Search Results for 'popular' (3006 matches)

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.

Babies on Planes

The flight that I was on had these two babies less than a year old, probably twins, who were howling loudly. They were probably uncomfortable with their first flight. Everyone in the plane was disturbed with the loud crying. The poor parents were having a really really tough time and didn't know what to do to help the kids calm down. Both the mother and father stayed peaceful with the babies.
 
Even though almost every passenger on the plane was disturbed, no one said anything which to me was a sign of supreme patience and kindness of strangers that goes unnoticed. I want to thank all of you who have a large heart and stay patient and tolerant when facing such issues in public places. When the flight landed, I went and patted the father's arm and told him that I thought that both of them were wonderful parents. He laughed and thanked me for the compliment. His laughter made my day!

 

Giving from the Heart Always Works

I work downtown and every morning, when I walk from the SkyTrain Station (our version of a subway) to the office, I usually see people who are sleeping outside, in business doorways and on sidewalks. It is truly heartbreaking to see so many people who are homeless. Most people will just walk by and few will stop to offer a kind word or any help of any kind. When I talk with others about the homeless situation, most people will tell me that most of them are drug addicts or dealing with mental illness. While some of the homeless are suffering from an addiction or mental illness, many may have become homeless due to an illness or sudden job loss. Today, I brought a bag with a toque (warm knit hat), pair of socks, bottle of water and a mini first aid kid with me. I saw someone sleeping outside of the Tim ... 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.

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 >>

Scarf with a Mission

I recently received a story from a friend: So after a recent meditation group gathering, a wonderful soul that I trust and admire asked me to give away a beautifully constructed scarf with a smile card. I mean, living in New York City in the dead of winter, I thought this should be easy.   There is a woman who sits outside in the cold, near my office building every single day. I instantly thought, Let me give it to her. She appears to be homeless,  it is cold, and she sits there all day, everyday, outside of one of the richest jewelry stores in the world. Excitedly, I went to give her the scarf.   She said, "What is it?"   I told her, and she said, "No, I don't want it."   And in that moment I was both perplexed and humbled. I wanted to plead with her, "It's cold, it’s snowing, you don't ... Read Full Story >>

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.

An Act of Honesty Saves a Vacation

My oldest daughter is on vacation this week. She called last night to tell us that she arrived safely in North Carolina. She said, "Don't get mad but I lost my wallet." Then she quickly added, "But it's been returned to me!" She had left the highway to get gas and some food. Her boyfriend was in a hurry to get going  because they had a few more hours to drive before reaching their desitination. She placed her wallet on the car roof, put the puppy in the back seat, and quickly jumped into the car. Off they went, with the wallet still on the roof! They were about a  half hour away and they came to a toll booth. She reached in her purse for her wallet and couldn't find it. She had a lump in her throat as she remembered leaving it on the roof. She started to cry. Then, almost ... Read Full Story >>

A Sparkling Heart From A Simple Gesture

This is just a small story but it really warmed my heart.   I'd gone to collect my daughter from her music lesson when I saw this older woman walking around. She looked completely lost.   I had no idea why she would be in that area. It's in a business park and it was at the weekend when there aren't usually many people around. And why would she be in that parking lot which is totally off the beaten path?I guessed she was probably really lost. It turned out she had missed her turning and needed to find her way to the highway. I tired to explain but she seemed too upset and confused for me to just explain how to get there, so I said, "Don't worry. Follow me and I'll take you there."     She looked at me and you could see the worry leave her face. She said, "Bless you," ... Read Full Story >>

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 >>

Power of Kind Words

Sometime back, I was at a meeting at my church, and I was not particularly in a good mood. I was neither happy nor unhappy, and in a very indifferent frame of mind. Deep down I was restless.

Then I overheard someone talking about me to another person. It went something like, "He is a great guy and very often misunderstood..."
That was all I needed. That comment lifted my spirit, and suddenly brightened my day. It was like finding the rainbow in a very unexpected way.

They're just little things--small compliments or kind words of encouragement. But they can completely change our world.

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.

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 >>

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 >>

Learning in Unlikely Places

I went up to Peet’s Coffee the other morning and there was a young man, Mike, probably my age. With him he had all his physical belongings on a small roll cart. I first thought, how nice to have so little possessions. That was followed with the thought of how ironic it is that we live in one of the financially wealthiest areas of the U.S., if not the world, yet we can’t, or don’t, take care of the basic needs of human beings. Yes, we are financially wealthy, but we lack in wealth of compassion, kindness, understanding. I tear up as I ponder the inequality and injustice that exists.   Anyway, I invited Mike in for bite to eat and he eagerly accepted. He talked about looking up a friend for a place to stay that night. On Christmas Eve as many eagerly (and greedily) stuff their bellies with food in ... Read Full Story >>

A Note in my Lunch Box

At the beginning of this week I was touched to tears, when I opened my lunch box at work. Somehow I was feeling not so good that day, it was hard for me to get up in the morning, and so on.

When I opened my lunch box at work, I saw a little piece of paper. The piece of paper was a note from my mom saying that she loves me and wished me a blessed day!

My heart was so touched, I am so thankful that God gave me a mother that notices when I am a little down. The next day I had another note! My mom made a difference in my day and I will never forget this special touch of kindness!

Just A Simple Thank You

How to Lighten Up a Laundromat

I recently needed some quarters, so I went to the laundromat to exchange my $10 bill for change. The environment there seemed a little tense-- no one was smiling and everyone kept to themselves. I didn't need to do laundry, and I could feel people looking at me as I waited for my quarters to come out, clinking one at a time.

I quietly placed my quarters in my wallet, and started to walk toward the door. Then I stopped for a moment.

I opened my wallet back up, and looked at the washier unit in front of me. It read: $2.00 per load.

I could feel eyes watching me cautiously, curious of what I was doing. 

I took $2 in quarters out of my wallet and placed them neatly on one of the washers. Then I smiled, walked out, and drove away.

I hope that someone who needs it will pick it up and use it. :) 

And for the people who saw what I did, may they see that it was just a gesture of kindness to someone I will never see or meet or know. It was simply to show that we can leave an act of kindness wherever we may go. As small and simple that act may be.

Spread Love Everywhere You Go

Dear friends, I hope that all is well. One of the things I know is that it is human nature to want things. We all want more money, better homes, better cars, and better relationships and so on. So what is the secret to getting all that we want? I have been looking for that answer for a while and if you have it I pray you will share. Here is what I would like to share, I started tithing last year and I made the minimum amount based on my income. This past Sunday as I reflected in all that is going well in my life I realized that I was not giving back at the rate to which I am being given. This made me think of life in general and how we want so much from life but we are willing to give so little. We often agonize about ... Read Full Story >>

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 >>