Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Emotion is stronger than the material

First of all , I should appologize for not sending any message in almost two weeks. Sorry and happy to be again with you - lovers of good.

Last week, I received a gift from a friend in Spain.  He sent me a mobile phone. I gave it to my wife as a gift ; she was very happy. The phone had to be decoded so I  sent it to shop to be repaired. That very night , the shop was robbed and all the mobiles were stolen.

When I told my wife, she was not upset at all.  She just said, "It was good of you to give me the mobile. You prefferred me over yourself. The mobile can be regained but the feeling you gave me is eternal."

The message I want to defuse based on this simple story is that things are not as strong as any small feeling or moral action.

Pay attention, my friends. Thank you.

Planting a seed

My friend and co-worker has been going through a period of difficulties in the last couple of months. I was sharing with my son all the difficulties my friend was going through.  A few days later, he called me and said the he and a few co-workers wanted to help and that a gift basket was ready along with a gift card for a food market for me to pick up and deliver.

I contacted my friend and met her at a cafe where I sponsored her dinner and presented her with the lovely gifts. She was sharing with me that she had just been thinking about me when I called her and that on her way over to the cafe she had been praying that she would find a way to have food in the house that weekend.

When she opened her card with the gift card she was blown away. I called my son to let him know that my friend was gratefully appreciative of the love poured onto her.

My son was relating this to his boss and they have decided to keep this going every month, again for my friend and then to other families. Their whole office is involved. Woo Hoo !

Patience is a virtue

Over the Christmas holidays my young boys were driving everyone in the house bonkers with their fighting, usually it's worst just before bedtime. Yesterday, at separate times of the day, I sat with each of my sons and told him "I love you".  A few hours later, I realised those words had been missing from my regular vocalbulary since the holidays started. I felt guilty.

With so much time to do things together, it's inevitable that friction happens.  It was kind of like coming up for air, when I said "I love you". My sons are more affectionate and calmer when they are around me now.  I know it won't last, but if I keep positive, patient and loving, then life will be a lot more peaceful.

Respect each other and yourself

Respect the people around you, too many times have I seen people walk by janitors, secretaries, custodians, cafeteria women, basically people they see everyday but take for granted. They walk by them even when they help you - simply walk by or just look at them and state "well it's their job, let them clean up my trash." Or whatever the situation may apply to. This even happens to me, and many others I am sure. I see people everyday not talk to people because of status, rank, or ego inflated stepstools. The popular girl at a party ignoring everyone who isnt a jock, men in high positions ignoring the poor and needy. The clearest example I see in my societal structure of a white 70% female, middle class, NOVA college is self-created boys and girls who elevate themselves to a status above normal people by dressing a certain way ... Read Full Story >>

A note of thanks

I know this old man who is considered crazy and cantankerous by almost everyone.He lives all alone (his adopted son died of cancer) in a remote place where he runs a flourishing accounting firm. He sends out a New Year Message to his colleague (my relation) every year in which he elaborates on his rather strong views which everyone laughs at.

This year my relation showed it to me and it seemed genuinely nice and he wrote about stuff like using your time to help others,etc. What really moved me was his email ID, which was his dead son's name.

Although I have never met him personally, I sent him a thank you note along with my friend. We even sent him links and files of rare texts that might interest him.

Goodwill for my neighbors

My next door neighbor’s 11 year old son just recently passed away from leukemia.  They had been dealing with it for about 2 years that we knew of.  He was a friendly boy, always waving to us as we worked in the yard or pulled drove by in the car. We tried to be as useful as possible, offering meals and buying inexpensive toys for the boy and the other children to keep them occupied as he was restricted to their home for the last few months or so. About 1 week after his funeral a letter came from the leukemia & Lymphoma Society asking me if I wanted to raise money for research in my neighborhood.  What a miracle I thought. So I ordered the package and set out to raise funds.  I was a little nervous at first because there were a couple of our neighbors that I hadn't met yet.  But ... Read Full Story >>

Walkathon for Orphans

$150,000 raised from the Walkathon!

I would like to thank everyone for coming out
today to the Copprome Walkathon. I can't
thank everyone enough! We had over 700 people
attend!

With the combined funds of SHH, CCC, and William and Mary team, at the event we raised at least $150,000!! This is amazing, all the hard work everyone has put in is remarkable! This money will be used to pay off land debts and begin self-sustainable programs at the Copprome orphanage.

Today I saw groups of people coming together for a great cause, to help save orphans. When you are performing a good and just cause help seems to come out of the woodwork and I saw that today.

I thank everyone soo much for donating, walking
and supporting the cause!

"Orphans walk miles a day to search the trash
dumps for leftover food, and rotten cabbage, to
eat and give to their younger siblings, today we
are walking in this walkathon so they dont have
to!" ~strider

~Strider

Costa Rican kindness

Recently, my family went on a 1-week trip to Costa Rica during the Christmas holiday.  The trip started out great, with beautiful drives through lush green rainforests, a hike to a stunning waterfall in the middle of nowhere and really friendly local people who were very helpful along the way.  Then we got to the beach resort where we would be spending our last 4 nights and this is where things changed.  The staff at the resort were so rude, there weren't enough pool towels or deck chairs for guests to use each day and service was terrible.  By the second day we decided things just weren't going to get any better so we just accepted things as they were and tried to enjoy ourselves despite the resort.  Then one morning at breakfast, my mom noticed a lady in the corner who was making fresh corn tortilla-like bread on a large clay skillet.  ... Read Full Story >>

Making the Gardener Smile

This morning I was walking in a new park that I had just discovered near my house. When I went walking the previous day, the old gardener had asked me if I had some clothes to give him. He was wearing a tattered vest and it was obvious that although so many people frequented the park, nobody had ever spoken to him before. I gave him some nice shirts and some cake that I had at home. The next morning he told me how thankful he was for the shirts. As I walked, I noticed that the sprinkler that he was using to water the plants in the park was leaking in several places. I went home and brought some scotch tape and scissors, and, with his help, I blocked the leakages. I told him he could keep the scotch tape in case he needed it again. It was then that I got to see his ... Read Full Story >>

Ginger Ale in Line

I was at a popular local grocery store at exactly the wrong time -- just after everyone was getting off work.  This is the kind of grocery store where it sometimes takes 15 minutes just to find parking.  When I got inside, the lines for the express lane were the entire length of a grocery store aisle.  The store was jam-packed and people were regularly having to adjust their gaits and paths to navigate the crowded aisles.  Luckily, I had a fairly small shopping list requiring only a handbasket and made my way through the store much more quickly and efficiently than all of the people with large carts.  Some 30 minutes later, I had another lucky break by quickly finding a checkout aisle with only four customers in it.  As I was waiting in line, a woman in the next checkout line called someone and asked if they wanted ginger ... Read Full Story >>

A statement of kindness

I was filling out applications for grad school in America when I figured that they required financial statements from international students, even though I was planning to study on a scholarship. Since I needed to show a huge sum of money, I was in a bit of a spot, especially with the high value for the dollar in contrast to the Indian rupee.

Just then a remote relative of mine dropped by. He asked me what my plans were, and I told him I had begun applying. Spontaneously, without me even mentioning that I needed a financial statement, he volunteered to act as my sponsor .

It was a real act of trust and kindness that just shows that sometimes the universe really conspires to help you out.

Being there...

I got a call at 9pm on 30th December 06 from a friend who was stopping by a nearby store. He remembered I live nearby and wanted to wish me for the new year. He is a publisher of an ethnic magazine that he distributes personally in dozens of stores in the bay area. I knew that he had at least 2 more hours of work. I asked him whether I could join him. He asked me go to the next restaurant he was heading to in the next 10 minutes. For the next 2 hours, we went around the bay area distributing the magazine and throughout the drive, he was telling me about the ending year, his dreams for the magazine for the next year, his insights, ideas, hopes... Once the job was done, we checked into a Starbucks and he went on for another 1 hour. In the end, ... Read Full Story >>

The Yellow Ribbons

Across the street from my house live an older couple who are raising their 4 grandchildren, 2 of which are 13-year-old girls. 

I always by clothes and shoes and most still have tags on them.  I always give stuff away and this time a light  flashed in my head - the girls across the street .  So I filled up 2 hefty trash bags full of shoes, clothes, purses, shampoo, everything.  I didn't want to embarass anybody including myself.  I like to do things when nobody knows it's me. 

So at the crack of dawn, I tied big beautiful yellow ribbons on the bags, went across the street, and put them over the fence.  Later that day, the girls were going in and out of the house trying on all the clothes and shoes . It was like a fashion show and they were so excited - laughing  and jumping up and down.  Seeing those girls so happy was awesome!

Sharing and giving

This year for christmas, I decided to make a special effort to carefully select and wrap presents for my friends and family. I also sent out cards for the first time in many years.

Although I do not usually celebrate christmas, I saw it as an opportunity to show the people who are dear to me exactly how precious they really are to me.

Toys for Boys

I stopped in the drugstore to pick up a few items. As I stood in line, two young brothers were trying to buy a toy for each of them. Their items were just over $10 but they didn't have enough money and were trying to decide who had to put their toy back. Neither boy wanted the other to have to put their toy back.

I remember when I was a young boy how that felt. I told the cashier to just put them on my bill and told the boys to have a nice day. You would think they just won the lottery! The youngest tried to give me what money they did have but I told him to just keep it and have a nice day.

The smallest things make the biggest difference to people and the smiles of those boys was more than enough of a reward for me!

Act of kindness

Before I had my daughter, I used to work in a factory  and I remember that I finished the job but  before I got out of the factory, there was a pile of things for the poor. I had nothing to give, so I decided to give the jacket I was wearing.

It was my favorite jacket. Sometimes I still think about that jacket, but I hope it went to the right person. I remember thinking before I took off the jacket that I hope it will heal someone that needs comfort. 

Shopping with good karma

When I go shopping for clothes, I am grateful to find the clothes hanging on the hangers and not falling off. If I come across a top or pair of pants that are not hung, I will hang them up. 

I do this as an act of kindness for others who may not see the top because it is not fully on the hanger.   I don't say to myself, "This is an employes job" but a nice thing I can do and I enjoy doing it! 

Project Care Package

This year we set out to give back to our local homeless in Los Angeles, California. With our gift giving budget, we purchased sleeping bags, clothing, and hygiene kits. My neighbors have been collecting all of these items for 4 months. We canvased four neighborhoods and finished on skid row in Downtown Los Angeles.  This was a grassroots effort. There were 7 of us driving from stop to stop setting up tables and helping people find clothes and shoes in their size. Everyone was so thankful and so generous. People would only take what they needed. No fighting and I would say 95% of the people we came in contact with were sober. At our last stop, at a Transitional Housing Facility, we encountered all these people that had only 1 outfit - the one on their back.  Some did not even have underwear, yet they wanted to help us unload the truck and once again ... Read Full Story >>

Learning life's lessons

I believe that life is always teaching us the lessons we need to learn.  We can either live our lives with awareness and listen to what is being taught to us as it happens, or we can ignore it and let the same message return to us again and again until we have no choice but to take notice. I believe that each lesson ultimately takes us deeper within ourselves so that we can live from a place of unconditional love, more and more, until eventually it is what we become. Recently I was taught a very important lesson. It is the lesson of gratitude. Someone dear to me was taken very ill. It was a devastating scare for the whole family. The event changed my whole perspective on life and what really matters. Suddenly I have realised that there really is no time to waste. No person and no situation in life can be ... Read Full Story >>

Gift Cards

I have found Grocery Store Gift cards to be an asset to carry with me. In my volunteer work I occasionally run across a family or single mother who may share some difficulty. I reach in my purse and say, "Would this help?" It's usually not much, $20-25. But, it is often enough to get groceries to last until payday.