Search Results for 'popular' (3612 matches)

You Are So Beautiful To Me

I was attending a Fundraiser Gala Celebration for a school. Now, I've recently lost weight and felt good about how I looked in my outfit ... which I hadn't felt in years!

Once I got to the event, many people where telling me how wonderful I looked.  To be honest, it felt great to hear that because I worked really hard to look and feel better.

Then, all of a sudden, I was thinking how I wished someone had given nice compliments last year when I was heavier. I did look nice then too, I had a nice outfit, pretty hair and carried myself nicely...

So I started looking around the room for people I knew that were maybe not what was considered "thin" and I went up to them and told them how nice they looked and that I loved their outfits ... they were true comments and came from my heart. 

Oh, you should have seen their faces light up because I took time to notice them and let them know they are just as pretty as anyone else there! I think it'll make us closer because they know I care.

We should all look for something nice to say to one another to lift one's spirits.

Growing Seeds in Silence

Sometimes you read a story that just takes root in your heart. Many stories on the helpothers.org website have been like that for me: "I Wish You Enough" by BrightEyes and "An Unforgettable Fishing Experience" by Mike Delyria to name just two. Well this story I'm about to share with you has been growing in the heart of many people on Cape Ann, where I live. It is the story of Jude, a young deaf man with green thumbs and a big heart who recently opened a plant store in our community called The Silent Seed. I first heard about him from my friend Nana who had noticed the new store during one of her walks and was so inspired by the owner that she felt called to draw the whole neighborhood's attention to his work. A few days later, my friend Loretta who lives in a totally different part of ... Read Full Story >>

You Helped Me

I know this site is primarily for sharing stories of how we help others, however I have to take this time to say thank you. 

All of you and your stories have not only helped with my depression but it has given me more faith in others. I am in the process of changing careers to the non-for-profit sector, especially focused on children's homes in our local area. I never would have made this change had you not all shown me the world is still a place full of good people.

Hopefully I get this job and can begin to share your stories with the children who have lost their faith in humanity, the way I had before I found this site.  Wish me luck on the job and again from the bottom of my heart I thank those who started this website and all those that are members.

You have truly made an amazing difference in my life and my future. God bless you ALL!

Dust In The Wind

It happened so suddenly.  She said she wasn’t feeling well, so she took a shower, drank some tea, and went for a nap just before dinner.  By 5PM, she had passed away. “That’s insane. I just saw Sushila Auntie last week. She’s fine. I mean, she’s my mom’s age. There must be some sort of mistake,” I thought to myself. No mistake, unfortunately. Sitting in the living room at Narayan Uncle’s house to pay our condolences for the passing of his wife, the thoughts in my head wouldn’t stop.   That’s my Narayan Uncle sitting there. He’s been around forever.   And next to him would always be Sushila Auntie.  I just saw her last week. All I gave her was a perfunctory, “Hi”.   Why?  Because she was always there. Yet, there is so much more to the being “there” than one realizes, because once that’s gone, things seem strange and askew. I knew nothing ... Read Full Story >>

Cat Calls Or Hot Chocolate

I am a sales rep and I travel all over England to visit my customers. I will frequently arrange to meet a client first thing in the morning and I usually have several visits to complete in a day.   One cold February morning I was due to visit a store at 9am. I parked my car, bundled my scarf around me and headed up the street towards his shop front.    The small lane where his store was located was partially blocked by two large, ruddy faced workmen who were tearing up the concrete. I braced myself for the expected cat calls. I was up early, out in the cold, and probably about to be made a spectacle of by two men I didn't even know.   Then I stopped and remembered that my own father. Both he and my grandfather had spent much of their early careers working outside in similar jobs before ... Read Full Story >>

My Gas Station Story

One rainy evening I went to fill up at the gas station. A pre-teen boy approached my car with a thick hoodie pulled around his face. He asked me for money to help him and his mother stay in their hotel for an additional week. He stated that if they did not come up with $25 they would be evicted that same evening. Having worked in social services before, and being a little skeptical, I asked how come his mother hadn't sought out social services for assistance. The boy said that they needed to remain in their hotel for one more week until his grandmother, who lived out of town, could take them in. I gave the boy what I had - $5. He thanked me and continued to wander the parking lot asking for help. I got my gas and drove away. A separate time some weeks before, a boy asked ... Read Full Story >>

Sandpiper To Bring You Joy

She was six years old when I first met her on the beach near where I live. I drive to this beach, a distance of three or four miles, whenever the world begins to close in on me. She was building a sand castle or something and looked up, her eyes as blue as the sea. "Hello," she said.  I answered with a nod, not really in the mood to bother with a small child. I'm building," she said.  "I see that. What is it?" I asked, not really caring. "Oh, I don't know, I just like the feel of sand." That sounds good, I thought, and slipped off my shoes. A sandpiper glided by.  "That's a joy," the child said. "It's a what?" "It's a joy. My mama says sandpipers come to bring us joy." The bird went gliding down the beach. Good-bye joy, I muttered to myself, hello pain, and turned to walk on. ... Read Full Story >>

An Unforgettable Fishing Experience

Several years ago, I worked for a trucking outfit as a driver. It was my habit to go in on Saturday and spend a couple hours maintaining my truck. As I was under the truck greasing it, I noticed the owner's elderly father making his way over to his grandson's truck next to mine.  The old man was in his high eighties, had been an avid fisherman all his life, and had come out to ask the kid to take him fishing after work. The grandson told him all about how much he would love to do that, but, he just couldn't that day due to prior commitments. The old man accepted the answer and hobbled off to the house. A few minutes later, the father came out and asked his son what the old man had wanted. After telling the story, the kid ended it with telling his dad, ... Read Full Story >>

Lost & Found: Two Rings

After working out one day, in the locker room, I came across a gorgeous wedding ring studded with many diamonds and a ruby ring.  I could tell they were very expensive, and by the color, the gold looked to be 24 carat. I looked around but there was no one in the gym or in the locker room.  So I took the rings to our work Lost & Found in the Security department upstairs.  After you fill out the tag, the items are kept for at least 30 days. I told the security guard that I did not want my name mentioned, as I wanted it to be a random act of kindness. I did not want the person to feel they needed to thank me or compensate me.  And I was pretty sure that the rings would be claimed! Over the course of the day, I forgot all about turning in the rings but ... Read Full Story >>

Love and Inspiration from Japan

Below are the some of the heart warming anecdotes that I've witnessed and heard from others during the aftermath of the earthquake in Japan last year...  In the supermarket, where items of all the shelves fell, people were picking up things so neatly together, and then quietly standing in line to buy food. Instead of creating panic and buying as much as needed, they bought as little as they needed.  I was proud to be a Japanese.   When I was walking home, for 4 hours, there was a lady holding a sign that said, "Please use our toilet."  They were opening their house for people to go to the restroom. It was hard not to tear up, when I saw the warmth of people.   At Disneyland, they were giving out candies. High school girls were taking so many so I was thinking, "What???"  But then the next minute, they ran to the children ... Read Full Story >>

Repaying a Stranger's Generosity

This story was brought to my mind after reading some of yours :)  It happened several years ago but I have never forgotten it.  My husband and I were going through some bad times financially.  We had both lost our jobs and were trying to catch up on bills by cutting grass for extra money on the weekends.  We got up one Saturday morning and loaded up the little flat bed trailer that we carried our lawnmower on and headed out.   About 15 miles from the house the trailer started swerving and we realized that it had a flat tire.  Luckily, we were close to a little store and pulled into the parking lot.   The tire was in shreds, so my husband took the truck back to the house to see if he could find another tire for the trailer.  I stayed with the trailer at the store.   I had ... Read Full Story >>

More Than Just a Favour

I had an errand to do in Saltcoats today.  I arrived early so I decided to go for a walk by the harbourside. It was pouring down with rain but I had my new waterproof jacket on so I didn't really mind.  As I was walking along, I met someone who wasn't so lucky. He had swept back salt 'n' pepper hair, a bushy gray beard, sky blue eyes - and he was soaked through and through. "Could you do me a favour?" He held his hand out. "Probably not," I replied. Things had been tight financially and for the past fortnight I'd been telling my kids we can't do this and we can't afford that. "I've been trying to chase up the price of a beer," he continued. Well, I admired his honesty. If I'd been living on the street like he obviously had, a beer might have been important to me too. I ... Read Full Story >>

Taken By Surprise By A Course In Miracles

Arriving in a new city last Thursday, I had the strangest first week of graduate school. I fell and broke my leg within 48 hours of arriving there! I was really amazed by the kindness shown by my new roommmate, someone who I had only just met. "We are family now", she said when she found me lying in my room with a swollen leg, unable to move, in a strange city with no family except across three oceans. She took me to the student health center by cab to get my leg examined. The cab driver was so nice and said to me how lucky I was to have a friend like that.  After that, my roommate didn't stop helping me - she made me amazing meals and brought them to and made me comfortable despite my insistence that I could do things on my own. When I protested, "I really like helping people", she said , "I believe ... Read Full Story >>

Touched by kindness

My daughter and myself were driving from Los Angeles to Dallas. We were running low on gas somewhere in New Mexico and figured we'd see a gas station soon enough to fill up. But that didn't happen and we realized we were not going to make it to the next town. So my daughter made up a sign that read "Low on gas. Can u help?" and held it outside her window in the hopes that a driver in the next lane would notice it and stop. There weren't too many vehicles passing us either at the time. It was a desolate stretch of road and about 3.30 pm on a weekday. A suburban was driving along happily in the neighboring lane ahead of us. We caught up with it in the hopes the driver would notice the sign. An elderly gentleman was driving it and after a brief expression of confusion on ... Read Full Story >>

A Secret Handshake Puts It Right

Yesterday was my step-mom’s birthday. I haven’t been home in a long time so I wanted to stop by the house to see her on this special day.    I have been struggling financially so I was dreading the long trip. Gas is so expensive nowadays! Anyway, I filled my tank with gas and set off.    I stopped at the shopping mall and found a present. It was the perfect gift and I knew she would love it. But when I got to the cashier my card was declined! I did not have enough money in my account to pay for the gift!    So I pondered the issue for a few minutes. I could put it back and get something cheaper, but I knew there was nothing else in the store she would have liked as much. So, I got on my smart-phone and transferred some money from my savings account so I was ... Read Full Story >>

A Seven-Year-Old's Stained Glass Gifts

My seven-year old son had been given a gift of "creating stained glass kit" decorative pieces and enthusiastically went to work making beautiful color combinations that could be hung on a glass window.  The kit had 4 different pieces to complete and two of them got ruined in the process.  But the other two were real "masterpieces" of kid artwork and he was very thrilled to see them hanging on our window.  The pieces remained there for some months and then one day my son's piano teacher came to our house (which was not usual) to give him a lesson and he casually admired the stained glass. As soon as his lesson was done, my son ran out of the room, wrapped up the stained glass piece and presented it proudly to his teacher!  A few months after that we had a friend visiting from out of town and she too admired ... Read Full Story >>

Giving The Rent Money Away

My wife and I were on our way to the seaside just before sunrise to pray.  On our way we headed to a community where squalor is king. I got an urge to drive into the impoverished community instead of past it and bless someone financially.    My rent money was all I had and the rent was already one day overdue. Plus, my wife and I were experiencing one of the worst financial drought in our lives.   As we approached the area I told my wife what I was thinking of. She said, "Follow your heart, sweetheart."     We drove into the community and as we turned the corner we saw a woman with her half-slip pulled up over her breast and her hands atop her head. I walked over to her and held out a fist with the money inside.She stretched her right hand out and took the money into her fist to ... Read Full Story >>

An Extra Special Restaurant Surprise

I recently had the chance to have a meal with some close friends who don't live in my city.  The choice of restaurant was a pretty fancy one known for triple digit bills.  We had a wonderful time together at the restaurant and approaching the end of the meal, I excused myself.  I silently headed towards the waiter and asked him to charge the meal to my credit card, but to also not tell anyone that I did it.  I signed for the meal and and quickly went back to my seat, no one the wiser for my trip. When it came time for the check, the waiter came by and told me and my fellow diners that the meal had already been paid for by an unknown person!  They couldn't believe it and demanded to know who did it, but the waiter assured them he didn't know :)  The response on ... Read Full Story >>

One of a Thousand Stories to Tell

Hello, my name is David G. Nadeau and I am from Monroe, Michigan, hometown of General Armstrong Custer. I am a paid-on-call Firefighter for Monroe Township Fire Department and I was at Ground Zero for one week starting September 12, 2001. Some of my hundred or so pictures from Ground Zero have been published in EMS magazines. Newspaper reporters from Cooperstown, New York and Lexington, Kentucky call me wanting to publish this story. That is because someone from the family of the business card I found at Ground Zero told the reporters this story – a story about a business card which is just one of a thousand stories to tell. I arrived at Ground Zero on September 12, 2001 with another Firefighter. After several hours of working at the front of a bucket brigade on Friday, September 14 – just one of many bucket brigades -- there came an opening ... Read Full Story >>

A Child's Compassion For Animals

Our family has had many different pets over the years: Dogs, cats, frogs, lizards, turtles, and even a snake once. CC (our 7-year old grandchild) has always had a compassionate heart for all of them. When we learned about a shelter in the area that was ran by just volunteers she couldn’t wait to get involved. This was an excellent opportunity for her to learn and care for many different animals. What made this shelter different than most is their policy to never have any of the animals put to sleep. The animals they tended to would live at the center until they were adopted. If it took a week or a year for them to find a home, it didn’t matter. When CC learned that many of the animals were there because they had no home, it really bothered her. She couldn’t understand how that could be. When she ... Read Full Story >>