to go to the hospital (perhaps due to insurance reasons). I saw the old man starting to walk home. Feeling sorry for his condition, not even knowing who he was, I offered him a ride home.  On our way, he wanted to stop by a bar for some silly reason, so I obliged; he said he'd only be a second, but I waited nearly 15 minutes.  Still, I continued taking him home.  When we arrived at his house, about 10 minutes later, the man offered me some money, but I refused event though it was a ways out of my way. Thinking I would never see this man again, I went on home and went on with my life. Well, ... Read Full Story >>

A Small Gesture Meant a Great Deal

This is just a short story but it really brought home to me how very small acts of kindness and even courtesy have bigger effects than we realise.

I have a bad back which flares up from time to time. Yesterday I was out walking while carrying shopping bags and my keys. My keys slipped from my hand and fell to the ground. The problem was that because of my back I couldn't bend down to get them. I was just thinking of how to get around this when two teenage girls came up beside me.  Without even speaking to me, one of the girls just reached down, picked up my keys, handed them to me and went on her way.

While it was a small gesture and she couldn't have known that I was in too much pain to bend down, it meant a great deal to me at that moment.

Home Is, Where Again?

This economy has really got a lot of people moving and not always by a choice they wanted to make.  My wife and I now find ourselves among those unfortunates feeling that pressure. You see, at the end of last year, our counseling and consulting clientele just dried up.  Having been self-employed meant not being eligible for unemployment assistance.  As we did the math looking at retirement savings that was half-gone and quickly draining away, we had to make the painful decision to close up our office and put our house up for sale.  We haven’t lived in the house for two years yet and figured it would be the last one for a long time.  How quickly this world economic mess is changing our lives! As I get older, I find moving less adventurous and more burdensome.  It’s not just the strain on my body that bothers me as much as ... Read Full Story >>

A Timeless Gift

Every day I pass by a homeless man on the street near where I attend college.  He tells me 'hello'  in a cheerful manner, and I always say it back.  I give him any extra change I have.  He always wears a watch.  Not an expensive watch by any means, but it serves its purpose.  One day I noticed he wasn't wearing it anymore.  I asked him why and he looked down and told me that the battery had died so he threw it away.  I knew he couldn't afford a new battery and he certainly couldn't afford a new watch.  He stayed on my mind all day, and I knew what I had to do.  I went out and bought him a watch.  Not an expensive one, but one that was very similar to the one he had.     When I saw him the next day, he was smiling and cheerful ... Read Full Story >>

Thank you for your kindness!

For the past 5 days, I was down with viral flu and I wasn't really feeling well. My father lost his job, I've had trouble in my work and a lot more trouble I can only imagine.I can't help but cry. What keeps my sanity for these agonizing days? You guys in here - people I really don't know personally but by your never ending stories of kindness. I know at one point I'll be able to stand up and gain whatever helplessness I am feeling in my heart now.

I really just want to thank you for letting me feel your kindness here in my heart.

Overhearing a phone conversation at Starbucks

A few months back I was waiting in line undecided on what to get at Starbucks. I noticed a woman in her mid-thirties, well dressed with a resume in her hand. One of the employees told her that the manager would be with her shortly. While we both waited her phone rang. She started apologizing to the person on the line, "I'm truly sorry, I lost my job a few months back and I could barely pay tuition. But I promise you as soon as I can I'll buy the girls their books. Please just give me time." I wanted to hug her right there and then. My birthday was the day before and I am obsessed with books. I got many bookstore gift cards. I knew why God put me there today. I thought of my mom and what she would say to me "come on you know what to do." I ... Read Full Story >>

$100 Hero Changes a Family's Life Forever

I read an article in my local paper a while ago, and it really stuck with me.   There was a couple in my neighbourhood whose house had been badly damaged in a hail storm we had earlier in the year. I remember it well and so did my car, hailstones almost the size of baseballs. Anyway I read this article a few months after the storm that this couple didn't have insurance and they had just bought their first home, they had been saving for five years to get their home. They were a fairly young couple and unfortunately their home was badly damaged in the hail. They had most of their house damaged, not only by the hail but a tree outside their house had fallen and destroyed a a section of the house. They didn't have money to repair because all their money was going into just buying the place, and ... Read Full Story >>

Trying To Help With An Open Heart

Cons happen a lot in our city and it can be hard to know who is really in need and who is trying to exploit other people's kindness.   Recently, I was finishing my work at home when the dog barked letting me know someone was at the gate. I rushed to see who it was and there I saw poor, fragile woman in her late fifties.   I said to her, "May I ask what you want?"   She replied, "Hello, ma'am, my name is Parvathy. My husband and I live in the slum nearby. We earn our living working at construction sites. A few days ago my husband tripped on the stairs while carrying a heavy load. He is badly hurt and hasn't been able to work for the past five days, and so we have no food. Now he is at home in bed with a high temperature. Please help me! I need to take ... Read Full Story >>

The Seed Has A Sprout

I am a single mother of a darling 6 year old girl, Haley. With a six year old come a lot of questions! Who is that? What are they doing? Why? Where...and on and on.  I love her questions! Sometimes I do not have an answer, sometimes we brainstorm the possibilities of what may be together. Children are very, very observant and have excellent memories! One example that comes to mind is right around Christmas last year. We were heading out to her Grandma's house -- an hour drive, so lots of time for chatting!  We were waiting to get on the freeway when she noticed a homeless man, no sign in hand. "Mom, is that man homeless," she asked.  I told her I believed he was. We got on the freeway and away we went. She was pretty quiet in the back on they way there. We spent a ... Read Full Story >>

A Child's Innocence restored

I was standing in a long line at a cafe. In front of me stood a mom with her fidgety and clearly bored little boy. He looked to be 6 or 7 years old. A police car drove by the cafe and suddenly he came to life. "Mom, mom," he said excitedly, "It's the police, we better go outside, they're probably looking for us!". The mom looked mortified, her face red, as she explained to the long line of people waiting for a hot cup of coffee. "My son's bicycle was stolen last night. Someone took it from the front porch, cut the lock and carried it away. When we realized it had been stolen we called the police. He helped by describing what his bike looked like while the officer wrote the report. Now he thinks all the policemen in the city are out looking for his bike." Everyone in the line ... Read Full Story >>

Random Notes of Kindness

For some time, I had been thinking that I wanted to do something to make strangers smile. I decided that I would leave small post it notes around in shops, on public transit, and other public places with positive sayings or kind words for strangers to find. A friend on Facebook had posted that she had received reams of beautiful paper from an artist friend and was wondering what to do with it.  I told her about my idea, and she immediately remarked that this must be what her paper was meant for. So, two friends on opposite sides of the world started leaving these random notes of kindness.  I now have a third friend in the UK leaving notes as well, three continents are covered. :) I leave my notes without expecting any particular results.  Whether they are read or thrown away, it doesn't matter.  The main thing is that I did ... Read Full Story >>

How Will You Fill Your Flower Vase?

Last night after reading some inspirational posts on HelpOthers I decided it was getting a little late so I decided to go to bed. As I was lying there I was thinking about the stories I had just read. For some reason my mind flashed back to my first day at College (High School). The head girl was standing up on the stage giving us a speech about your life and your life journey being a vase full of flowers. Now that may seem a strange context but that speech has stayed with me for many years. I would like to share it with you all!  It went something along the lines of… Imagine a big vase of flowers being your life. Each person has a vase of flowers but it is their opportunity to fill it in the way they decide. You could fill your vase with a few flowers ... Read Full Story >>

Having Faith in the Power of Doing Good

Two of my friends and I were coming back from a youth meeting when a woman with three children, who were looking unclean and unkept started speaking to us.  She said she and her kids needed money to eat, as they had not eaten since morning and it was already evening.  I had three hundred naira with me and I wanted to use it to buy credit to recharge my phone.  I was tempted to ignore her and tell her I had no money to spare -- even my two friends told me that we should go and I should not give her anything, that she is a fake, pretentious fellow.  But, I decided not to listen to my friends and gave her all the money that I was planning to use to recharge my phone without any hopes of getting more money to top-up my phone for a few days.  I was so shocked when I saw the woman burst ... Read Full Story >>

The Long Three-Legged Walk

I was doing some yard-work yesterday. It was a mellow evening and I was making the most of it. Now, there is a path that runs alongside our garden fence. After I had been out there a while I heard a neighbors' voice coming from the path. "That's no place to be sleeping!" he said. "What a ridiculous state to get yourself into. Get up and get home. I'm telling you, you'd better not be there when I get back!"   I looked over the fence as the neighbor walked away. There didn't seem to be anyone else there.   Then I looked down. There was a man lying on his back on the path with his eyes closed. I recognized him. I had seen him doing the drunkard's walk along that path on several occasions.   My mind went over the telling off I had just overheard and a little voice in my head said, "Oh, ... Read Full Story >>

Sadness Though an act of Kindness

Dear Friends in Love and Kindness, I’m feeling blue and rather courageous about sharing this act of kindness. It’s not a feel good story about choosing to do something kind for someone, but I’ll tell you anyway, in honor of the fact that sometimes it hurts deeply to open our hearts and extend kindness with the intention of alleviating another person’s suffering. This past weekend I was in grocery store when a woman asked me for 50 cents towards buying some chicken . She said she was hungry. I didn’t have any cash, but I offered to buy her chicken if she didn’t mind sticking around with me until I finished shopping. She didn’t say anything but started walking beside with me. She had a very sad demeanor, and I noticed she had a black eye. She shuffled her feet as she walked. She slurred her speech. (I noticed many judgments rise up within ... Read Full Story >>

Oh, That Is So Refreshing!

It was a very hot, late August day when I took my 8 year old grand daughter out to lunch at a beautiful, fancy restaurant, because she enjoyed feeling like a princess. 

As we sat out on the lovely deck with many other diners around us, she reached out to point to the flowers on the table and accidentally tipped my ice water glass into my lap. 

She gasped, her eyes grew large, the people at the next table peered to see my reaction.  I simply smiled and said, "Oh, that is so refreshing."

We can make a split second decision to have a different-than-expected reaction to happenings that, in their smallness, make the world a better place and teach our children at the same time.

The Beggar Poem

On my way to work,my eyes wander to various sights
There always sits a beggar man next to a shop
He sits outstretching his arms
I dig in my pocket to give him alms
The beggar man is my everyday sight
He gives me a smile that is just so right
We are blessed with everything in life
Yet we do not smile as if there is a strife
The beggar has wealth nor health
Yet the smile on his face is heartfelt
For sometime the beggar man is seen nowhere
I feel something missing,
I look around and stare
The shopkeeper tells me he died
Silently I pause,he will no more be in my sight
I will miss him,I do not know why
Seeing him was a habit,
I feel to cry
The beggar man taught me to smile and to forget lifes worry awhile

***based on a true story

Lesson from the Check-Out Line

A little part of me thought about going to another checkout line. This one had the shortest queue, there was only one guy in it, but he was in a wheelchair and there seemed to be some complications going on. Well, I stamped on that little part, and we stepped in behind him. At first, he seemed to be having difficulty getting his groceries onto the conveyor belt. But after a while, I realized that what he was actually doing was separating it into two lots. Still, getting the stuff up there was no easy task in itself. I offered to help, but he and the checkout lady had it under control. He asked Julie if she would mind putting his empty basket away. Then he reached for his wallet which was in a pouch on one side of his chair. The way he was positioned and the fact he only had ... Read Full Story >>

The Gift of a Thank You

Not long ago, I was out at the mall, buying a gift for one of my younger friends. I stopoped by Claire's to find something for her. As I was glancing at items, I noticed a little girl around 8 or 9 yrs of age walk in, we were both looking at these cute little mini lip gloss boxes that had a picture in the front: one had penguins, dogs, cats, lots of cute pictures. She started thinking out loud, saying: "They're so cute!" I told her pointing at a box, "Did you see this one? It's super cute, too!" She was just delighted! She said to herself in a soft voice, "I wish I had money to get one." I heard her and I couldn't just leave the store, so I asked her, "Which one did you like the most?" She pointed to the pink box with puppies on the cover. I said, "Ok, ... Read Full Story >>

Carrying Love Half Way Around The World

The postie has just delivered a letter. It's from a friend in a far away land. Inside is a note, a list of "I Believes" and a beautiful bookmark.

I've been sitting here for the past five minutes at a loss for words. Not because of the gift, although it is sweet, not because of the thought, although that is also appreciated, but because my friend took that thought and that gift and put them into action, in a way that carried love half way around the world.

That's an awesome thing, and, well, it's a lot to take in.

So, I'll digress a little and mention one of the "I Believes." My friend says, "I Believe ... that your life can be changed by people who don't even know you." In a very real way, that's what you all out there in HelpOthersland are doing. You change the lives of the people you help, but you also change the lives of the people you share with on this site. We're becoming a family, for the best of all possible reasons. Thank you all for that.

And to my friend, I Believe ... you have changed my life!