Search Results for 'popular' (3613 matches)

Smile Cards Take Australia By A Storm

On Sunday 30th of September 2007 over 70 beautiful people in my life (family and friends) staged a Random Act of Kindness Project in our local community. We distributed over 600 SMILE cards on the day and the project is now set to be an annual event!   The day was perfect and we had plenty of volunteers. Over 30 businesses and individuals sponsored and donated and supported in one way or another. The day started off with a brief welcome from me, followed by a poem written by my 9 year old son about Random Acts of Kindness. He read this out aloud for all volunteers to hear which surely got everyone into the spirit of things! My gorgeous fiancé Steven took the reigns and lead the day.   We surprised our community with a free car and window wash, coffee, balloons, sweets, biscuits, gift vouchers, BBQ and lawn mowing. We also fed the homeless, visited local rest homes ... Read Full Story >>

A Tail Waggin Way Of A Blessing

Last week, I was out getting the mail and noticed a dog crossing the street that looked oddly familiar. I went near the dog to see if it had a tag or if I recognized it to see if I could find the owner. When I got close to the dog, I realized that it was the same dog that my neighbors had lost 4 years ago. A few months ago, these neighbors moved out of my neighborhood, but that was not going to stop me finding them! I remebered they moved to Minnesota. I spent the rest of the day searching all of the people with their last name in the Minnesota area.  Finally when I was starting to give up hope, I called the last number.  I couldn't' believe it, it was them!   I told them of how I found their dog that went missing 4 years ago.  They thought it ... Read Full Story >>

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.

A Rainy Day At The Carwash

One rainy cold day, I decided I didn't care anymore if it had been raining all week, I just wanted my car clean. Besides, if it was nice and I had it washed, it surely would rain anyway!   I went to the carwash around 1 p.m. and sat there a minute before a young attendant came out.  He seemed somewhat dejected.   After I pulled out of the carwash, I didn't get far before a thought occurred to me -- I had a bag of homemade cookies; they were meant to be for a friend but knowing the compassionate nature of my friends, I figured he would understand.  So I immediately made a "U'ey" and pulled back into the carwash.  The attendant seemed even more surprised to see me, again!   With a big smile, I handed him the cookies and the card that said "SMILE, you have been tagged" and he got a huge smile ... Read Full Story >>

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 >>

Paying-It-Forward In "The Chain Of Life"

In June 2009 the New Jersey Star-Ledger ran a series called "The Chain of Life" about kidney donation chains. These are enabled by one non-related donor giving a kidney to a recipient whose donor (usually a relative) was not compatible. That non-compatible donor then donates to someone else in the same position and thus four or six people could receive new kidneys.  I decided I could do that. I contacted the National Kidney Registry and started a six month process that ended with my donating a kidney to a doctor who had been on home dialysis for two years. I didn't know his identity until several months later when we had a very meaningful and emotional introduction. His wife donated her kidney, the same day as our surgery, to someone else, whose donor donated theirs to someone else on the other side of the country! The surgery lasted two hours; I was ... Read Full Story >>

Hats For The Homeless

A true kindness soul! ❤️Bless this man.

 A 91-year-old man fighting cancer is knitting warm hats for the homeless while bedridden in hospice care. Despite being weak and frail, with a mass on his kidney, Morrie Boogart, has knitted more than 18,000 hats.

Paid in Full with One Glass Of Milk

One day, a poor boy  who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry.  He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However,he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it so slowly, and then asked, "How much do I owe you?" "You don't owe me anything," she replied. "Mother has taught us never to accept pay for kindness."  He said, "Then I thank you from the bottom of my heart." As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in humanity grew stronger as well.  He had been ready to give up ... Read Full Story >>

Comforting a Child

Yesterday I finished my second leg of backpacking. I was extremely tired but very thankful. After my train from Slovenia, I took what was supposed to be a 6 hour bus ride, which turned out to be 9 hours, down to Croatia's coast.

In front of me on the bus was a little 4 year old girl and her grandmother. Hours passed by and eventually the child got fed up with being on the bus. The child wouldn't stop crying and I could tell everyone else was fed up as now they couldn't sleep, and everyone (including me) was tired.

I realized I had downloaded a bunch of games on my tablet for my little cousins. I started talking to the child and her grandmother and offered the child my tablet to play a few games. Eventually the tears stopped, she played some games and even fell asleep a while after.

Free and simple kindness is awesome. Check out some of Croatia's scenery driving along old roads :)

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 >>

Take A Smile

My husband was away on detachment with the Royal Air Force. My parents were away too and although I have some good friends on this particular day I felt totally alone. 

Mending Hearts One at a Time

I visit with patients at a local hospital to talk. I am part of a cardiac support group called Mended Hearts. To belong to Mended Hearts and to visit patients you must have had a cardiac problem. I had a heart attack a while ago and by spending time with cardiac patients I can offer comfort and advice as to what I went through which offers some help to people who are about to undergo surgery or are recovering. It is very gratifying as so many patients appreciate the visit. - Mike 

What I Want on My Birthday

I'm a Director overseeing 5 departments, at work. Last Friday was my birthday. After lunch, I walked with my administrative assistant over to the cafeteria to get a soda only to find all of my staff currently on shift was there, waiting for me. They got me a cake and made my whole afternoon better. I choked up a bit when they sang me happy Birthday.

I know it's late - but here's what I ask of everyone each year for my birthday (from my post on FB):

"My birthday message is the same as last year: For my Birthday this year, I once again ask for something from each of you. Do something nice for somebody today. Stranger, friend, I don't care. Just something nice with no need of a reward or thank you. No need to tell me, I'd rather not know. That feeling afterward? That's my gift to you"

 

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."

My Neighbor's Encounter With Death

My neighbor was diagnosed with Leukemia.  He was told that he didn't have many days to live. While most would get depressed, he was as happy as ever!  I was confused and decided to ask him why. He was gardening when I finally asked the question.  With a smile, he responded, "Why be angry at the world when we are blessed with the knowledge of our death?  Why not embrace it give back something to our society?" The next day, I read in the newspaper that he was among the many who volunteered to help out the poverty stricken people in South Africa. He was already packing when I entered his house.  He said he want to go and enjoy the last few moments of his life helping people.   With his usual wisdom, he also noted, "It's better to live a life happily in the short amount of time then to live a ... Read Full Story >>

Wings of Joy Shared

My elderly neighbor, who is housebound, has always enjoyed watching birds. Since she is no longer able to get close to nature, I brought the birds closer by hanging a hummingbird feeder from a hook off her home's gutter edge, where she could see it well.

Now that the hummingbirds have migrated to warmer climates for the approaching winter, I will replace the hummingbird feeder with a sunflower-hearts seed feeder, designed for perching birdsonly. That way, there will be no mess and my neighbor can enjoy the various birds, such as chickadees, finches, etc. We are so blessed to be able to share these gifts with our feathered friends. Their wings uplift us to much joy!

The Lady in The Antique Stall

I visited an Antiques market this weekend. A friend of mine needed to buy items for her house. I often enjoy looking at all those beautiful 'old' things, love to imagine who used them and what they were used for. I noticed a very fragile lady who had her stall nearby.

I watched for a while (always do...observe). I decided to go and talk to her. Most people I observed only asked for prices and bargained, many left without even saying thank you. I felt she needed 'more'. I always try to talk to people who seem sad or lonely.

We talked about her stall, I asked her about her items and a bit of the story behind some of them, told her about some of my Grandma and Mum's collections, etc. She was so kind and tender, her face changed, smiled a lot, and thanked me dearly for spending time with her. I was even more delighted!

An Umbrella to Brighten a Day

On my way to work I would see this older man sitting beside the road and waving at everyone who passed by. I noticed that he sat there every day even if it was raining or very hot outside.  
 
One day while going to work I remembered that I had a beach umbrella at my house, so I turned around, got the umbrella, and took it to him. He was so happy and for about another six months I saw him sitting beside the road waving at people from under the umbrella. 
 
I later found out that the man had passed away, but I hope that the umbrella made his days more pleasant while he was making everyone else's days more pleasant.
 

Surprised by Smile

I was walking to a literary event in a cool autumn night in San Francisco. Ahead of me, a homeless-looking man, maybe in his 60s, was pushing an empty shopping cart on the sidewalk in my direction. He pushed the cart left and right, seeming to intentionally block the pedestrians. The pedestrian walking ahead of me avoided him. My heart raced. As I was about to walk to the side too, the cart-pushing man stopped and spoke loudly, "You can't pass by me without a smile!" I happened to be standing right there, surprised. I smiled. He gave me a big child-like smile! Or maybe it was him who smiled first. We looked at each other, eyes to eyes, as we passed by, smiling. We were both innocent kids again. Before he walked across the street, he turned and said,
"Have a great night!"
"You too!" I said.

A large dose of happy juice was shot into the chambers of my heart and then pumped out traveling all the way to my toes. Magic is everywhere if we allow it to happen.

Anything helps!

I was just stopping by the grocery store yesterday when I saw a guy outside with a sign that said, "Anything helps". As I turned my car around and he was just about to pack up and leave. I asked what he needed in the store. He asked for a can of ravioli. I picked him up ravioli, spaghetti, and beef stroganoff in the car. He seemed to be appreciative when I gave them to him.