Search Results for 'popular' (3005 matches)

An Unexpected Surprise

One morning I heard someone trying to get their car out of the snow after a snowstorm. (A very common sound here in Montreal.) After a few minutes I realized they needed a push, so I got dressed ,went outside, and pushed the car. It only took about a minute and, feeling more cold than sociable, I walked back to my apartment, without really seeing the driver.   Months later I was at the corner store and the guy in front of me insisted on paying for the beer I was buying! It felt a bit awkward and I had to refuse repeatedly. When I reached the cashier she told me my stuff was already paid for and she couldn't take my money.     So, I was walking back home from the store and that same guy is fifty feet in front of me, all the way! It turns out he's my neighbor, ... Read Full Story >>

A Gift From Grief

On my trip to Berlin last week, the train suddenly stopped. After a couple of minutes, one of the attendants, visibly shaken, told us that somebody had committed suicide by standing in front of the train. After a couple of moments to allow space for my own sorrow, I got up and went to the attendants' cab to offer support, as a professional trained to deal with traumatized people. I was thinking of the train driver who'd basically run over the 'victim'. They told me they really appreciated my offer, but that the train company had specialists for such cases and that they were checking to see whether the driver would get relieved of duty for the remainder of the journey. But for the moment, and some two hours more, the train just stood there while paramedics, police, and train company disaster management arrived and did their job. I found that I felt bogged down ... Read Full Story >>

Blessed X 3

As my Daughter and I parked in front of our local grocery store, under the eaves in front of us was a homeless gentleman and his dog. I had decided upon entering the store that the least I could do was buy lunch for the gentleman and food and water for his dog. While at the checkout I noticed the man in the store trying to calculate what he could get with the change someone had given him while I had been inside. My first thought was I know who is watching his dog (a large pit bull). Sure enough as I exited there was my very shy daughter…keeping an eye on and playing with his dog. The gentleman came out shortly after me and was surprised to see that he had lunch waiting, and that I had already fed his dog. He thanked both of us while explaining that he hadn’t always ... Read Full Story >>

A Helping Hand

I had gone today to complete some unfinished business . It was a hot, sunny afternoon.  I parked the car and was walking towards to my destination, when from a distance I saw an elderly man walking towards me in the opposite direction . As we came close, I saw that he was walking slowly, in measured steps and there was a look of pain on his face.  He was not feeling comfortable, that I could clearly see. I glanced at him and then moved on, wanting to go quickly and complete my unfinished work.   I soon reached my destination,completed my work and was returning to where the car was parked , when again from a distance I saw the same man sitting on the road .I quickly walked across to where he was sitting.   I bent down and saw that he was tired and exhausted.  I was concerned and asked ... Read Full Story >>

A Starfish On The Beach

There is always a reason things work out the way they do. When I first submitted my idea to the Kindness Contest, my plan was to implement a kindness day at our local hospital. This was to entail buying some parking tokens and giving them out, taping some ziplock bags of coins to the vending machines in the Emergency waiting area, buying a hardworking nurse or two some lunch, delivering some snacks & baking to the palliative care family meeting rooms. I still plan to do some of these in the future, but for now my plans had to change.   When KindSpring.org contacted me and told me that that they had chosen my idea I was packing to head south for a few months (we are snowbirds) I told them that I would check out the local hospital in Lake Havasu City to see if they would allow me to carry out ... Read Full Story >>

What Time Cannot Erase

Today, I reached out to three amazing women I am blessed to know in my life. I let them each know how even though life moves us away from each other some times, we still always live on in each others' hearts.

I told them about all the things I love about them, what their special gifts are, how they touched my life, and that I'll always treasure them, near or far.

Beautiful words are just such a gift... expressing gratitude, love, connection - what could be better! I hope they each in turn do the same with friendships of their own that may need rekindling.  I'm so grateful and blessed they crossed my path in life.

Flowers of Gratitude

As most of the flowers in my yard are gone for the year, I made a run to Walmart last night for flowers.

This morning I waited for the neighborhood school bus. As soon as I saw the bus, I flagged it down and gave the flowers to the bus drive Jeanette, who is also my neighbor. The look on her face was priceless!

My children are not school-age anymore, but I do have nieces and nephews that age. I think it takes pretty special people to do this job.

To safely drive, watch over, and deliver so many children is a great responsibility and one that is undoubtedly under appreciated!
 

Lotus Love For You

With love,
from me to all of you.
A lotus from within my pond,
it grew.

Reaching for the light as we all must,
morning dew shining of night's sweet dusk.

Lotus Meaning:
Throughout many cultures over time, the lotus has been a powerful image and a spiritual symbol. In Hindu, Buddhist and Egyptian religions, the lotus is considered a sacred flower.

Among its many meanings and significance, the lotus is a symbol of "spontaneous" generation, and so it also represents divine birth, spiritual development and creation itself.

Namaste

Thanksgiving Hugs

Every Thanksgiving my family and I, along with others, prepare and serve Thanksgiving meals for the people in our small mountain community. My husband and I also bring meals to shut-ins, people that never leave their homes for various reasons. After we passed out boxed meals in a senior housing apartment building. After delivering to some individual apartments, we went to the central dining room and placed the boxes filled with turkey, ham, stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes, gravy and green bean casserole in front of each seat. People invited us to stay, and thanked us, but we had other deliveries and had to leave.  As we started to exit, I turned around and saw them all watching us. Impulsively, I asked, "Would anybody like a hug?" They lined up. There was so much warmth in each hug. My eyes filled with tears and my heart with love. I now visit occasionally to chat ... Read Full Story >>

Cleaning The Car And The Coast

Yesterday I helped a very busy friend clean out her car. We vacuumed and steam cleaned the upholstery. She was so happy and relieved to finally have it done!

Today was International Coastal Clean-up Day. So, my husband and I spent a very rainy morning picking up trash on the beach. 

It seems like such a drop in the bucket (even though it involved many buckets) but it was a satisfying experience and one we will continue regularly on our own.

I highly recommend this experience. It may change your perspective on all things plastic!
 

Magic Chain of kindness!

A year back, my friend and I had gone to a nearby town to attend a wedding. After the reception, we were waiting for a public transport bus to go back home. It was nine o'clock at night, and although many buses passed, none stopped. We waited for an hour and were getting desperate. We wouldn't be able to stay overnight because it was a weekday, and we both needed to work the next day. It was almost 10pm when a family who had attended the same wedding passed by in their car. Probably sensing that we were waiting for some means of transport, they stopped and gave us a lift. I was so overwhelmed by their kindness, and I expressed my gratitude to them. When we reached my hometown, the family dropped us at the nearest point from where we could catch a shared rickshaw to get back to the spot we ... Read Full Story >>

Happy Faces!

In our class we have formed an NGO called "Recolectando Felicidad". We decided, for our second project, to spend time with kids from different schools. Instead of bringing them toys or material things we decided to play with them because we feel that playing with them, giving them love and making them smile was way more valuable. The class formed small groups, with three or four people each, to take care of the different games Our group  was in charge of the play dough modelling activities. The day before visiting "Rayo de Luz" (a local school for children with learning difficulties) we met up to make the dough. We used flour, water, salt and food coloring, to make sure the dough would be safe for children. We made 4,5 kilograms of dough in six colors: pink, teal, yellow, purple, black and white. The next day, we went to the school. We invited the ... Read Full Story >>

Thanksgiving Joy For A Homeless Man

Sometimes the people who are noticed the least can do the most to lift us up... On Thanksgiving morning I got up early to run in the local 5K, figuring it would give me the motivation to get back into running. It was barely above freezing that morning so everyone getting ready to run was hopping around trying to stay warm. On the side of the road, sitting in the grass, was a man wrapped in a blanket. It was pretty obvious he was homeless and as usual, most people pretended not to see him. I went over and talked with him for a few minutes before the race. In the midst of the idle chit-chat, he told me that he was a veteran and had hoped he might be able to earn a few dollars that morning to be able to go buy a Thanksgiving dinner. He had a glimmer ... Read Full Story >>

A SPECIAL MEMORY

I was on my way from work one Mother's Day, and I noticed a man pulled by the side of the road and he was trying to load these huge logs into the back of his pick-up truck. As he attempted to load a log, I noticed every vein and muscle in his body straining to complete the task, but to no avail. I stopped my car and offered a hand. The gentleman looked at me as though I might not have enough strength to assist, but since I was the only one offering help he accepted. Together we lifted the log into the back of his truck and then two more. Admittedly, I was grunting from the weight of the logs. As we were loading the logs, I wondered if he was a craftsman who might be making tables from the huge logs (recently cut down by the city), but he ... Read Full Story >>

Uncovering the real Self

 In my high school yearbook my teacher wrote a quote from "Hamlet":  "To thine own self be true."  It took me years to understand what that meant.

Through actions and mis-actions I began to learn to listen to my heart and to follow it in my decision-making and activities.  In the 1960s and 1970s I was an activist against many things:  racism, the Vietnam War, sexism, nuclear power...  This work was endless and exhausting.  

I was being true to myself at great personal cost.  I reached a point when I could do no more (age, health, economics). When I let go of being against so much, I found all that I am FOR.

 My energy has increased, I am happier.  I am turning every "against" belief into something I am for and focusing on change for the better.  I feel more true to myself than ever before.  And I have immense gratitude for that.

A Cup of Chai At 3AM

The third round of flooding came at night. Residents kept vigil all night, waiting and watching the water level rise. Would it enter their home? As the water rose, people moved to the street, but still they wouldn't sleep. The water level continued it climb upwards, displacing more people as the hours passed. The stores were closed and traffic on the street minimal, but activity was in the air as people moved to help their relatives and neighbours.

A distance away, a man heard the news. He jumped on his scooter and instead of heading to the flooded slum, he drove in the opposite direction to Lal Darwaja (7-8km away from the slum), where food stands were open.

Dus chai dedo (10 chais please).

Packing the chai for travel, he then jumped back on his scooter and headed to the tekra. When he found the family he was looking for, he handed out chai to them and those around them before even asking how they were. They simply looked at the man and smiled. At 3AM, a cup of chai was exactly what they needed.

A Tin of Cookies for the Eco-Bus Driver

Somebody on this site suggested giving anonymous cookies to the people who clear away our waste, and I found that a good idea. So this morning I baked my favourite Chocolate-chip-and-peanut cookies, filled a tin, wrote a Thank you card and had everything ready.

On Wednesdays, the so-called eco-bus stops in our street for 15 minutes so that people can bring their separated recyclable waste (cardboard, aluminium, tins, glass, plastic bottles and other plastics, batteries, styrofoam), and the two or three people working inside this bus are always so helpful, taking your bags to empty them into the appropriate containers.

So today I waited until there were some other people on the bus and the workers would not pay attention to me, I got on through the front door and simply put my tin of cookies with the card sellotaped on top of it on the little ledge by the windscreen, and went on to put my waste into the containers. I was so proud that nobody had noticed. I'd love to have seen the face of the driver when he sat down to drive on and found the tin.

Simplicity is Living

To wake up in the morning, knowing you're still alive, To know you have a choice each day, starting afresh, To find joy in everyday, acknowledging simple pleasures, To live in the present moment, engaging your awareness, To count the blessings in life, believing abundance abounds, To enjoy the work you do, following your passion, To make a little difference, adding to the universe, To be what you are, listening to your inner being, To give away love, rejoicing in the chance to give, To receive love with gratitude, feeling good about it, To smile at strangers, seeing how infectious it can be, To speak words of kindness, spreading a little warmth, To understand with compassion, opening up your mind, To play with children, nurturing your inner child, To appreciate the nature, soaking up all the beauty, To feel the warmth of the sun, glowing upon your skin, To listen to the falling rain, pattering on the grounds To taste the ... Read Full Story >>

A Small Gesture That Made My Day Brighter

I needed to stop by our local grocery store on my way home. As I approached the store, I could see  a little old lady was trying to get a young man's attention - but without success. I asked the lady if she needed something and she said yes.  She had parked near the shopping cart return area and was going to use a cart to lean on.  She needed it to help her balance.  There was only once cart there and it was from a different store so she didn't want to use it.   I walked to another cart area and retrieved a cart for this grocery store.  The lady was relieved and happy to have the right cart.  She told me she uses the cart to get to the store.  Once inside, she uses a motorized cart.  She thanked me and was on her way. A little while later, I saw the little old ... Read Full Story >>

A Smile Card Farewell

I am planning to change my career, so I went to a career adviser to get some advice on what to do with my qualifications. The career adviser was lovely and we connected immediately as if we had known each other for a long time.

When I booked another appointment she told me that she was moving and that it would be the final appointment. I decided to give her a little glass heart with the words "good luck" and a Smile Card. When she saw the Smile Cards she asked me if she could have more, she was going to have a farwell dinner and she wanted to give one to each of her guests. I was over the moon and handed her all the Smile Cards I had in my bag.

I felt that I wanted to do something else so I went home got one of my books and wrote a small dedication whishing her luck for the new job, and wrapped it in a beautiful paper along with more Smile Cards. I gave it to reception to give it to her, I hope she liked the surprise, and I'm happy to have sent more Smile Cards out in to the world.