Search Results for 'popular' (3455 matches)

Bank of Candy

It was such a nice day today, with storms expected tomorrow, so I put the laundry on hold and treated my adopted mom to lunch. <3

We walked around the entire mall, and I found a bank of candy machines that I filled with quarters. :) My mom said she had never seen anyone do anything like that!

You All Are Heroes!

I just wanted to thank all of you for spreading so much of joy and goodness in this world. It might sound cliche, but through your stories, I came to realize that there is so much we can do to make people happy and touch their lives in a special way. You all have made me more sensitive. I have started appreciating the small joys in my life. In short, your stories have made me forget my sorrows and helped me become a much happier and better person.

I love you all because everyone visiting this website is a true hero. Please take care of yourselves and others and keep the wheel of kindness moving!!

A big thanks goes to the people behind this website for taking the initiative and giving us such a good opportunity to become more humane.

Dont Worry Be Happy

This is one of the happiest songs I have ever heard -- Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry, Be Happy.  Every time I'm down, I listen to this and I wanna share my happiness with you all.  Here's the video and below it are the lyrics to the song: Don't Worry, Be Happy Performed by Bobby McFerrin Here is a little song I wrote You might want to sing it note for note Don't worry be happy In every life we have some trouble When you worry you make it double Don't worry, be happy...... Ain't got no place to lay your head Somebody came and took your bed Don't worry, be happy The land lord say your rent is late He may have to litigate Don't worry, be happy Lood at me I am happy Don't worry, be happy Here I give you my phone number When you worry call me I make ... Read Full Story >>

Tedi the Love Clown

I go to the Hospital every Saturday, in my bright costume, and long eyelashes,and an august clown face.  I hand the patient a 4" Love Pillow.. hand made by myself, and a couple of friends.

I say, "This is a Love Pillow, It is to remind you that you have a Heavely Comforter,

God is still in charge, you know,

And He loves you so much,

He knows what your needs are even before you ask.

He will never leave you, He loves you with an Unending Love,  And I love you too !!!"

--Tedi the Love Clown

I have been clowning for 24 years now, and this has been my most important experience.  I see between 80 and 120 patients each week and wouldn't miss it for the life in me.

Three Strings of Itzhak Perlman

Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, and so he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches. To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully and slowly, is an awesome sight. He walks painfully, yet majestically, until he reaches his chair. Then he sits down, slowly, puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play. By now, the audience is used to this ... Read Full Story >>

Aren't We All Family?

I noticed elderly man was wobbly on his feet and was trying to steady himself by grabbing at a bush outside the rest area facility, but then sort of slowly collapsed to the concrete sidewalk as another bystander. My husband and I ran to his aide. Thankfully, he didn't hit his head on the sidewalk! A few more of us gathered around, assessing the situation. I gave my cell phone to husband to call 911. It seemed lot happened all at once, but there were at least 4 or 5 of us by the man's side. <3 His wife was alerted (she had been walking their dog in the pet area) and then she brought his oxygen. Someone took his pulse; another cushioned his head. Waiting for the ambulance to get there, I held his hand and looked in his eyes. I patted his face and touched his forehead. I assured him that ... Read Full Story >>

Helping a Friend in Need

I have a friend who owns a coffee shop.  She has until Dec. 31 to pay some kind of tax to our city totalling $1,400 dollars. 

I felt so bad for her.  Owning her own coffee shop has always been Kim's dream.  In fact I still vividly remember the day she opened up her shop 3 years ago.  Nobody could have wiped the smile off her face!

I am an artist and have a card rack in her shop.  I told her to put a large sign on top of the rack saying, "Buy cards, all proceeds go to help Barefoot Annie's Coffee Shop."

Helping someone is the best feeling!

A Special Blessing That Lasted A Lifetime

Most of us have a few experiences each day that make us laugh or grin for a short period of time. If we are lucky, we may cross paths with something that makes us grin for a day or two. If we are truly blessed, somewhere on our path we are able to be part of something that will make us grin for the rest of our lives. I need to share such an event with you, with the hope that you would consider a similar project in your community. I am a building contractor from Lynchburg, Virginia. I have been volunteering with Greater Lynchburg Habitat For Humanity since our affiliate started in the late 1980’s. In the past 20 years, I have tried to give more to Habitat than I have received, but it is something I have not been able to accomplish. I have always said that if you look around, ... Read Full Story >>

Marvin's Prayer Book

A while back I started a prayer book for a very sick friend called Marvin. This morning I was collecting prayers and a man wrote something in Marvin's prayer book. Then he told me his story.    Like Marvin he too has cancer. He has been through chemotherapy three times. His cancer has returned after every chemo period and even a few surgeries. He is now stage 4 and terminal.   The reason I am sharing this is because he said all of this to me with a voice that was so hopeful. He seemed not concerned about his situation at all. Instead, he asked many questions about Marvin and even put his phone number in the prayer book for Marvin to call.   He said, "Tell Marvin, no matter what time of the day or night it is, he can call me. Tell him I want to hear from him in his darkest hour. You ... Read Full Story >>

A Boy's First Watch

I had gone to my bank (in Nigeria) to withdraw some money and was given a beautiful, blue, customized watch as a free gift.    As I left there, I thought to myself that I didn't need the watch. I was already wearing one! I thought that there were people who needed that watch more than me, people who had never worn one before.    My sister came around and I handed her the watch to give any of the boys who go around begging with their physically-disabled parents. My sister's hostel is very close to where they usually stay.    A few days later one of the boys, about 14 years old, came around my sister's lecture hall with his blind mother to beg for money as usual. My sister then walked up to him and asked him if he had a watch. He said, "No." And my sister gave the watch to him. She ... Read Full Story >>

An Unforgettable Taxi Stand Encounter

Recently, when I was waiting at a taxi stand, I noticed a young man engrossed in polishing shoes. I decided to get my shoes polished as well and as I was paying him I noticed on his left-hand some sort of old marking. That took me back to 2001 when I had, at this very taxi stand, consoled a boy who had an injury on his hand. 

The boy had told me that his step-mother had branded him with a hot iron because he had demanded more food. I had bought a chocolate for him and also two tins of shoe-polish and brushes because I was very supportive of his willingness to work and earn.

This time I paused just as I was about to pay him, looked deep into his eyes and asked him if he was Manoj. He raised his head, looked up at me and froze with moist eyes, refusing to accept my payment.  I, too, couldn't control my tears. I admired and complimented Manoj for his continued efforts to be independent and hardworking. I was very glad to learn that he was attending night school after he finished polishing shoes everyday -- that he was continuing to work hard to achieve his dreams.

A Name I Won't Forget

Tuesday night, at confession, Father gave me the usual penance: prayers. Then he hesitated and said, "I'm going to give you a second penance, a fun one, 'cause I know I can do this with you. You are to do an anonymous act of kindness for someone. It doesn't matter who it is, as long as they don't know about it." I decided to give a thank you card and a chocolate bunny to the cleaning woman at work. She's such a cheerful person and she does such a terrific job. The only problem was I didn't know her name! I asked my co-workers. None of them knew. I emailed my boss (I knew she would know), and as I was doing that, one of my co-workers started instant messaging everyone in the plant for her name. No one knew. It was pretty embarrassing for all of us! Finally, my coworker got a response from ... Read Full Story >>

A Different Kind of Pep Rally

A group of us decided to start a Kindness Pep Rally, where we hold signs with messages like, "Honk if you love someone," "You Are Awesome," "Kindness is Good for the Heart," and "Dont Give Up, Ok?" We are well into the third week of it, and still going strong! Our "Pep Squad" began two weeks ago with two friends, and today something amazing happened! An hour into our "Pep Rally," a total stranger stopped by to chat. During the conversation, the stranger revealed that her name was Amanda and that she had just moved to the area. She said that she was touched by what we were trying to accomplish.  "This may sound strange, but I believe that meeting you and seeing the amazing thing that you both are doing is a sign that I belong here in this city. I want to become part of this."  We shared that our next event would be holding signs that ... Read Full Story >>

Doing Something Out Of The Ordinary

I have just done something out of the ordinary, and it felt fantastic. 

I found myself with a couple of hours free and nothing to do so I  decided to go to a low cost supermarket and made up 3 bags of food costing about £10 each. I then proceeded to drive to a very deprived part of my town where I knocked on the three most shabby looking doors and waited.

Once the door was answered, I simply said: "I know things can be hard sometimes and we all need a little help, I hope this comes in handy." I handed over the shopping, smiled, turned around and walked away. The look on the people's faces was priceless. The food fed the people and the gesture fed my soul.

As always, "we make a living out of what we get but we make a life out of what we give!!"

 

Literally Giving Away the Shirt Off of My Back

I've been traveling through Southeast Asia for a few months now, and I've learned how to be a minimalist and carry only what I really need. I thought I had reduced my backpack down to the bare essentials after a few months, when a RAOK opportunity presented itself to me and proved me wrong. It was laundry day in the mid-sized Indonesian city I happened to be in, meaning I was down to my last shirt, the least flattering shirt of my seven day collection: a ratty conference t-shirt of a well-known American company I've worn a hundred times. It's a shirt I don't feel particularly flattering in, so I try to stay indoors and use it as an opportunity to have a quiet, indoor day. I hadn't thought anything of the shirt until a young Indonesian man staying at my guest house saw me and immediately took notice of the corporate ... Read Full Story >>

Pizza Delivery!

Today I did something I have never done before. I ordered delivery pizza for our neighbours at our back fence whom I don't know.

I've been watching them all as a family this past week (parents and teenage children) spend their weekends in the garden. Cutting trees, picking up rubbish, and doing such a big job. It has warmed my heart so much.

So as a nice treat on this hot day, I discovered their address and went down to the local pizza shop. I ordered 2 pizzas, coke, and garlic bread, and had it all delivered to them. I left no name except to tell them to have a nice day and that this was a random act of kindness.

So far this is the biggest act I have done. I love it. I really hope they felt loved today and I'm so glad that lunch was on me!

Dry Cleaner Excitement

I went to pick up my dry clean and paid for my bill. Then, I kindly said, I wanted to pay for someone else’s bill as an act of kindness today. The lady said you what? I repeated myself. Keep in mind she had a smile on her face and she was saying that is so nice of you to do. I started to tell her about Helpothers.org and showed her the Smile card. She just starts beaming with smiles. She said is this money from the website? I said no, the website gives us a place to share our stories and ideas with other people. She asked if this was a religious site. I said it’s a site for anyone that wishes to share acts of kindness with people all around the world. She said should I pick someone I know? I said that would be fine because I do not know them. She ... Read Full Story >>

Leaving the Door of Compassion Open

Two days ago I was woken up at 1 AM. My roomie stood at the door (she was returning from a club) along with a huge middle aged man with long hair.  "Please let him in", she told me, "He has been locked out of his apartment". She had seen him , cold and shivering (it had snowed the previous night) and immediately asked him to sleep at our place. He was a law student in his fifties who had been doing his homework at the laundromat when he found he had left his keys in his house. I'll be honest, I'm pretty square. I have never had a strange man sleep in my house before. My roommate and I are both less than 5 ft 3 and we have been asked to 'not speak to strangers' since we were kids.Not to mention we're in a new city that we have lived in ... Read Full Story >>

Waking Up to Cookies on My Car

Yesterday around 9:30 am, as I was going towards my car, I noticed something box like on my windshield. At first I thought I may have gotten a ticket from the cops, but as I approached closer, there was a box of delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies and a smile card! Thank you anonymous angel! Later in the day, I had to make a run to my local library to pay off some overdue fines and pick up a book that I had on hold. I decided to keep few cookies for my parents to enjoy, and took the rest for the volunteers and staff at the library. I approached the clerk at the counter to hand them the box of cookies. "A small gift and token of appreciation for the staff and volunteers. Would you mind putting them in the break room?" I asked. She replied, "Oh wow! Thank you! Why don't you at least ... Read Full Story >>

Frodo, Sam and the KindSpring Family

I’ve been thinking lately about my visits to the KS community, about how much I enjoy coming here and about the different types of messages which are posted here. I like to participate in some way too as I feel that it’s only fair to give as well as to receive encouragement from all of you however, I’m often at a loss as to what sort of thing to share. Should I post a pretty picture of a flower, an inspirational quote or should I tell a kindness story? When I first came to KindSpring I had recovered from depression and anxiety attacks, KS helped me to see beyond my immediate field of vision, and the inspirational stories of kindness renewed my outlook on life and the world in general. I had come from a period in my life which was pretty much summed up by these words from Tolkien which I ... Read Full Story >>