Search Results for 'popular' (2976 matches)

Lonesome Boy At A Gas Station

I have been fortunate enough to come from a family that has always been there for me, no matter what. Like all other families we have our differences of opinions, our fall-outs, our arguments, but we always make up and all is well again. Even in my high school and college days – misbehaving in abundance – I had supportive parents who would discipline me, but always left the door open. I was at the gas station filling up one day when I saw a boy in his teens. (I was a college student then.) I noticed there was something not quite right about the situation. He sat on the corner with his head hanging low. Then he saw a guy walking by and proceeded to ask him for change. The guy mocked him and laughed at him.    I was so saddened by this. I walked over to the boy and asked ... Read Full Story >>

Inspired by KindSpring

I was inspired by a couple stories, here!
 
I decided to have a burrito from a local fast food restaurant. I went through the drive-through. I was telling my dad about this 21 day challenge and how a lot of people pay for the next person in line. My dad and I decided that we should try it!

 I order my $2 burrito and go to the window. I ask the cashier if I can pay for the person behind me and he asked me if I was sure I wanted to do that. I said yes, and told him to give the next customer a smile card.

I asked how much the total is, and he said, “Woah! It’s over $17!”
At this point, I’m thinking, “Woah that's a lot!” too. But in that time I also thought - well hey, If I were in his situation and someone paid for my $17 meal, I would be the happiest person there is. THAT would make my day.

I told the cashier that it was fine and he asked, “You sure? Think about it... Are you sure?”

Even though I was nearly $18 short for a $2 burrito, I've never felt better. My dad encouraged me and my mom was proud of me.

"Do You Like Chocolate?"

While grocery shopping today, I saw that my very favorite chocolate was on sale. I bought three of them and decided to share one with someone.  As I walked to the register, I noticed that the cashier was smiling at everyone. He was asking them how they were doing and wishing them a nice night. When my turn came, he asked me how I was doing.  I replied, "Great!" and then asked, "Do you like chocolate?" "You bet," he said.  I smiled.  As I finished checking out and was about to leave, I grabbed one of the chocolates that I had in my bag, pulled out a Smile Card from my wallet, and gave it to the cashier.  He smiled, "Are you sure?" "Yes."  It was great to see the big smile on his face when I did that. :D

A Birthday Dinner Becomes an Opportunity to Practice Patience and Kindness

The other day my daughter and I went out for dinner to celebrate her birthday. We went to a place she loves. The restaurant is on top of a hill and when we arrived the sun was setting behind the mountains. The kind waitress met us at the door but mentioned that, without a reservation, we would have to wait a very long time for our order because they were short staffed. She said that it could be over an hour before we would get our order. Well, we decided that we would leave because she strongly advised that we should! We stood outside wondering what we should do next when the owner came out and insisted that we stay! So we went back in. The waitress was right. We waited close to an hour before we got our appetizers! But do you know what? It was ok because we had tea and ... Read Full Story >>

Unexpected Roses During Challenging Times

I live in a small friendly town. Due to the current challenging times the number of charity shops is almost the same as the number of  " normal" shops.

I am a regular costumer at the local charity shops, lately looking for teddy bears. There are people that I see working there on a regular basis and I think how lovely it is that they always have volunteers to run the shops.

Today I decided to visit each of the charity shops and leave a rose, a 29gifts and a smile card to each of the volunteers working there. Most of them were surprised, one asked if I was selling the roses ( meaning, I hope, they looked good enough to be sold ) and a lady commented that it was a lovely idea.

My next project is to do the same on the villages around my town. One village at a time.

Shoveling Snow The Canadian Way

  So, we were in the middle of a heavy snow storm, the kind where you need to shovel every couple hours otherwise it will pile up to the point where it's really hard to remove.   For the last couple of years whenever I've been out shoveling my place I would walk over to the house of a really nice elderly couple and shovel their driveway too. They knew it was happening - but never knew it was me!   Today, since I needed the exercise anyway, I shoveled all the walkways between my house and their house. About four other walkways. This time they caught me and realized I was the one doing the shoveling.      They were very thankful but kept insisting on giving me money. I refused and ended up  walking away because they were trying to shove money into my coat pockets.    Before I left, however, I pulled out a Smile card and ... Read Full Story >>

A Kindness Idea to Remind People That They Matter

I received the most exciting message today!  My kindness idea was selected!

I am going to make up some baskets complete with "You Matter" and Smile Cards and take them to local retirement homes.  I will ask a staff member to give the resident most in need of this gift while explaining to them the idea of paying forward the kind act for someone else.

I hope this will start a kindness "epidemic" in the retirement homes that I take the baskets to.  This is just my way of telling them that they are not forgotten and they matter!

Thank you HELPOTHERS!!

Strawberry Smiles

My husband and I were driving back home when we saw an elderly lady selling strawberries on the street corner. (It's not too common to see people selling fruits on the street here - as I don't think they are allowed to.) I thought of how hard it must be to make a living like that, and even though I didn't really need strawberries (I had some already at home), I bought a huge "flat" of strawberries from her which had 6 containers of the juicy strawberries!

Now, it's just my husband, my son and me at home and we were never going to be able to eat them.  So I knew just what to do. When we got home, I took little baskets of strawberries around to our neighbors, especially to the elderly living alone and the kids with single moms. The berries were juicy and sweet.  They loved it!  We enjoyed them too, and had eaten them all within a day or two.

I kept hoping I'd see the lady selling them again, and lo and behold....there she was the following week. So, I did it again and gave them away to different neighbors this time! It was such a great feeling :-)

Secret Shopping In Iceland

I work just minutes from one of London’s busiest railway stations. Another minute or two away is a lovely, lively street with stalls selling Mexican, Thai and French food, as well as cafes, sandwich places and an Iceland which is one of the cheaper frozen food stores here in the UK.   As I was walking around one lunch time I spotted a small elderly lady pushing an empty push-chair slowly along the pavement.     I immediately wanted to do something for her but I felt a little strange following her around so I decided to continue my walk. Fate had other plans though. A few minutes later I passed Iceland and saw her putting groceries into her push-chair inside the store.     That’s when I decided I’d try to pay for her shopping.    The cashier looked at me kind of incredulously as I tried to explain that the money I was handing over ... Read Full Story >>

A Little Library...

I started a small neighborhood book exchange. My husband put the shelves together for me and we supplied the "seed" books to get things rolling. I also designed and printed free bookmarks for patrons to take with them. My hope is that people will choose a book, enjoy it and return it for another...along with contributing a few books of their own to share with their neighbors and friends.

A Generous Gesture That Made A Dream Come True

I had a dream for over a year, to attend the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December. I had even reserved a hostel room a year in advance  because I so wanted to be there. I had worked very hard to arrange things, but was having trouble raising money for the trip. I asked one of my MBA professors who is connected in investing circles to ask, if I were to write an appeal letter, would he please send it to his contacts? He apologized, because he said there is not much money available right now because of the economy. Then he paused, and asked me where I was flying from. When I told him, he asked me if he could help me out with flight miles to Copenhagen for the trip. I was awestruck by the offer. I hurried to tell him that I had not mentioned this to ask ... Read Full Story >>

Final Resting Place

As I left my home this morning, I found three small feathers on my windshield, which I kept in the car.

As I was heading into work, outside in the parking lot, I noticed that there was a dead sparrow on the pavement. She must have been less than a day old since she passed. I know that the ultimate act of kindness would have been to nurse her wounds had it been alive, but at this point, there was only once choice for me.

I put my laptop bag down on the ground and made room by an adjacent flower bed, in between the mound junipers, for her to have her final resting place... It felt right.

I gathered all twigs and leaves that I could find and covered her body.

Thank you little sparrow for your journey in this reality..

Three Feet of Snow and a Very Kind Neighbor

It's no secret that we've had some pretty crazy weather in the Maryland area this past winter. We had 15 inches of snow during one month followed by 28 more inches. Whenever it snowed like that, I packed my things up and stayed at my mom's house, both to help her with shoveling and for the ease of getting my car out of the driveway to get to work rather than attempting it from my mountain side driveway. I did about 4 hours of shovelling one day and only managed to dig us out of the house and a small walking path to and around 3 sides of my car.  To make better headway the next day, I set the alarm and got out there preparing to do the necessary 3 or 4 shovelling rounds before being able to relax and watch the Super Bowl. My whole body was in pain from the ... Read Full Story >>

Gifts for My Birthday

At home all day today because of car getting serviced provided me with great opportunity for some birthday kindness :)).

Collected various household items, foodstuffs, books and clothes to donate...one item for each year of my birth! (Don't try and count! A few items are hidden...)

Bringing them to the appropriate donation locations tomorrow <3.

Truly a joy to be here another year on this wonderful Earth! Blessed and grateful.

Small Gestures in the Workplace

One day, while I was walking to work, I decided to bring some flowers that I had picked from my garden that morning. I came across a random stranger, and was inspired to give the bunch to him with a smile card.  Struck by the sense of joy I felt from giving flowers to another person, and maybe brightening his day, I wanted to do it again. When I got to my office, I had the idea of anonymously leaving flowers around the workplace. Sometimes, the impersonal atmosphere of the building where I work numbs my spirits a little. It's a nice building, with great light, but it just feels a little sterile sometimes. I figured lots of people might feel the same way, so why not put a little beauty there, and throw in an inspirational quote while I'm at it? After all, who doesn't like flowers? So, for the past month, I've been putting flowers ... Read Full Story >>

Sixth Graders and the Smile Deck

I teach a sixth grade religion class, and today I played the Smile Deck game with my students.  They each left with two kind acts to complete and were very enthusiastic as I handed them regular Smile Cards to go along with the Smile Deck Cards.

One student was able to complete one of her acts that day itself, when class ended.  She held the door for those leaving the building, handing out Smile Cards to those who would take them.  It was uncomfortable for her at first (12 years old is an awkward age, at best), but she got the hang of it and started to enjoy her 15 minutes as 'Door Woman'!

I am excited to hear about how the other children's acts of kindness go.

I hope that my take on the ways we can “take care of God's creation” will sink into these kids, and they will carry forward the idea of embracing kindness as a meaningful part of life.

This is just the beginning for me!!  Thanks for the forum of inspiration!

Breathing

Each individual plant is breathing in carbon dioxide, breathing out oxygen. Each individual animal is breathing in oxygen, breathing out carbon dioxide. In this way, we are all connected and dependent upon one another in the deepest sense, for breath, for life. We are each giving and receiving a vital gift to the other, the ultimate kindness. Taken as a whole, all the plants breathing, in and out, all the animals breathing, in and out, it's as if the earth herself is breathing. One in breath. One out breath. Perhaps she feels each heart beat as well, and her singular heart beats with the strength of each of ours. Today I will be kind to the earth. I will walk gently. I will honor all living beings. I will look to the trees with gratitude for the gifts they freely give, rather than with superiority simply because they are different from me. I'll ... Read Full Story >>

A Mother's Unforgettable Act Of Kindness, Years Later He Son Still Remembers

When I was very young, we used to live in Florida, a place I will never forget. These were the happiest days of my life, and I loved riding down one of Florida´s highways and to feel the wind whistle through my hair. One day, we went down a highway, but strangely nobody else appeared to be there. Well, maybe not any humans, but an animal was there. It was laying in the center of the road, blood red, and seemed to be dead: hit by a car. Quickly my mother pulled into the parking space (this highway had those) while I stayed in our car. ¨My dear god,¨ I heard her say. ¨It´s a turtle, and it´s still alive!¨ We had an empty bin in the back, and some water and blankets from the supermarket, so my mother filled it with water, picked the Turtle up, and put it in ... Read Full Story >>

It Is In Giving That You Get

It was one of those unexpected moments of generosity that just takes your breath away - I called up my favorite sandwich shop, ordered two veggie hoagies, and arranged to pick them up in ten minutes. Parking places are hard to find around there so my wife dropped me off, saying she would pick me up again in a few minutes.  I walk in and mention my order. "Ah yes! Here you go. That'll be $14.87," the burly man behind the counter said.  I gave him the cash and he handed me my change. As I picked up the napkins he handed me a giant empty glass. "Here you go," he said. "That's for your drink."  I took it, not really sure why he had given it to me. "Um, I actually didn't order a drink," I said and tried to hand him the glass back.  "Oh, I know. Go ahead, help yourself to a ... Read Full Story >>

Painted Rock Treasure Hunt

My sister-in-law just sent me an invitation to participate in this fun activity that is taking place in our community. It sounds like fun and is something that any community or group could do! You can change the "rules" to suit your group or situation.

Here's how it works: Just paint a rock with art inspirational quotes of your choosing, write "Go to PNW Rocks on Facebook" on the bottom, and be sure to seal it so it holds up in our wonderful rainy weather. Then, hide it around town where people can come across it in their daily activities. If you would like, post a picture of your rock art. Give a hint as to where people can find it.

If you find a PNW ROCKS painted rock, post a picture of your find on the Facebook page. You can choose to keep the rock or re-hide it. The whole point is to use art to brighten someone's day! Please note that there is no guarantee your painted rocks will be found, and they are given freely.