Search Results for 'popular' (3006 matches)

Strangers Reaching Out to Help Us

One Diwali, We were on a vacation in Dubai and having a good time and lots of fun. One day, we were visiting Abu-Dhabi, traveling with a few passengers in a bus. At our first stop, we got out to take some pictures. At our second stop, we noticed that we had forgotten our shoulder bag at the first stop. The worst part was that our passports, Visas, hotel booking papers, Itinerary...everything was inside that bag and we were very panicky, as we had to return to India in 2 days. During this process of searching for our bags we came into contact with so many strangers whom we found to be genuinely concerned and helpful with our situation: A tour guide and a bus driver helped us to locate a cab so that we could travel back the first destination to find our bag. A cab driver, who stayed with us for ... Read Full Story >>

Low Income Rich

I am a low-income senior, but I have enough food, water, medicines, human contact,enough access to grass and trees and views of the sky.

I have enough clothes, books, music, paper and pens. I have enough access to information via the internet. I have enough to amuse, entertain, inform, astonish, challenge, heal, and sustain my soul.

I have a lifetime of experience and wisdom hard won from life lessons. I have enough  memories and enough hopes and visions to keep me moving into the future.

Best of all, I have enough to keep giving away. I am rich, and for all this I am grateful.

A Kindness "Chain Reaction" in a Traffic Jam

My 17 year old granddaughter is an accomplished flutist.  She recently gave a farewell recital to her friends and family at her high school in Chicago, which was followed by a homemade buffet supper.  After the recital, she had a 3 hour drive home with her mother and sister.  They decided to load up the car with the left-over food from the recital, which included barbequed sandwiches and cream puffs.  They packed the food on plates which they placed in zip-lock bags. On the drive back, they stopped to give the zip-lock bags to homeless people along the way.  At one junction, there was a traffic jam even though the lights were green.  My granddaughter decided to run through the cars to take a plate to a person on the side walk.  As she ran back, some of the other cars started to honk their horns. The lights had already turned red, so my daughter ... Read Full Story >>

Green Smiles

I remember that particular Monday morning well. Having signed up for a new website dedicated to random kindness (KindSpring.org), I suddenly received an email which stated that my idea had won. My idea had... won? Wait, were they talking about my idea for 'Green Smiles'? Green Smiles had always seemed more like a wishful daydream, some sort of fantasy which was inspired by the lack of green in my neighborhood. I wanted to make the neighborhood more 'green' in the broadest sense of the word. For example, I wanted to plant pretty flowers and even herbs in the small patches near the trees. Perhaps even transform the larger and often messy plots of 'green' near the parking lots. Put up insect-hotels so that children (and adults too of course ;)) would be able to enjoy the sight of a pretty butterfly more often. Or look in wonder at at a buzzing ... Read Full Story >>

A Simple Outdoor Thank You

I have a friend who has been treating me to breakfast recently, and I wanted to find a way to repay her kindness.  Her treats have been helpful since my husband has been unemployed for months, and money is tight.  I came up with an inexpensive and effective way to let her know how much I appreciate her kindness. 

I called and asked whether she likes egg sandwiches.  Hearing her affirmative enabled me to share my plan: to make English muffin sandwiches with bacon, egg, and cheese, and take her to the park to eat them together.

We had a great time at the park.  I picked her up early on a Saturday morning and brought along my little doggies, whom she loves.  She thoroughly enjoyed eating and being outside in the sunshine, and my two doggies where the icing on the cake.  We walked them all around the park and received a lot of pleasant attention.

I am delighted that I found an inexpensive way to give back to my friend, while also enjoying the experience myself.  In fact, we plan on returning to the park for more fun again in a few weeks.

Kindness Begets Kindness

I was gifted with a wonderful opportunity last night. One of the people in our Facebook neighborhood group posted some pillows for sale that I knew my youngest daughter would love, so I requested to buy them from her. She only wanted $4.00, which I thought was very reasonable for the 4 pillows. We set up the porch pickup for later in the evening. When I got there, I put a $20 in her mailbox and sent her a message that I didn't have change (true, though had I really wanted to I could have gotten it), so to treat herself and her daughter to a little something. Once she discovered what I did, she messaged me back, offering to put the change under her mat for me to pick up. I asked her to just pay the kindness forward sometime, and that would be the only 'change' I need. She promised ... Read Full Story >>

Reconnecting a young women with her father

Decades ago I ended my relationship with my beloved fiance after another young woman made it her life's goal to have this talented man.  I left but never stopped loving him. We remained close and kept in contact by phone and rare visits until he died many years later. We always loved each other but because the shock of our ending was so traumatic for me I always refused to return to him.  When he died, his friends treated me like his widow which, in a strange way, I was.  Several years ago, I saw a note on the internet asking if anyone knew of him. I replied to it and learned it was from his daughter who had never known him. We eventually spoke on the phone several times. She is a well known singer. (Her father was a brilliant pianist and arranger.) She wanted so much to know why she had never known ... Read Full Story >>

Helping Others Heals Ourselves

College was the best of times and the worst of times for me. I met the best friends of my life, had unimaginable experiences, and traveled to new places, but I also folded under more stress than I ever had to deal with before. As a result of bad grades, bad study skills, and pure burnout, I ended up being asked to take a semester off at the end of the first semester of my senior year. All the friends I had made were going to graduate and all I knew was that I wouldn't be graduating with them. So I ended up going back home to live with my father and stepmother. To their credit, they were very cool about me coming back. I felt their support from the moment I walked in the door and they refused to let me feel like a failure. No matter how much they ... Read Full Story >>

Festival Sweets For Strangers

This Diwali, I planned to celebrate the festival by doing some kind acts. I emailed few colleagues to join me however all were busy with festival celebration. I also had enough work and a meeting got scheduled on the Diwali day itself hence i had to visit office. I was thinking it won't be possible but then I got an idea of distributing sweets right near office. Looked like a good idea but I had not made any full fledged plans. When I reached office I already started feeling bad for security and kitchen staff who were working on holiday, so they got tagged. Around lunch time, I wanted to go and purchase sweets when I thought of buying pizza for lunch, along with giving sweets to pizza hut workers, who were also at work on holiday. This was pretty exciting as young boys n girls work at pizza hut and i was ... Read Full Story >>

Thoughts on Simple Living

On this eve of the 21-Day Simple Living challenge I'm sitting in reflection of what the term simple means to me. Over the past two+ years I've taken step after step, some conscious others not at all, towards simplifying my life. As such I've stepped into a much slower, much more mindful day-to-day existence although it's often I step back into the busy and faster pace that I once knew. I believe Duane shared on a few Awakin calls ago that in simplifying we have the opportunity to realize what really matters most to us. That also has shown truth for me, as I stepped into forming Wild Dream Walks, an organization that uses walking as a tool to connect community and lead people down the path of what matters to them most. This alone has given me the opportunity to serve from my heart for many people. This year I created ... Read Full Story >>

Common Sense of a 9-Year-Old

My son is only 9 years old and is a pretty small guy for his age.  But he has a heart of gold. Today, he went swimming with some friends and my husband at a local pool.  My husband didn't swim, he was just watching from the side.  At one point, one of the boys cried out to our son, "Help me, my legs and arms are tired and I can't swim!" Upon hear this, my husband set off to jump into the pool with his clothes on.  Before he could do that, our little hero had grabbed his friend around the waist and swam him to safety.   We think his friend's legs were probably cramping from being tired. When I returned home, my son told me the story and acted as if it was just the common sense thing to do.   When I asked him about it, he responded, "I'm not ... Read Full Story >>

A Party For An Inspirational Teacher

 My social studies teacher is leaving our school for a new job. 
 
He has been with us for about three years and is dear to me and my friends. He is one of the best teachers we have and we will be sad to see him go. He has to leave because his youngest son is ill and he needs to work closer to home.
 
As a thank-you present and a good-bye gift we are giving him a surprise party on the day he leaves. We will bring in his favorite foods, play his favorite music, and so much more. I am putting a video together for him of all of the funny sayings he has and funny stories told by other staff members. Another friend is putting funny video clips and pictures we have of him together into a movie.
 
My Spanish teacher has helped us organize this and I really appreciate all the support and help we are getting from others at school! 
 
It makes me so happy to know how much of a family our small school is and how supportive everyone is of each other.
 
I am sad to see a dear friend and teacher leave but I hope he enjoys his new job and his son gets better soon!
 

A Snack That Turned Into Balloons

Often we do little acts of kindness and can’t really know what happens next… the people who benefit from the act return to their lives and we return to ours!  Our paths may never cross again.  But that’s not the case when a member of HelpOthers does a kind act to another member of HelOthers!  Here we can chart the ripples as we guide the kindness on its way!  Here’s one such story. You may have read Aurelia’s post about making Chex Mix for her family, or Bluebell’s post about receiving a snack from a friend in the US.  Well I sent some Karmabucks to Aurelia to find out more about her amazing snack and she offered to send some to me if I was based in the US.  Unfortunately I’m not, I live in the UK but luck would have it that I was off to America for a company event last ... Read Full Story >>

No Change, Please

During a shopping trip into town one day, my son and I noticed a lot of homeless people. These days, we've been seeing a lot more people on the streets, and we felt compelled to help. So we made a deal with each other. We went to the cash machine and withdrew some cash. Then we gave ourselves a certain amount we could give away to the homeless people whom we encountered. Once we have given away that set amount, we stop. We had a lovely day out, and on the way home, a young girl asked us for help. We had given all our cash away already, so we passed her. But as we walked on, I couldn't help but think she looked so in need of a decent meal. At the same time, my son blurted, "Mum, I know we have spent all our cash, but could we just go back and ... Read Full Story >>

An Extra Dose of Compassion at the Hospital

Today I met an old lady when I was in hospital. I was done with my check-up and I was standing in medicine counter of the hospital to get my medicinal receipt and medicines.  I saw that the old lady was sitting in a nearby chair and waiting for something. She seemed a little distraught so I asked her if she was okay.

She told me that she was waiting for her son who was tied up with some personal work and he had told her that he could come back in a few hours. She said that she was feeling faint and tired. I rushed to the nearby hospital cafeteria and bought her some breakfast. I then got her prescription for her and paid for her medication along with mine. 

She had the breakfast and she was happy now. She also had the tablet and thanked me.

I was happier for showing kindness to her.

Two In A Taxi For Four

The "share-taxi" normally wouldn't have left until it had four paying passengers in it. The only other passenger was a lady who seemed to be in quite a hurry, so I agreed to pay the remaining fares and got in.

Her mother had suffered a heart attack and this lady was going to collect her and take her to hospital. She started chatting, telling me how her two elder sisters do not care for her mother. She does all she can for her mother while having a husband and two children to look after. 

She had just pawned her jewels in order to raise money in a hurry.

She was glad to have someone to talk to until we reached her destination. I wished her well and said a silent prayer.

Finding That Positive Note

My step-son is going through an extremely difficult time in his life and is battling many personal issues.   He calls his father several times a day, often consumed by sadness and negativity, sometimes near his breaking point. Trying to be supportive and non-critical takes it's toll on us all, but we keep trying.    This morning on our drive to work I asked my husband to try ending the telephone conversation with his son by simply saying, "Now, tell me something good about today".     Some days that might be an easy thing to do, other days it may be nearly impossible. But even if the only thing he could can up with to say is, "You were there for me again today, Dad," that would at least give him something positive to focus on.    Tonight, I heard my husband say to his son, "Okay, now let's end on a positive note. Tell me ... Read Full Story >>

Southerly Winds Sweep In Smile Cards

Yesterday, I gave out my first Smile Cards!

There was a very strong, gusty southerly wind in town. While driving, I noticed some empty trash cans in the street. I stopped at the first one I encountered, placed it upside-down beside the curb (hoping it would not blow into the street again) and placed a Smile Card under it.

Then I drove on.

Talk about anonymous-- the recipient probably had no idea what a Smile Card is, who put it there, or even why it was there! I did this twice more on my way home from town, and it felt great! :)

Just A Simple Thank You

Balloon On A Kindness Journey

I finally did it! I am so happy! 

I've had this idea for a while but I didn't have the guts to actually go through with it - until today.

I bought 10 helium filled balloons, drew a smiley face and wrote the date they were released on each them. I had set up another e-mail account for the project. I wrote the e-mail address on Smile Card and attached them to the balloons.

Then I took them outside and released them into the air. I hope to get some awesome stories back in return.