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Adventures In Babysitting

I had offered to watch a friend's children so she and her husband could go out to watch a movie. She was delighted with the offer - but didn't get around to fixing a day. 
 
So, finally, I picked a date and asked her if she was free. She was really excited and looking forward to her night out. 
 
On the day of the babysitting her husband e-mailed me and told me it was her birthday! I hadn't known that! He told me he would bring over a cake after the movie, when they came to pick up the kids. 
 
The kids had a great time (and so did we!) We made cookies together, played games, and so on. Then, when their parents came back we had a surprise birthday party with cake and ice cream and sparkling juice. We made music together and it was very festive! My friend said it was the most special birthday she had celebrated in a long time.
 
I was so happy!

Kindness Received-Kindness Given

Kindness Received-Kindness Given. Sunday, the gentleman who donated our Sanctuary flowers gifted me with one of the arrangements as he said he appreciates all that I do. I was so touched and gladly thanked him and took them home. Today I took them up to my Dad. He loves flowers and he was so glad to have these in his room. Thought they were lovely, too, and I was so glad to share them with him!

The traffic that made me smile

Today, I was late for work. All because I got stuck behind a mini bus on the narrow streets of my neighborhood. As I sat there fuming, I looked up to see a crooked little man, wearing a uniform and carrying a lunch box, coming out of a house. I could tell by the slow way he walked and the crooked bend of his body that he had special needs and that the bus blocking my way was for him. He turned around and waved good bye to his very elderly mother who was watching him from the porch of the house. Then, as he was about to board the bus, he turned, smiled, and waved at me. My anger left and the tears were rolling as I smiled and waved back. That smile made me late for work and I had the best day ever! I smiled at everyone I saw. 

I Choose Kindness!

I can't stand the thought of people being forced to beg for money, even though a good number of them may be swindlers. That won't stop my kindness. One Sunday afternoon, I was on my way to a bus stop. When I walked on the sidewalk, someone blocked my way. It was a man. His face was dirty and his hair was not very neat. His clothes were rather grungy. I was terribly frightened by this man. In a low voice, he said to me, "I have run out of all my money, and now I can't go back home. Could you please give me some money?" I wondered if he was telling the truth. But despite my doubts, I just couldn't stop my heart from going out to him. From the looks of his face, I guessed that he had been refused by others many times. So I gave him some money ... Read Full Story >>

A Tire-d Kindness

  Money was tight- and then one of my tires blew out!      I managed to pull into a parking lot and park safely before trying to figure out what to do next. A  new tire wasn't exactly in my budget but it was going to have to be worked in somehow. Then there was the additional expense of having to pay someone to come out and fix it.   Another car pulled in right behind me and a man and his young son got out. He offered to change the tire for me, but I told him my spare was in the trunk, already puntured.       He offered to take me and my spare tire to a repair place just a mile or so away. There they put a new tire on the old rim and he waited for me. Then he took me back to my car and put the new tire ... Read Full Story >>

The Power of a Handwritten Letter

Our world is so dependent on email that handwritten letters have gone by the wayside.  At a service I attended recently, the topic had to do with how important and touching handwritten letters are. 

I followed my heart, which had tugged at me for some time to actually write letters. I started by writing a letter to my grandfather and nothing could have made him happier. Even though I see him every week, he said so many times how much it meant to him. So now we write each other a letter each week. There is something so special about seeing a real letter when you open the mailbox and something even greater about sending it to someone special. I write at least one letter a week now to family and friends -- it reconnects you in ways that no email ever will.

Roses For Everyone!

The best way to feel love is to give love and today I'm feeling a lot of love. This morning I went to the supermarket and bought a dozen beautiful red roses. I then brought them to the hospital with me when I went to my fracture clinic appointment. Where better to give love than in a hospital setting? I gave roses to various women visiting loved ones as they walked through the parking lot. I gave roses to two elderly ladies who were waiting to be collected from reception. One had a badly bruised face (I think she had perhaps had a fall), and the other lady just looked sad. I gave a rose to Maria as well. She was in the shop being pushed in a wheelchair by her teenage daughter. I later saw her husband smile at me. Maria was admitted to the hospital yesterday. She was so touched by ... Read Full Story >>

"Amma, Please See the Doctor"

After playing badminton, I was about to leave the facility when I saw Amma. She's the maid responsible for cleaning, an old lady in her late 60s, and she was talking to the owner, requesting some cash. Her hand was in pain and she wanted to see the doctor. The owner gave some excuses and escaped.

I felt bad for her, so although I was outside the facility and it was dark, I turned back and opened my wallet. I knew I didn't have much, but I gave her whatever came out into my hand. In my broken Tamil, I tried to say "Amma, please see a doctor" but I don't know if it was correct.

When I left for dinner to a nearby restaurant, surprisingly I had one bill which was more than enough for my meal.

I see Amma in the evenings, and even though it was pitch dark that day, she remembers me well and waves to me every time.
 

Finding the Courage to Smile

I was at a coffee shop last night where there was a wonderful folk music performance. I was busy tapping my feet and singing along to the soothing beats! As I got up to get a cup of coffee and a cookie, I noticed this middle-aged woman near me. She had obviously been caught in a fire of some sort. Her face was severely burned that it looked very tight.  She barely had a nose and her eyes were extremely tiny.  I took a deep breath and went back to my seat. I thought about how brave she was to come out and appear in public. I also felt ashamed of myself for mildly shuddering and looking down while I headed back to my seat, unable to send even a feeble smile her way. As I sipped my coffee and ate my cookie, I just kept thinking endlessly about whether I should ignore this ... Read Full Story >>

Planting Seeds Of Kindness ...

 My grandson's cub scout den is doing a two month unit called"Planting Seeds of Kindness. They are practicing compassion and learning that good things happen when you are kind and help others by doing multiple small service projects.

At their meeting this afternoon they made seed tapes which they are donating to a senior living home. These seed tapes are much easier for the elderly residents to plant than the standard seed packets. Tomorrow the boys are going to visit the seniors and help them plant the seed tapes. My grandson was so excited when he told me about this activity.

Top 10 Stories of 2012 - Story # 6 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 ... Read Full Story >>

A Treasured Gift For A Young Couple

I met a really nice young couple about a year ago through mutual friends on a social networking site.  They have just adopted a baby girl.  This is a beautiful gift to the world on its own, but what makes it even more special is how many hoops they jumped through and how much time and money they spent to get to that stage. I was going through some boxes from my mother’s house (she passed away at Christmas time in 2007) and I found some beautiful vintage baby dresses. So I thought, wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if I sent some of this lovely vintage clothing to the couple for their adopted baby?  I knew they would love it.  This was truly a gift from the heart; I had planned on saving those for my daughter if I had one someday.  But, given that my husband died before we had any children, ... Read Full Story >>

Showing Kindness to Even the Smallest Beings

I have found that the way I treat insects acts as a reflection of my approach to kindness.  Like most kids, I suppose, I mistreated bugs terribly.  But many adults continue the rampage against insects, and I have often found that they do this mindlessly, killing them for no reason. With the weather getting warmer, more bugs are getting into our houses.  We also spend more time in "their house," as we enjoy the great outdoors.  We find ourselves reaching for the fly swatter and insecticides to get rid of them.  But why do we do this?  Most insects pose no threat to us, but we kill them anyway. As a young adult, I found myself questioning my treatment of bugs.  It became a moral issue.  I remember reading a Native American story about a mother who saw her daughter stomp on a spider.  The mom simply asks the child: "Now who'll take care ... Read Full Story >>

A Few Little Gifts Add Up To A Lot Of Love

I want to tell you about a true story that happened this week on Veteran's Day. I wrote earlier about how our school had a "family day of service," in which about 100 middle school students volunteered all around our community.  One of the sites was a veteran's hospital. Due to swine flu outbreaks, the Veteran's Association said that kids under 16 would not be allowed to visit, so a few adults in the group met with veterans individually to ask them what gift they would like to receive for Veteran's Day. One veteran said he'd like a disposable camera -- his daughter was traveling that evening from far away to visit him, bringing his 1-year-old granddaughter whom he had never met. He said he never imagined he would get to meet her since he had gone through so many surgeries.  The volunteers decided that this gift couldn't wait until Veteran's Day, ... Read Full Story >>

A Valuable Lesson Learned From My Child

I always try to encourage my children to be, think and talk positive but one day I was caught not practicing what I preach by my son. My son is 7 ½ yrs old son and he was preparing for a sketch at his school for the occasion of Mother’s day. He was playing the role of an angel. On the evening before the show, we were having a casual conversation while I was preparing dinner in the kitchen.  He asked me: “Mum, can we see angels?” As usual, I seized the opportunity to encourage him to be positive and I said: “Yes, but only those who are, think and talk good can see angels.” He responded by asking: “You must have seen them then?” I paused a few seconds. I was touched by his innocence about the fact that how he thought his mother was a perfect person. Impatiently waiting for his answer, ... Read Full Story >>

Witnessing Kindness during the Holidays

"Where do you see kindness? No matter who we are or where we come from, when we take a moment to look around, we can see kindness everywhere" -Shelley Frost Yesterday morning I was feeling stressed because I needed to go shopping for some of the organizations I volunteer with. I really don't like big crowds and tend to stay away from large department stores and shopping malls at Christmas time. However, I was determined to make the best of it and have a good day. So I decided to play a game with myself. I would actively look for and count the number of times and ways I saw people being kind. With this mindset, I witnessed so many, many acts of kindness: Drivers letting other cars into traffic; people taking shopping carts back inside; customers waiting patiently in a long line at the cash register; kind words spoken to cashier who ... Read Full Story >>

Look Inside Yourself To Heal Others

Two years ago, I heard about a therapist in Hawaii who cured a complete ward of criminally insane patients--without ever seeing any of them. The psychologist would study an inmate's chart and then look within himself to see how he created that person's illness. As he improved himself, the patient improved. "When I first heard this story, I thought it was an urban legend. How could anyone heal anyone else by healing himself? How could even the best self-improvement master cure the criminally insane? It didn't make any sense. It wasn't logical, so I dismissed the story. "However, I heard it again a year later. I heard that the therapist had used a Hawaiian healing process called ho 'oponopono. I had never heard of it, yet I couldn't let it leave my mind. If the story was at all true, I had to know more. I had always understood "total responsibility" to mean that I am responsible ... Read Full Story >>

Biggest Drive-thru Smile Ever

Last night my husband and I were on the way to a show. We were both hungry and wanted to grab a quick bite on our way there, so we swung through a Jack-N-the Box drive-thru and placed our order.  When we got up to the window the lady smiled at me (which is sometimes rare) and asked how I was doing while she was collected our money for the food.  I replied, "Fine, and how are you?" She went to get our order ready and I asked my husband to pass me my "Drive-thru Smil bag". He handed it to me and watched in amazement as I gathered together a "You make a difference" paper, a Smile Card, a smiley stamper and a smile button.  She came back to the window almost before I finished putting it all together.  Without looking too closely she passed the bag and said, "Thank you. Have a good ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness in a Moment of Need

  One evening, as I was about to go to sleep, my brother phoned to tell me they had taken my father to the hospital! He had been vomitting and had recently lost a lot of weight.   (We had recently discovered he was diabetic which was why he had been losing weight.)   He asked me if I could send them money for Dad's medicine. I told him maybe I could send some in the morning.    During that long night I wasn't able to sleep. I kept on wondering what I could do since it was still a long time until payday and I didn't have money to send. I just cried through the night, then I bowed my head and prayed, "Lord, I know you have a better plan for us. Without You Lord I am nothing and through You nothing is impossble. Amen!"   The next morning I went in to work early. I bumped ... Read Full Story >>

The Kindness Of A Second Chance

Today, I recognized the frowning woman in line behind me at the checkout counter of the grocery store. I hadn't seen her in fifteen years -- she is the owner of a local restaurant where I briefly worked one summer as a waitress. It had been on my heart for several days around Christmas time to go her restaurant and leave a card thanking her for her kindness to me, but I couldn't override my shyness so I didn't act. When I saw her today, I knew the Universe was giving me a second chance and I seized it! I turned to her and said, "You probably don't remember me, but you once gave me a job when I really needed one even though I had no experience -- and I really want to thank you for that." She asked my name and said she didn't remember me. And I admitted with a ... Read Full Story >>