Ever year, we are amazed by every-day stories of kindness, compassion, warmth, and love that fills this space with inspiration and hope. We are grateful for having such an amazing community to grow together with and spread ripples of kindness throughout the world. Here are the top 10 stories of 2012!
My Sneaky Mirror of Kindness
High school is always full of girls who have little self-confidence and lots of negative thoughts relating to self-image. so, one lunch break, I did something to help!
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Finding A Job When You Least Expect It So I haven't held a job since April of 2011 due to multiple health issues. I currently draw disability but am having trouble finding money at the end of the month so I decided I would look for a partime job.
I have been applying, interviewing, etc since July with no prospects. I haVe been told mostly that I am overqualified, or they need fulltime etc. I had been getting pretty discouraged. I started my randomn act of kindness way back in February for me personally, not to get anything back but a good feeling. With no job prospects and with the winter coming meaning higher utility costs etc I had been feeling pretty down and gloomy. I was actually asking myself why cant someone be kind enough to take me on as an employee. [More]
The Gift of Acceptance As she was waiting for her clothes to dry, an elderly woman sat silently on the bench and mumbled to herself. At first I thought that she may have a mental illness as she was shabbily dressed and simply sat mumbling. Her soft yet repetitve words seemed to have annoyed everyone and people sitting nearby moved away from her as many do homeless people. Some had even asked the woman on duty if she could be removed.
I sat on the bench beside her and glanced over, prepared to smile...but she did not look my way. So we sat together waiting for clothes to dry and we said not a word to each other. Yet she continued her "mumbling" that actually seemed to lull me into a quiet and peaceful place. [More]
A Young Boy's Groceries
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I stopped at a grocery store the other day because I was about to go on a long drive and I wanted to buy my favorite beverage for the trip. It wasn't the store I normally go to, just one I passed along the way
As I walked up to the entrance, I noticed a man and a boy who was about 10 or 12 years old standing at the front of the store. Customers walked past, as the man handed them half-sheets of white paper. I walked up to them with curiosity, wondering what cause they were representing. As I got closer, I saw that they had two carts starting to fill with groceries. [More]
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3 Years Later, A Smile Card Seed Sprouts
"Three years! I've had this card in my wallet for three years!" He sounded both elated and relieved...
*The setup* - I'm flagged down while walking by a table in a restaurant where I serve. I hadn't been serving this table, but they wanted something with me anyway, so I went over. A young couple sat at the table, looking at me with intention."Are you serving those two women in the other room?" they said, gesturing to one of my tables. I confirmed, yes. "Well, we'd like to pay for their bill, anonymously," they offered tentatively. "Can you do that for us?". [More]
Learning Kindness From My Father 
When I was 12 years old, I went with my dad to his work - a car showroom. I was wondering around and I saw a poor woman with a child in her lap standing outside the showroom. I saw that she was crying a lot and went inside and told my father. My father went out and asked the woman to come in to the showroom. He offered her some water and then asked her what was wrong?
The woman said that her husband had died some months ago and that she doesn’t have anyone else in her family who can help her. She does some manual labor to earn some money to take care of her daughter but she was sick for the last three days and was unable to go to work. Now she doesn’t have a grain of food to eat. While she was relating this story to my father, she was unable to control her emotions and started crying again. My father and I were deeply moved by her story. [More]
Where is Jeremy's Egg
Jeremy was born with a twisted body, slow mind, and chronic terminal illness that had been slowly killing him throughout his young life. Still, his parents had tried their best to give him as normal of a life as posible and sent him to St. Theresa's Elementary school.
At the age of 12, Jeremy was only in second grade, seemingly unable to learn. His teacher, Doris often became exasperated with him. He would often disturb the class by squirming in his seat. drooling, and making grunting noises.
Sometimes, he spoke clearly and distinctly, as if a spot of light had penetrated the darkness of his brain. Most of the time, he just irritated his teacher. One day, Dorris called his parents and asked them to come to St. Theresa's for a consultation. [More]
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My friends decided that I needed to get out at least once a week and so we started going for coffee. Those friends helped me get through that terrible first year and still continue to help me.
We decided that we would try and help people when we could. So, we take a collection each week and then decide what to do with it. We have paid for breakfasts, helped an elderly man fill his oil tank, bought Christmas gifts for needy families , helped fire victims, and sometimes just sent flowers to someone who was feeling blue.
We usually do this in a way that no one knows and that makes it even better. [More]
A Spontaneous Opportunity to Truly Teach My Children About Generosity
My kids and I were heading into the superstore over the weekend. On the way, we spotted a man wrapped in a blanket and holding a sign that said, "Lost my job. Family to Feed".
At this store, a sight like this is not a normal occurrence. It was obvious the man was embarrassed, but desperate. My 10-year-old noticed him commented on how bad it must be to have to stand outside in the cold wind.
While we were in the store, I asked each of the kids (I have seven :) to pick something they thought our 'friend' outside would appreciate. They picked a couple apples, a package of shrimp cocktail, a sandwich, some cheese and a bottle of juice.[More]
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Out of all the afterschool programs offered in their school, three energetic 11-13 year old girls chose to join this one. The “Random Acts of Kindness Class”, the first of its kind, was an innovative experiment, offering children the opportunity to use their creativity and artwork to inspire their school and community by doing random acts of kindness. A few weeks ago, I spent an unforgettable afternoon with these girls and their inspiring teacher, learning about their semester long adventure…
- Posted by HelpOthers
- Jan 1, 2013
- Comments (4)
