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Extra Joy In Kinder Eggs

I was in a supermarket in Lithuania, where I live, when I saw a lady looking confused. she was looking for something to buy for her grandchildren. 

I was buying Kinder Joy eggs (plastic eggs with a toy in one half and a treat in the other) for my little brother. She asked me what they were. I explained and offered to help her choose some toys. She told  me she had three grandchildren. Then she bought five of the eggs! One each for her grandchildren and one each for my brother and me! 

Happiness Shared

Kindness Is The Medicine

One of my co-workers was recently stressed because his wife is struggling through a period of severe depression triggered by a rebounding of bodily pain from fibromyalgia.  She's also been on furlough from work for a number of years, and doesn't get much opportunity to maintain social ties and a sense of purpose which are often so essential and deeply nourishing.  After listening to him unload his burdens, I decided to do something small to support him and his wife. I don't know his wife very well at all, but wanted to express some warmth and kindness to her, since it so often feels like the universal balm to soothe every ailment. I found out that, like most people, she loves receiving handwritten mail.  So I purchased a card and wrote the following message to her: Dear Nxxxx, I want you to know that you have something very unique and beautiful to offer the ... Read Full Story >>

Top Ten Kindness Stories of 2012, Story #10 - 8 Things To Do Every Day That Will Make You Happier

1) Thank someone First thing in the morning, send an email thanking or praising someone. Research shows this can brighten your day.   2) Spend money — on someone else Harvard professor Michael Norton, author of Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending, explains how spending money on other people can generate more happiness than spending on yourself: 3) Give 5 hugs People assigned to give or receive hugs 5 times a day ended up happier than the control group. From Sonja Lyubomirsky’s very interesting book, The How of Happiness: In a one-of-a-kind study, students at Pennsylvania State University were assigned to two groups. The first group was instructed to give or receive a minimum of five hugs per day over the course of four weeks and to record the details. The hugs had to be front-to-front (nonsexual) hugs, using both arms of both participants; however, the length and strength of hug, as well as the placement of hands, were left ... Read Full Story >>

Making Sure to Thank the Referees

I spent my Saturday at the basketball court watching all three of our kids play their games.  My older two had playoffs as they worked to be in the championship game.  During the third game of the day I commented to my husband that these playoff games were getting a little overly rough and competitive and it was making me nervous. As my son's game continued, the fans around us starting making light-hearted comments about the refs' calls - or lack of.  These were the same ref's my son's team has had all season and I think they are a GREAT pair - which I said often during the game.  The refs had a sense of humor and grinned and nodded as the comments continued to come. It was an intense and physical game and I was cheering loudly!  It was a tight game to the end, but my son's team did end ... Read Full Story >>

Cutest Moment of My Day

I live near a bay in Sydney and I go on a bike ride almost every day. I see lots of people riding their bike and others just walking and enjoying the view. On Sundays, there are more people around the bay. I love riding my bike then so that I can give as many smiles as possible.  Today, on may way back home, I noticed a little girl with walking with her mom holding a box of her things. It was so beautiful so see how happy they were. I kept riding my bike and I noticed a shiny necklace on the ground. I didn't do anything at first, but then I thought maybe it belonged to the little girl. I turned around to pick up the necklace. Luckily, it was still there, but for a second I thought that maybe it did not belong to her. I decided to go ... Read Full Story >>

The Christmas Bike Conundrum

The Enzian Art House in Florida was showing movies in the park. One evening, a few weeks before Christmas, they showed The Christmas Story and had a raffle with a girl's bike as the prize.  It was painfully cute with iridescent streamers, flowers, butterflies, an adorable bell, all designed to delight a five year old. But fifty year old me won it! This led to a bit of a conundrum as I didn't have kids or grand-kids to give it to.  I wanted the bike to go to someone who didn't have the opportunity to own such a wonderful thing. I contacted the shelter (where I occasionally volunteered in the kitchen) and while there was a big need for a sweet bike there was also the potential for it creating strife.  I sought else where until I found out about a couple in our church who had been going through hard times in their ... Read Full Story >>

The tiny, mud-free space that meant a lot!

I'm in Boulder, Colorado, and am one of the fortunate ones without much flood impact on my home. Today, I went over to a friend's house to help with the cleanup there. The house is less than a block from one of the creeks, and the flash flood broke a basement window, filled the basement up to eight feet, rushed up the stairs to the ground floor, and flooded that floor as well.  A crew of her friends had been pulling up carpet and moving furniture all morning when I arrived. She asked me to help move damaged items out of a back room where carpet was already pulled out, and start getting the layer of chocolaty mud out. With one other helper, I got busy shoveling and scraping; once we got the heavy layer off, I started running the wet vac. There was a three-foot square of tiled floor in front ... Read Full Story >>

A Volunteering Experience that Became a Lifelong Connection

Last year, I kept having this nagging feeling I was living just for the "me, me, me.” With this in mind, I decided to volunteer to break out of this me-centricity. After reaching out to a number of organizations, I got a call back from a dance studio in New Jersey. On my first day volunteering, a remarkable young girl caught my eye. That girl could dance! Aside from her natural skill, which was a delight to witness, she simply lit up the room. She was African American, ten years old and she wore the more endearing big-rimmed glasses. At the end of class, I had to ask her, “How long have you been taking lessons?” She replied shyly, "I wish... I have never taken a class.” I was speechless.  Her teacher told me she lived in a group home, and then and there I knew what I felt called to do. ... Read Full Story >>

A Stuffed Animal Matters

"A stuffed animal might not matter much to the average person, but for a child, it could mean the world. When 10-year-old Leon Ashworth’s mom couldn't afford to buy him a stuffed panda he desperately wanted, he wrote a forlorn note on the toy’s box pleading with shoppers not to buy it until his mom could. What happened next was so heartwarming, it will melt you. The boy, who lives in Liverpool, England with his mom, Debbie Ashworth, first saw his beloved ‘Pandy’ at an Asda supermarket, the British equivalent of Wal-Mart. Though he was willing to wait patiently until his mom’s paycheck came in on June 15th to take the cuddly bear home, the store’s staff decided to do something incredibly thoughtful after they noticed Leon’s scribbled letter. In search of the young author, whom they didn’t know at the time, they posted the note on Facebook – and eventually attracted ... Read Full Story >>

"Meet la Bestia, the Beast"

One of the few freight networks that still makes the rounds on Mexico's rugged countryside. Immigrants from Central and South America board the trains in an attempt to reach Mexico's northern border quickly. The trail is dangerous: the travelers face mutilation and death from falling off the train. Criminal gangs stalk the southernmost lengths of the network, stopping the trains in their tracks. The travelers are lucky if they are left alive. The few women that board the trains' roofs are raped and kidnapped. On the central and northern lengths of the trail, narcos are always prowling, ready to scare the travelers into surrendering their belongings. Some of them are forcibly recruited into the narcos' ranks as slave footsoldiers. Some are killed in cold blood, their bodies ditched into mass graves. They are chased by inmigration officers and federal police, who have been known to commit shameless acts of human rights ... Read Full Story >>

Sandwich Therapy

Last night, I was waiting in line to place my order at a fast food place. The lady just ahead of me was taking a long time to order and asking the cashier many questions about the options. That slowed us all down, just enough for me, who seldom notices what people wear, to notice that she was dressed like a person who has been living on the street. Maybe she was homeless and was having a hard time placing her order in a place with limited choices on the menu because this was already more choice than she had ever had in her life. I saw this as an opportunity and walked up to stand near her by the cashier. When she had finished ordering, I asked her if she would mind if I just paid for her sandwich. She looked at me and asked, "you want to pay for my sandwich? ... Read Full Story >>

Free Hugs -- Hug The World

Hug the World   Welcome to the planet Earth It can seem quite sad and cold Never fear there’s someone here With a heart of shining gold So let me tell you a story One that started with a hug And maybe by the end of it You’ll do more than shrug   Our story starts in Australia A truly sunburned land With ever stretching coastlines Of lovely, pure, white sand Now let’s zoom in on Sydney And a busy shopping mall Where people seem so distant Like they don’t care at all   At first he looks quite normal No different from the throng But as he stands with his arms raised His message is loud and strong FREE HUGS is all the sign says The people laugh and point Who is this man? They wonder Will he hug or disappoint?   But still he stands, the sign held high His message is clear as day And then the people realise He’s changing the world his way Then someone comes up to him Looking down and out “I sure could use a hug he ... Read Full Story >>

Rewarding Kindness

I was in getting coffee one time and the girl behind me needed a bit more change so she didn't have to break a bill. Without hesitation a gentleman behind her gave her the necessary change.

I thought it was a generous thing to do and I paid for his coffee. There is a lot of good in this world and it is often hidden by the bad.

A Cup of Kindness

   They have introduced a coupon system in my workplace for coffee where we have to produce a coupon to get coffee. And we must collect the coupon booklet from admin people on the first of every month.    Yesterday i went to collect the coupon from our cafeteria on the 9th floor and then went to 2nd floor where the coffee machine is to grab a quick cup of coffee before starting my day at work. As i was waiting for the lift after getting the coffee I saw a senior person about the age of 50 being informed by the attendant that he could not have coffee without the coupon. And he had to go to the 9th floor to get the coupon and then come down again for coffee. But then it would be late for him to start his work since we have strict reporting time in our ... Read Full Story >>

Let Your Voice Of Kindness Be Heard!

Have you seen the news off to the side on this website here about the extra $100 to spread kindness in the community?

A Creative Way to Teach My Children an Important Lesson

I have two sons who are 5 and 3 years old.  They love to take walks outside and one of the walks we often do is along a cycle path through some fields. This path eventually leads to the local high school, so  there is always some litter scattered on the sides, even though the city's cleaning squad sometimes tidies it up.   One day an idea occurred to me, I decided to show my children that we could do something to make a difference.  The next day, we took a plastic bag and some rubber gloves with us and the children and I collected whatever litter we found on our way. My sons had so much fun, since at that age they love picking up things from the ground (and with the rubber gloves I did not need to be scared they would catch something) and it was a creative ... Read Full Story >>

My First Thanksgiving

At 47 years old who would have thought I would have been wearing a "Baby's First Thanksgiving" bib? Although I didn't actually wear a bib, last year was my first "real" Thanksgiving. I came from a broken home and when I married 25 years ago, I sought to make my family everything I didn't have growing up. I'm afraid I had that "white picket fence" mentality. Every holiday needed to be picture perfect. The food, the dishes, the house decorations, even down to the cozy sweater I had purchased especially for the occasion. I was so wrapped up in how things were suppose to be, losing sight of what meant most. So many of my years wasted on being decieved. That was then this is now. Being alone now, separated from my husband, and our son serving in the military, I was blessed to have the opportunity to truly serve. A small group of friends and ... Read Full Story >>

A Simple but Meaningful Act of Gratitude

Every month, I write letters to two Marines serving in Afghanistan who I don't know.  I thank them for their service to our nation. While I don't know them, I hope that they know how much I appreciate them.

Runaway Coffee Barrels and the 'Angel of Mercy'

Coming home from a coffee shop today, we had our old truck loaded down with three 50-gal. barrels of mostly coffee grounds that we use to make compost.  My husband had laid them down in the truck, and as we came up the ramp to a major intersection the tailgate hinge broke and all the barrels rolled out into the street behind us. Thank goodness there were no cars immediately behind us, which was a bit of a miracle since it was lunch hour. One barrel rolled right into a lane, and the two others were partially in a lane.  We slammed on the brakes, jumped out, and I retrieved the closest one while my husband started running back toward the ramp to get the other two. I knew that one of the ones he was going to get was extremely heavy; we had had a horrible time getting it into ... Read Full Story >>