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The Story of Karen

After working an inhuman 8-hour shift at a nameless, dirty factory, I got on the bus dirty, tired and hot. It was a beautifully sunny day but most of mine had been spent in the back of a dimly-lit warehouse, unloading freight cars that were filled to the top with parts for cheap office furniture. It was all metal parts, so they coated these parts with a thin oil that protected the metal and inhibited rust. Needless to say, I left that place every day looking like I worked in a coal mine. However, even with my addiction at that time, I still felt a bit proud of myself. I had held this temp job for 3 months which was extremely rare and as I took my seat on the bus going home, I decided that the depressing thoughts of my real life would not dampen my spirit today. I lifted my ... Read Full Story >>

The Egg & Spoon Race

My friend & I were at the school games. Her son Andrew has cerebal palsy but he was insistent that he was going in the races. In the flat race he ran well, but came in last.

In a short pace of time the egg & spoon race was on.

What we saw next brought tears to our eyes.

The school principle handed Andrew his the spoon with the egg glued onto it. Needless to say Andrew came in at the Number 1 and our tears were mixed with laughter and so much joy.

An act of kindness makes us all winners.

A Precious Piece of Family History

I'm a bit of a family historian (not that we have much of a history outside coal mining in Scotland and farming in Ireland.) One of my most precious possessions, which probably dates from about 1915, is a family portrait. My great grandmother sits on a chair all stiff and formal with her brood of babies around her feet and on her knees. My great grandfather stands behind her the picture of authorirty, but he is actually standing on "tin" legs after an accident with a railway truck. One-by-one the people in the picture left this world. My gran died aged 82, but in this picture she is about 3 forever. One of her sisters, Lena, outlived all her siblings by quite some way.  Going to visit Lena not long before she died it occurred to me that she might not have seen this picture for many decades. So I made a copy, framed ... Read Full Story >>

Tandem Acts of Kindness in Two Cities

A few weeks ago, I was in a crowded local train in Mumbai. I was sitting in a window seat of the super-crowded ladies' compartment. I was lucky to find a seat as I had got in at the first station. In a few minutes, the seats were all taken, and most people had to stand jam-packed in the aisles. Anyone who has been in Mumbai knows how frustrating a crowded train can be. In the middle of all this, I saw a young girl, about 10 years old, probably from a poor family. It was evident that she was used to the crowd, and the pushing and jostling, because she would silently shift position to be just that little bit more comfortable. I felt a little sad sitting there watching her having to stand. It struck me, that this is the time to practice a random act of kindness. However, I had to overcome some ... Read Full Story >>

The Waffle House Waitress

I was recently traveling with a friend when we decided to get something to eat. Being a huge Waffle House fan, we scouted out the area we were in, and found one. If you have never been in one, or have never heard of it, Waffle House is kinda like a chain of diners that serve the best waffles around! They won't be found at the top of any Zagat's list of Fine dining, but they are my favorite! Our waitress took a while to take our order, asking the same questions a few times. We made a few substitutions and "complicated" the order, but she wrote it all down. When the orders came, they were not right. When the bill came, it was not right either. The only thing that was right was the taste of the food and the smile of the waitress. She may not ... Read Full Story >>

Happy Birthday And A Gold Coin

While eating lunch with my 4 year old daughter this afternoon at a fast food restaurant, i noticed an old man walking to the table with a cane. The manager kindly carried his food for him. During the meal I overheard the man tell a woman it was his birthday. So I whispered what I heard to my daughter. She loves when people have birthdays. I told her it was ok for her to wish him a happy birthday. He obviously was spending this special day alone. At first she was shy and decided against it. No problem. As I was emptying our tray into the trash she turned to him and quietly wished him a Happy Birthday.  I could tell he was touched by the way he looked at her. I came up behind her and gave him my own wishes. He was grateful. As we walked away he called my daughter back ... Read Full Story >>

My Smile Deck Adventure

I have received a few Smile Decks and decided I would use one.    I read through the cards and love all the different ideas. I try to make sure I do at least one random act of kindness each week and thought the Smile Deck could help me with that!   There are many ways you can use the cards. Each suite has a different focus and they get progressively more challenging the higher you go. Since I have been committed to practicing kindness I figured I would just shuffle the deck and every few days pull one out and do whatever it says.    So that is what I did!    Yesterday I had the eight of hearts, which asks you to acknowledge an act of kindness by someone else and thank them. I have been the recipient of an act of kindness in the past week so this was a perfect card!    I put together a ... Read Full Story >>

A Simple Yet Unforgettable Lesson In Helping Others

It's the middle of the night and I find writing this blog nothing short of imperative. As I've been sitting on the floor in my disheveled room, I began to recall such an important moment in my life. Some might pass it off as "dumb" or "unimportant", but for me, it has held a great magnitude of power over my mind and how I live my life. Something so simple, yet so precious has lingered inside my mind for years now.  It was a very cold winter evening when a friend of mine had attempted suicide and was rushed to Westchester Medical Center where she stayed, unconscious for quite a while. FINALLY she awoke. A friend of mine and I decided to visit her, so we picked up some picturesque flowers and were on our way. We reached the hospital and dashed madly across the freezing parking lot through the hospitals automatic doors. After signing in, up ... Read Full Story >>

The Connection of Being Human

I have been reading a lot kindness stories. Last week, in an unusual way, a stranger showered me with generosity. At an Asian grocery store on a busy evening, I was shopping for the items I needed for my volunteer work of cooking breakfast on Saturday at a homeless shelter in San Jose. I went to the store to buy tofu and fruit. As I was waiting in  line to finish the purchase, the lady next to me approached me to find out how I was going to consume the big box of tofu I was buying. Enthusiastically, I replied that I was buying food for the homeless breakfast feed. While I was getting ready to pay the bill, to my amazement, she offered to pay for everything. Despite multiple requests for her name, she responded that she felt good because I was doing the kind of community work her parents once received when ... Read Full Story >>

Hope, There's Nothing Stopping You

There was about 15 of us folks chalking in front of the downtown Berkeley BART station.  We started with about ten adventurers and as the momentum increased, we gained more energy, creative inspiration, and people.  In the beginning, many pedestrians stopped by us, paused briefly out of curiousity, and for the most part remained rather perplexed by our so-called 'deviant' behavior.  However, after we chalked up some cheerful colors and phrases on the beautiful red stones in the area, people came over just to take a peek and see what adults chalkers really do.  Folks came by with cameras. Small children pointed at us and tugged the hands of their parents to have them take a look.  This one particular man in a suit came out of the station, appearing as if he had had an exhausting day.  Yet, he managed to trudge a bit closer to us to read the ... Read Full Story >>

Footprints of Love

I have been blessed with opportunity in my life, and it took the near-death of my dad to make me realize that my purpose in life is to help others. My dad was diagnosed with leukemia in 1998 and watching the pain and treatment that he endured inspired me to be a more kind and giving person.  It was like a smack in the face as I woke up one morning and realized life is just too short and it was time for me to make some changes – do the things in life that I wanted to do without making excuses why I couldn’t do them, or telling myself that I had plenty of time to do things. Well, you never know when your hourglass will run out of sand.  The time was now. My dad needed a bone marrow transplant. He was given a procedure in which he was able to reuse ... Read Full Story >>

Life is Like a Bank Account

This story is about a 92 year old, petite, well-poised and proud lady. She is fully dressed each morning by eight, with her hair fashionable coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind. She is moving to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. "I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight year old having just been presented with a new puppy. "Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room yet.  Just wait." "That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness is something ... Read Full Story >>

A New Old Friend

My daughter and I have recently moved across the country to the West Coast. I know no-one here other than my sister and her husband. I started feeling a little lonley and missing my friends and family back east. I have now started to go back to college and have been enjoying getting the education I should have gotten long ago. I'm an extrovert and I love to talk, that's why I enjoy going to school so much because it gives me the opportunity to meet new and different people. I think you learn the most from people and life experiences. I love talking with and learning about people from different walks of life, different religions, and age groups. Children and the elderly are the most interesting to me. Children look at everything with eyes full of wonder. The elderly have been there, done most of it, and can tell you all about it. You can learn so ... Read Full Story >>

Stranger On The Train

I had to visit my sister in another town because her husband was very ill. My whole family could not go because school was in session. My children stayed back in their father's care, except for the youngest, who was just a year old. I was nervous taking a train journey alone with my daughter. I knew that I had to go, so I gathered all my courage and boarded the train. After waving goodbye to my husband, I settled down. There were three other passengers in that compartment. Two of them were quite elderly, while one was a young man. My daughter was crying, missing her dad. I tried to console her, but to no avail. I tried giving her water, then some biscuits, but her crying would not cease. By this time I was getting worried about the disturbance being caused to the others. One of the oldies was ... Read Full Story >>

Just 2 Quarters Worth Of Kindness

This morning there was a young man roaming the campus. He comes from one of the half-way drug rehab/mental illness houses on the surrounding streets. He's quiet, polite, and I think very lonely, and bored. I saw him earlier standing at the soda vending machines, jiggling change in his pockets. It appeared he didn't have enough money for a soda at $1.50. I returned from the adjacent building and he was bending down and looking for dropped change under the vending machines. Nothing to be found. I asked him how much money he needed and he replied "just 2 quarters". I reached into my pocket and magically, I had 2 lonely little quarters in my pocket. Gave it to him and he got his Dr. Pepper and flashed me the biggest smile. I asked him what he was going to eat for lunch. He said they have food back at ... Read Full Story >>

Helping a Person in Need

A homeless person was begging in a shopping mall for money and food. He asked me as well, and at first I declined.  

Then, he asked me if I was going to the grocery store located below, and that gave me a thought.  I went back to find him, and when I finally did, I offered to buy him food from the grocery store.  

I went shopping with this guy. He said to me that hadn't eaten for 2 days.  He also mentioned that he might get an appartement from an organization in my country that provides help and guidance to those in need.  

I said to him that he could buy for 5 euro and he did. He bought a loaf of bread, some yoghurt, cheese to put on the bread and some chocolate.

Even though the chocolate made the total a little over 5 euro, I couldn't lelt him put it back and told him to take what he wanted. 

He was so glad I did this for him and was so thankfull! 

Greetings,

Cirrus

Angels Of The Rest Area

  Years ago, when my daughter was an infant, I was traveling alone cross-country to join my husband.    I had a small sports car crammed full of household items, clothing, and one baby car-seat.    After driving for many miles, in an attempt to drive straight through, I was tired and needed to stop for a bathroom break.   The rest area was mostly deserted, on an isolated stretch of Interstate highway. I parked the car and carried my infant daughter, in her car-seat, into the restroom. Coming out again I saw a middle-aged couple hanging around. It turned out they were waiting for us!    The lady said, "We wanted to wait for you to come out and see you safely back into your car. Sometimes rest areas can be an unsafe place for a young lady.  We have a daughter almost your age and we wanted to make sure you got safely back on your way".   I ... Read Full Story >>

The Hobbling Homeless Man

I was shopping in town when I saw a man aged about 30 hobbling down the road. He didn't have any possessions with him but I guessed he was homeless and that he seemed to have pain in his leg.  I watched him for a few minutes but was unable to help that day.   All that evening I thought about him and wondered about his life and his story. Going to bed I decided that if our paths crossed again I would help him.   I saw him the very next day! He stopped and asked a young woman in front of me for some cash. She looked surprised and not very happy to be stopped. She gave him a few coins.   I carried on walking behind and saw him drop the money into a charity box.   I quickly went to the cash machine to get some money whilst trying to watch where he went.   With cash ... Read Full Story >>

Teaching Kindness, Staying Kind

The other day I decided to teach my son about the power of small acts of kindness.  He had won some lollies in a prize machine in the local supermarket, so I asked him if he would like to share his win with the next child that walks past.  He was hesitant because he is a shy young man but said yes after I encouraged him a bit. A father and his child were nearby.  I approached the father and asked if my son could give his daughter a lolly that he had won.  The father looked at me sideways and was unsure what to say.  I further explained how I was coaching my son about the power of kindness.  Eventually he said it was okay. We approached his daughter ... who wouldn’t accept the lollies!  She too was looking at us sideways with uncertainty!  At this stage my son was rather ... Read Full Story >>

A Professor's Unforgettable Motto

I was priviledged to join a college which not only created an environment for attaining professional qualification but also ensured that each and every student left the college an all-rounded individual. Most of the colleges in my country were commercially oriented and students tended to come in, have their lectures and off they went.  The lecturers in the college I attended always embraced higher ideals and many of the kids coming straight from high school would dread this college on the basis that it was strict. It was no bother to me anyway and I often looked forward to my college days. One of the lecturers, in particular, captured my attention most, not because of his tutorial skills but by the way he would always walk and leave no dirt or paper behind him. He would always bend over and pick any piece of paper lying on the floor and throw it to the nearest dustbin. On ... Read Full Story >>