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Loving Today's Challenge!

My 13-year old son and I had quite the adventure this morning! We frequently walk by a beautifully landscaped yard with a cute little flower garden. I wanted to acknowledge the time and effort put in by the gardener, but I've never seen him or her, so we went to a local nursery and bought a gift card that I will leave with a note and a smile card the next time that I pass by. We also ran to Target and bought a few $10 gift cards along with some notecards and our other groceries. While we were putting our things away in the car, my son observed that a lady that had just parked next to us looked a little grumpy. As soon as she entered the store, we grabbed a notecard, dashed off a quick note, and added a gift card and a Smile card for her to find ... Read Full Story >>

The Hidden Gems My Grandmother Gifted Me

I was having trouble with a bully at school once when I was younger. One day I eventually confided in my grandmother. I told her that I was being bullied at school.    She surprised me a little bit when she asked me what it was about? I said that I really didn't know.  She said she knew what it was about. She said it was because I hadn't done anything wrong and was simply being me. I really didn’t understand her? Why would I be bullied for not doing anything wrong?   She said that the other person was jealous of me because of something they lacked.  I was sure that couldn’t be right.   We weren’t very well off so I had second hand clothes, simple shoes, etc. whilst the other person was always in the latest fashion and had new things.    Then my grandmother explained that the jealously was not ... Read Full Story >>

Life Saved With One Small Act Of Kindness

I had moved to Arizona about two weeks before the start of my junior year of high school, so not only was this  a new school for me, but also a new state and I did not know anyone. On the first day of school at lunch after getting my meal, I sat down at an empty table in the courtyard. As I began to eat I looked around at the other tables and saw another girl sitting alone, so I decided why not go sit with her. Anyway there was no reason for me to have a whole table to myself, and who knew maybe I could make a friend. I walked to verify and said, "Excuse me, do you mind if I sit with you?" She was surprised at first, but then smiled and said "Sure!" We hit it off right off the bat and became close friends throughout the ... Read Full Story >>

Thankful for a Mother-In-Law's Advice 9 Years Later

When my husband and I became engaged some nine years ago, I felt slightly perplexed when my mother-in-law  offered us the following advice: "Be kind to each other."

I thought that was so obvious at the time, but over the years it has stuck with me and I have realised that it is one of the best pieces of advice I have ever received.

It is all too easy to take our nearest and dearest for granted and not show them the appreciation that they deserve.

I recently thanked my mother-in-law (mummy 2, as she prefers to be called) for those words.  It was nine years late, but I always think: better late than never. I told her just how much I still appreciate her words of wisdom that she shared with us all those years ago. I could see that I made her day too! :)

Beauty Tips for Your Soul

Here are a few primping tips to increase the beauty of your soul: A dear old lady was ... Read Full Story >>

Live As Though Everything Is A Miracle

The following passage is a healthy prescription of how we can approach life. It is not about being famous or being wealthy or about our good looks. Truly, it is all about love. There are times when we feel as if we are separated from the rest. This illusion creates a mental prison. Hence, we should strive to internally liberate ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living things. "Open your heart to others and try to understand, When someone reaches for you, hold out to them your hand, Follow your heart, no matter what other people say, Do things that make you able to smile throughout your day, Treat other people, the way you would like them to treat you, Do what you know is right and to your heart and self stay true, Remember what life is all about, it is how you make people feel, What you do, where you go, and making dreams become real, Helping people through, in hard times of ... Read Full Story >>

Greeting Cards For Those In Prison

I send a variety of greeting cards to a niece who is in prison so she can re-use them for her friends inside and outside. I write her name, a few words and then my name in small letters on the edge of the card so it passes inspection in the mail room. She can cut that off and use the card again. I buy cards in bulk (Current) and go to the dollar store. She so appreciates this as cards are expensive to buy. I also include articles, jokes, or pictures each time for her. She often shares these with her 'roommates'. She keeps the pictures of the ones she really likes. She can do a drawing or write something more on either or both sides of the other half if she wants to. 

Customer Service Smiles

I work as a contractor at a senior center and absolutely love it. My days are spent coordinating rides for seniors from volunteer drivers. Today, a lady called saying she was unable to get her medication from the pharmacy. Usually, our center requires a three-day advance notice for local rides. We also require folks to fill out an application and a waiver.  With these things in mind, I decided that this was my opportunity to go above and beyond the call of duty. I filled out the application and told her I would come pick her up. "You will?" she asked, slightly shocked. "Yup." I sent an email to my manager and off I went. It was a nice day to be out. We had a pleasant ride, and along the way, I found out she has cancer. Despite the illness, she still embraces life with a lot of faith. After arriving back at her home, I gave her ... Read Full Story >>

Parents Are Precious

Venkatesh Balasubramaniam (who works for IIT) describes how his gesture of booking an air ticket for his father brought forth a rush of emotions and made him (Venkatesh) realize how much we all take for granted when it comes to our parents. My parents left for our native land on Thursday and we went to the airport to see them off. In fact, my father had never traveled by air before, so I just took this opportunity to ensure he experienced his first flight. In spite of being asked to book tickets by train, I got them tickets on Jet Airways.  The moment I handed over the tickets to him, he was surprised to see that I had booked them by air. The excitement was very apparent on his face. Just like a school boy, he was preparing himself for that day. We all went to the airport and eagerly enjoyed the ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness Knocks on the Front Door

Two years ago an African man from Malawi, Elias, arrived at my sister’s home in the rough, bush country of South Africa with nothing but the shirt on his back. He was hoping to come to South Africa to find employment in order to support his family in Malawi. Little did he realize my sister at that time was struggling to keep her body and soul together. Nevertheless, Elias was given permission to stay on the property with the understanding that she was unable to help him financially and he would have to find “piece work” employment to support himself. As unemployment is rife, Elias was unable to find work immediately, so my sister taught him how to grow organic vegetables, sew and bake. Elias is keen to learn whatever he can to take the knowledge back to Malawi with him once he goes home. Elias finally found employment but my sister hit ... Read Full Story >>

Where Does Kindness Start? With Us...

Recently at the gas station...I was walking in to Pre-Pay before being able to pump gas into my car. As I approached the door to go in to pay, there was a woman coming out.   I was about 15 feet away and she stood there, waiting and holding the door for me to enter. Usually people are in such a hurry that they dash out and sometimes even to the point of being rude and mowing me down.  I smiled and said "Thank You, you didn't have to do that"  and her reply was "No problem, take your time." Next we are both at our vehicles filling gas and she finished first. She hopped in her van and was getting ready to leave. I noticed her gas compartment was still open and the cap was dangling down.  I quickly scooted to her van and tapped  on it as she was starting ... Read Full Story >>

A Five Rupee Formula for Joy

On my way out the building in the morning, I search my pockets for 5 rupee coins. If I have one, I go to the shop downstairs and buy 5 packets of Gems-- an Indian version of M&Ms. There are 3 Gems per packet, giving me 14 chances to make someone smile (there would be 15 but invariably the first Gem ends up in my own mouth!). On the first day, I gave one each to the two youngs sons of my dhobi (washerman), and to the boy who lives in the makeshift shack in front of my building. Their hands were really dirty so I put them straight into their mouths. I thought for a second about giving them an impromptu lesson in hand-washing, but they are too young to understand Hindi and I haven't learned enough Kannada to explain properly. Next time I'll pick up the basics, and use ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness and Love Starts at Home

The greatest gift I can recall ever giving my children is the lesson of selfless love.  This is when the only reward from giving to others is that the love for them in your heart grows deeper and stronger. During the holidays we bake and bake and bake.  We then box up that love and secretly place it on the doorsteps of those we know and those we do not. We attach a card that simply states, "I thought of you today, and it made me smile."

The sheer joy the children received from giving this "secret" gift of selfless love lingers with them to this day.  My oldest is 24 and remembers those days. She recently returned from serving in Iraq and has decided to start her own Random Act of Kindness this year in Minnesota.  My second, a young man of 19, wants to know when I plan on doing it this year so he can make the two-hour car ride to join us.  The two children left at home are 18 and 3 and can't wait till we get baking.

In my experience, love does not have a price tag, and charity and love for one another start at home.

Tomatoes for the community

Last year I grew tomatoes and like usual the bad one's that the bugs ate and the bird's nibbled i threw back into the dirt and covered them over, well the next spring i had tons of tomato plants blooming all over the place. My Mother asked what could I do with them and I took a day to think it over. As hard as times are now, I try to find ways to " Help others and Pay it Forward", so i decided to re-pot each plant into it's own paper cup and place an ad on( www.MyFreeCycle.org )where people can place items for free to help others and the items wont go to the land fill and create waste. Paper cups from the local dollar store and a brick of CoCo Coir ( a miracle compost/ potting soil retains 80 to 90% water retention) Dehydrated from the local hydrophonics store. I ... Read Full Story >>

One Teen's Creative Mission on Behalf of School Kids

Teen Creates App So Bullied Kids Never Have To Eat Alone

School lunch can be intensely lonely when you don't have anyone to sit with. A new app aims to help change that.

Isn't this a great idea?!

The way that it works is it's a free lunch-planning app where kids can find lunch tables if they feel like they have nowhere to go. Pretty much, kids can sign up as ambassadors for a Sit With Us club and agree to post open lunches so that anyone who has the app and has nowhere to go can find a table and, hopefully, make some new friends.

Click on link to read more:

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/09/15/494074992/teen-creates-app-so-bullied-kids-never-have-to-eat-alone

A Reminder of the Kindness in the World

I stopped at a huge yard sale and was looking for that hidden treasure.  A blouse caught my eye, and as I approached the "cashier" I heard her say, "Well, can't you get some more money from someone?"  I looked over and saw that her comment was directed at a child holding a nice looking pair of shoes in one hand, his other outstretched palm displaying a few coins.  I was instantly annoyed that the lady was witholding a pair of unwanted shoes for a few more cents.  I remembered my smile cards, and asked  "how much are they?" .  "Two dollars" she replied.  "Oh, here ya go," I said, handing the boy two dollars and a smile card.   As I walked away I heard her say to the boy,   "Can I see your card?"  I decided to buy the blouse and when I went to pay the lady was clearly chagrinned.  "Where did you ... Read Full Story >>

A Pretty Mission

I make it a point, if I see them, to go up and compliment teenage girls or young women. I might tell her how pretty her hair is, or how much I like her dress, or just how pretty she is. I'm usually old enough to be their grandmother so I'm never misunderstood when I do this.   I remember how insecure I was when I was their age and how much it would have meant to me to have an older woman tell me something like that and know it was said with no ulterior motive. And I see this same insecurity in young girls today. It's so hard for us to believe that we're pretty for any number of reasons.   I was looking through an old photo album with my husband and he said how pretty I was back then and I could see it now, looking back, but I couldn't ... Read Full Story >>

Take this umbrella, she said...

A decade ago, we were recent transplants from India & living in two separate cities. My husband, here in Pittsburgh while I was in a small town NJ.

Anyone who has lived in Pittsburgh knows that it canrain in summer more than many other places. Being a newbie, he didn't. One day as he left the clinic building to walk to hospital about four blocks away, a thunderstorm rolled & it started to pour down. He had no umbrella, so started to walk briskly & noticed a car pull over.
A woman bending over from driver's seat reached out with an umbrella in her hand. When he refused to take, she said, "one day someone gave me this umbrella when I was getting drenched. Take it from me today & give it to someone else tomorrow ". That woman made me fall in love with this city & it's kind people. Sometimes, it takes very little....

 

Helping the Elderly to Feel They Are Not Alone

I teach exercise classes to seniors  and I try to find ways to encourage them, not to just exercise, but to have fun in class and to make friends. Loneliness is one of the greatest complaints of the elderly.  I love encouraging our group to go out for breakfasts or lunches together.  On occasion I want to  pay for the meals of individuals that cannot pay for themselves.   I want to bring homemade coffee to our morning classes.

Standing around after a class and talking and smiling and CONNECTING with each other is so important.. I don't want anyone to be lonely!  This is my passion in life: to make others feel as if they are NOT ALONE.

Kind Strangers in Her Story

I am in the habit of giving money to every beggar/homeless person I pass. My friends say it is not good to encourage begging and that all beggars have some measure of money to survive. It annoys them that I never listen :-). One day, my friend and I were walking to the bus stop when I passed a beggar lady. I had seen her several times before and had always given her a few cents. That day, I gave her 2 Euros. I was waiting for the bus and reading a book when I looked up to see that lady standing in front of me. She handed me a piece of paper covered in cling-film, to make it waterproof. It said she and her family had to leave their country because of floods, and she was struggling to support them. She had got a bit of money, but she needed 5 ... Read Full Story >>