Search Results for 'popular' (3613 matches)

Magnetically Attracting Kindness

I found a twenty dollar bill on the ground the other day. I've been on a tighter than usual budget the last month so thanked my lucky stars for the opportunity to spend more on others. First few bucks were spent opportunistically: anonymously adding to the funds of an older man who went into a gas station counting bills and asking for ten dollars if gas. That kind of thing.   Last night I walked down the street after work and saw a woman selling a newspaper published for homeless folks. She also had some fridge magnets for sale. "What's your most popular magnet?" I asked. "Oh, probably the Bob Marley. This John Coltrane one is really nice too," she said. "I'm surprised it hasn't gone yet. They're five dollars each."   I counted the remains of the cash. "Here's nine dollars," I said.   "Which one would you like?"    "I don't need one myself, but the next person that ... Read Full Story >>

Advice From An Old Man

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and face shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready. As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window. "I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. "Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait." "That doesn' t have anything to do with it," he replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't ... Read Full Story >>

One Scary Man

I know that the title is little curious. But the scary homeless man is even more curious. I have lived in Mayport Florida for about three years. Every day, leaving work, coming home and running errands, I pass this homeless man with two shopping baskets full of his treasures.  Except for about 2-3 months of the year (and I'm not sure where he goes during that time), he is always around, never to be missed. Anyhow, the reason I call him a scary man is because my son and I are often together when we see this man and he's always talkin to him self and staring at people with an awkward look. He talks loud and much of what he says does not make sense. With his two carts filled to the top, he's there just talking away.  It's intimidating. My wife and I are always talking about his misfortune and how ... Read Full Story >>

The Original Warm Fuzzy Tale

Once upon a time, a long time ago there lived two very happy people called Tim and Maggi with their two children, John and Lucy. To understand how happy they were you have to understand how things were in those days. You see, in those happy days everyone was given, at birth, a small soft Fuzzy Bag. Anytime a person reached into this bag he was able to pull out a Warm Fuzzy. Warm Fuzzies were very much in demand because whenever somebody was given a Warm Fuzzy it made him feel warm and fuzzy all over. People who didn't get Warm Fuzzies regularly were in danger of developing a sickness in their backs which caused them to shrivel up and die. In those days it was very easy to get Warm Fuzzies. Anytime that somebody felt like it, he might walk up ... Read Full Story >>

The Kindness Wave and the Hopeful Tears

I want to share my tears with you. Now I know we've been here before with my pain and you have all given me love and support but today it's different. You see, as I sit and type this, this morning tears are running down my face, my nose is running and my heart is very active. All of this is good though. Let me explain.  My tears today are activated by joy, love, inspiration so many other positive emotions. I have been reading inspirational stories. Stories that have had a big pull on my heart. These include the latest stories I will share briefly with you: The police department who responded to an 80+  elderly man  who asked if someone would bring him food as he hadn't eaten in 2 days because his care-worker had scammed him out of his money.  4 or 5 policemen bought him grocery supplies out of their own pocket ... Read Full Story >>

Shopping In The Rain

Today it was raining really hard. When I went to the grocery store, all of the Shopping Carts were dripping wet. I managed to find a paper towel and wipe it down and off I went to do my shopping.

I only picked up a few items and was on my way out of the store. As I walked out I noticed a Mom struggling as she came through the store doors with a baby in her arms. It was raining so hard outside she was running in.  I quickly said she could use my cart as it was dry and she could put the baby in right away instead of looking for something to dry a cart off with. I just grabbed my bags of groceries out of the cart -- they were light -- and I ran off to my car without a cart.   The mom was very grateful to me for helping her out.

I felt happy knowing I was able to offer her my shopping cart and was able to help her with her little baby.

Be on the look out for opportunities.  They're everywhere, even when you're grocery shopping in the rain!

A True Santa Who Changed Our Lives

Shortly after my divorce, I had to quit my management job and take a factory job so I could spend more time with my three kids. I was only making 1/5 of what I was and things were getting really tight.  But I have never asked anyone for anything; my pride wouldn't allow it. I didn't really know how I was going to continue making ends meet. To make it worse, Christmas was coming up and I couldn't even afford a tree or any gifts for my children. I was behind on rent and the light bill was past due. I don't know where it came from or from who, but one day when I returned home from work, I was totally amazed. I just started crying and I couldn't stop.  Someone had delivered so much stuff to my house. Gifts for all three children. Clothes, School supplies, toys. Enough ... Read Full Story >>

The Traffic Warden's Toes

I was recently on a working trip to Mumbai. One evening I took an autorickshaw home from work. It was around 6 p.m. and there was heavy rush hour traffic. Because of this the rickshaw was traveling at a snail's pace. I was lost in my own thoughts, thinking about the day's events, when a Mumbai police traffic warden materialized as if from nowhere. He ran alongside the rickshaw and slapped the driver three times, quite violently, across his face.    I was shocked by this sudden turn of events! I asked the driver to take the rickshaw to one side of the street and stop. I asked if he was hurt and he said his eyes were sore because of the slap. Other than that, he said, he was fine.    I asked what had happened. He said that, by mistake, he had  run over the traffic wardens shoes. I told him he should ... Read Full Story >>

The Gypsy Flower Boy

In 2000, I was on holiday with my friends on the  island of Corfu, Greece. One night we were walking along the main road that was lined on both sides with bars and nightclubs and it was very late maybe 11:30pm.  I noticed that there were children walking along in front of me and I thought, "It is late for children to be up and about," but then I noticed that they were gypsy children, young girls and boys selling roses, or trying to sell roses to drunk tourists and gangs of girls out for the night! I felt sad when I saw one boy, probably no older than 8 or 9, trying to sell theflowers to the passers by and getting polite and sometimes agressive responses from the people that thronged the street. "Where were his parents and what was he doing out at this time," I thought.  I just ... Read Full Story >>

Thank You For Caring When No One Else Did

My friend who I caught up with last night shared this story with me: My friend lived in an apartment that overlooked a busy street in sn inner city. On Christmas Eve, from her window she saw a woman, alone, upset and in distress. She went out and down to the street and asked if she was okay. My friend could see that all was not well. She invited the woman into her apartment, and the woman asked if she could shower. My friend said she could, gave her a fresh towel, and clean pajamas to wear. The woman showered.  About an hour later, she emerged. She said she was alone in the city and had nowhere to stay. My friend said that she could stay on the couch for the night. My friend felt that being late on Christmas Eve, it would be impossible to get social agency assistance, and it ... Read Full Story >>

Yard Sale Blessing

I passed by a yard sale and decided to stop and see what the lady was selling. The woman selling her belongings began to tell me about how hard times were for her. She was an elderly lady with numerous health problems.

I wanted so much to buy something from her because I could tell she was having a hard time financially. I was expecting to spend a few dollars until she mentioned to me that she had to take gas out of her sister's lawnmower to put in her car to get to the yard sale location. That broke my heart.

At that moment I knew I had to do all I could to help her. I asked her what all of her stuff would be worth that she was trying to sell to which she replied " $75.00."

I gave her the money and asked her to donate the items that she did not want to Goodwill. She began to cry and thanked me ever so much. That made my day. It felt good to be able to help her out.



 

What's In The Bag?

Sometimes I am witness to acts of selfless generosity that are nearly invisible and done with no thought that anyone would see them other than the person to whom the act is directed. Here's an example.It comes from our little artist breakfast group that we host every week. Taya, who is a remarkable artist, is moving to New Mexico. She's 75 and has decided she wants to start a new chapter in her life. So she has just completed the purchase of a property in a tiny community in New Mexico where she knows no one. She is leaving Oakland where she has lived for perhaps 25 or 30 years and, of course, leaving her circle of friends. This in itself is astonishing. One of our group, Edythe, had mentioned [only mentioned] how she is fond of the beauty of coins, not for their monetary value, but just for their beauty. This morning ... Read Full Story >>

Giving Flowers That Give In Return

My husband and I were at a discount grocery store waiting in line.  We were behind a mother and her boy who was probably about seven years old. She had a beautiful purple bouquet in her basket. The flowers brought a smile to my face. I remarked to the lady how lovely her flowers were and she said her son picked them out. He just beamed at the compliment so I asked if he would like to pick some out for me.  He was off like a shot down the aisle to pick out a bouquet for me. When he returned he was so obviously pleased at having done a two-fold good job:  picking out nice flowers and helping an "old lady."  When I thanked him, he said a very loud and clear "You're welcome." So, by then Mama is beaming at her helpful polite son who feels great about doing a good deed. ... Read Full Story >>

Husband's Act Of Kindness A Week Before Holidays After Losing His Job

We have had bad news this week, my husband was made redundant (laid off/no job anymore) from his job on Tuesday. I am thankful we are better off than most, and will be able to stretch our finances until he finds another job.

Amongst all of my stress, trying to stay strong for both of us...my husband gave me $100 cash and said "go on, go out and buy some coffee cards and Subway cards, lets take them to the hospital for the staff, they work hard" My eyes filled with tears, and I was so proud of my husband. I don't often have to say we can't do things because we need the money ourselves, but that was my first thought. He said "we will be okay, we need to look outwards not inwards" what a very special man.

Down In The Dumps

Very recently, I have had to move from my home and have been living in a hotel room with my son who is 17, my sister and her two children ages 4 and 8.  

Times have been hard and I have been still going to work and pretending every day that it is no big deal, that we will get through this.  But today I was really down until I logged on to this site .... and read everyone's stories!  It just brightened up my day.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank each and everyone  for their acts of kindness.

Even though times are hard for me right now, I am still going everyday to help my mother who has colon cancer and try to help others with their problems.  Compared to some others, my problems are not so terrible.

Thanks for reminding me.

Making Over A Room With Love And Kindness

I wrote earlier about my gift home makeover project - Etseth and I would like to tell you about a very special family that I have recently done a makeover for! The mum of this family, was a victim of severe domestic abuse 12 years ago. After years of the being subjected to violence, she summoned enough courage to leave, she moved from England to Wales with her three children and moved into a woman’s refuge. Further down the line, she met someone, got married and they eventually had two more children.  Their two oldest have moved out so they are left with three children who are 14,11 and 9 years old. My project was to plaster the lounge/dining room. Whilst I was doing this project, their oldest daughter returned from serving in Afghanistan. Unbeknownst to the family, the daughter had spent lots of her army pay to take the family away for a 2 week holiday. As the ... Read Full Story >>

No Better Time Than Now To Be Happy

"We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we're frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We'll certainly be happy when they're out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that ... Read Full Story >>

Moved By The Tears Of A Mother, She Helped A Boy From Further Being Bullied

I was talking with a mother of a young teenager and she was telling me how bad it was for her son at school because he is in a school uniform that doesn't fit as he's outgrown it, but since her husband and she both lost their jobs in the last couple of years and have been searching and interviewing persistently, I know for a fact that they just can't afford a new one. She wiped away tears as she told me that she is slowly trying to buy a new shirt, then trousers, then it will be the blazer and then shoes. I know her well enough to know that she was not manipulating me for sympathy or help, she's never asked for anything from me, ever. She was just telling me the honest truth. I felt moved to go to the bank and come back with a bit of ... Read Full Story >>

Heaven and Hell Story

A man spoke with the God about heaven and hell. The God said to the man, "Come, I will show you hell."

They entered a room where a group of people sat around a huge pot of stew. Everyone was famished, desperate and starving. Each held a spoon that reached the pot, but each spoon had a handle so much longer than their own arm that it could not be used to get the stew into their own mouths. The suffering was terrible.

"Come, now I will show you heaven," the God said after a while. They entered another room, identical to the first -- the pot of stew, the group of people, the same long-handled spoons. But there everyone was happy and well-nourished. "I don't understand," said the man. "Why are they happy here when they were miserable in the other room and everything was the same?"

The God smiled, "Ah, it is simple," he said. "Here they have learned to feed each other."

60 Day Challenge for 60th Birthday Gift!

Along the lines of celebrating my 60th birthday with a 60 day kindness challenge, I got the greatest birthday surprise from my daughters. When they asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I said, "please do a kindness act for someone in my honor" They took it WAYYYYY farther. They contacted all my friends and family members and asked them to do the same thing I had asked of them, as my birthday present. Then they asked them to write to them after they had done their 'act' and tell them what they had done. They also asked their friends to do the same. On my birthday, I was presented with a gorgeous scrapbook filled with pictures and all the kindness acts written out in their own words, telling me what they had done and how it made them feel. The 'acts' ran the gamut from donating frequent flyer miles so someone ... Read Full Story >>