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A Slice Of Love In the Supermarket Aisle

I was working in a supermarket promoting a new variety of bread.  My job was to hand out slices of bread; it was very monotonous and at times very hard to keep motivated saying the same thing over and over again.

So I decided to change it up, and alter my perspective on the situation.  With a piece of bread in my hand, I started to say, "Would you like to try a slice of love?  And I'm also giving away free hugs today."

And so I started hugging complete strangers, as they passed by my aisle.

The reactions of the people absolutely blew me away!  An older lady said she had not been hugged in two years.  I was so moved by our brief conversation that I decided that I'm always going to be ever-ready to share my hugs freely – you just never know who might need them!

Thank you for your kindness!

For the past 5 days, I was down with viral flu and I wasn't really feeling well. My father lost his job, I've had trouble in my work and a lot more trouble I can only imagine.I can't help but cry. What keeps my sanity for these agonizing days? You guys in here - people I really don't know personally but by your never ending stories of kindness. I know at one point I'll be able to stand up and gain whatever helplessness I am feeling in my heart now.

I really just want to thank you for letting me feel your kindness here in my heart.

Sometimes We All Need A Little Support

I will never forget a special trip to the grocery store a couple of years ago. My father had just recently passed away.  I was missing him terribly and rarely getting through a day without crying. I needed to pull myself together to get some groceries for my husband and young children. As I entered the store, I immediately had to control my emotions as the sweet aroma of my Daddy's favorite cinnamon buns made there at our local grocery store drifted throughout the store. I made my way up and down the busy aisles and filled my cart as I read my list, which I had prepared that morning. I was approaching the in-store bakery when I just couldn't control myself any longer. I held the cart and quietly cried as I looked at the plump, gooey cinnamon buns in the case. An older gentleman came to my side and simply ... Read Full Story >>

Filled With a New Sense of Hope

Moving can bring out the best and the worst in people, I'm finding.  They say that uprooting can really test a relationship, so, if that's the case, I think I'm passing with flying colors.  And  I've discovered where a very generous spirit lives: Defiance, Ohio. After suffering through many months of unemployment, my wife and I moved this week from Colorado to Ohio, where she's starting a new job.  Not knowing a soul there, we were pretty concerned about all the work involved, not only loading up our entire home and driving two big rental trucks 1,250 miles, but how we'd get all that stuff unloaded without killing ourselves in the process. We made a connection to hire a couple of college students to help with all the heavy lifting once we got there.  But, to our surprise, one neighbor after another stopped by and pitched in to help.  What!?!?  Have we ... Read Full Story >>

Random Notes of Kindness

For some time, I had been thinking that I wanted to do something to make strangers smile. I decided that I would leave small post it notes around in shops, on public transit, and other public places with positive sayings or kind words for strangers to find. A friend on Facebook had posted that she had received reams of beautiful paper from an artist friend and was wondering what to do with it.  I told her about my idea, and she immediately remarked that this must be what her paper was meant for. So, two friends on opposite sides of the world started leaving these random notes of kindness.  I now have a third friend in the UK leaving notes as well, three continents are covered. :) I leave my notes without expecting any particular results.  Whether they are read or thrown away, it doesn't matter.  The main thing is that I did ... Read Full Story >>

A Newborn At My Doorstep

Nearly 6 years ago, a little boy was brought to me to look after in my day care.  He was a mere two days old.  After being with me for some 3 months, we realized that the "Mother" has disappeared, leaving this helpless little boy.

I could not get it over my heart to leave this child to his own defenses and decided to adopt him.  We come from different backgrounds and cultures, but I was will to endure everything in order to love this child unconditionally.

I adopted him and am proud to say that he is today a real blessing in my life!

Sadness Though an act of Kindness

Dear Friends in Love and Kindness, I’m feeling blue and rather courageous about sharing this act of kindness. It’s not a feel good story about choosing to do something kind for someone, but I’ll tell you anyway, in honor of the fact that sometimes it hurts deeply to open our hearts and extend kindness with the intention of alleviating another person’s suffering. This past weekend I was in grocery store when a woman asked me for 50 cents towards buying some chicken . She said she was hungry. I didn’t have any cash, but I offered to buy her chicken if she didn’t mind sticking around with me until I finished shopping. She didn’t say anything but started walking beside with me. She had a very sad demeanor, and I noticed she had a black eye. She shuffled her feet as she walked. She slurred her speech. (I noticed many judgments rise up within ... Read Full Story >>

A Circle of Kindness From Our Neighbors

Last year my family was moving from New Hampshire to Washington State.  In the process of selling our house, giving away most of our belongings (we were moving to a much smaller house and didn't need most of it) and saying goodbye to all the friends we'd made over the past 22 years there; our 27-year-old daughter, who was living with us, became progressively more ill, eventually becoming unable to sit up or walk. Three weeks before we were supposed to close on our house, she was diagnosed with both Lyme disease and a brain tumor, which was pressing on her brainstem.  Her excellent neurosurgeon was able to remove the entire tumor, which was non-cancerous, and within days she could walk again and use her arms.  Intravenous antibiotics took care of the Lyme disease.  When we returned home from the hospital (after 11 days away), there was a big sign welcoming us home ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness Ripples

Yesterday, I took my brother's puppy to the pet store to spread some kindness. My mom and sister have been watching him while my brother is at work and when I went to pick him up to go to the store my mom gave me money in case I saw something cute to buy him. As we walked around the store, I looked at various options but started to feel uncomfortable. Here was a whole store devoted to pets with everything you could imagine, while some humans struggle to survive and others die for lack of basic necessities.  The puppy and my family's other dogs already have plenty of toys and everything else they'd ever need.   I decided not to buy anything. When I told my mom, she said to save the money for myself. She won't take "no" for an answer so I graciously accepted and decided to use the money ... Read Full Story >>

A Small Gesture Meant a Great Deal

This is just a short story but it really brought home to me how very small acts of kindness and even courtesy have bigger effects than we realise.

I have a bad back which flares up from time to time. Yesterday I was out walking while carrying shopping bags and my keys. My keys slipped from my hand and fell to the ground. The problem was that because of my back I couldn't bend down to get them. I was just thinking of how to get around this when two teenage girls came up beside me.  Without even speaking to me, one of the girls just reached down, picked up my keys, handed them to me and went on her way.

While it was a small gesture and she couldn't have known that I was in too much pain to bend down, it meant a great deal to me at that moment.

$100 Hero Changes a Family's Life Forever

I read an article in my local paper a while ago, and it really stuck with me.   There was a couple in my neighbourhood whose house had been badly damaged in a hail storm we had earlier in the year. I remember it well and so did my car, hailstones almost the size of baseballs. Anyway I read this article a few months after the storm that this couple didn't have insurance and they had just bought their first home, they had been saving for five years to get their home. They were a fairly young couple and unfortunately their home was badly damaged in the hail. They had most of their house damaged, not only by the hail but a tree outside their house had fallen and destroyed a a section of the house. They didn't have money to repair because all their money was going into just buying the place, and ... Read Full Story >>

Using My Hobby To Help The Homeless

I am a huge fan of thrift shops and I have several that I check out every weekend. It's how I unwind and have some time to myself. I actually look forward to it every week.   One of my favorite shops had started discounting certain clothing by 90%. Every week they had an entire wall filled with all kinds of items, most of which were in great condition. I was disappointed at first that I couldn't personally benefit because nothing was in mine or my husband's size.   Then it dawned on me. I could stock up on sweaters and jackets for the impending cold weather and donate them to the homeless shelter! In the last couple of weeks I've gotten six huge bags of sweaters, jackets, sweatpants, and long-sleeved shirts for under $20! I also got a small bag of soap, toothbrushes and shampoo for $1.   One of the jackets I got today ... Read Full Story >>

Things Aren't Always What They Seem

Last week I was in the store getting my weekly groceries. As I shopped I noticed one couple in particular. Our paths seemed to cross in a few aisles. Once, my cart got in their way and the woman was surprisingly annoyed. As I walked on through the store I couldn't help but wonder why she had been so upset with me. That same couple ended up ahead of me in the check-out queue. I could tell they were adding up the price of their groceries very carefully. They kept checking to see if they had gone over their price limit, which was quite low for a couple with a small baby. Once they had got to their limit and had to return some of the groceries I realized it probably wasn't me the woman was upset with. Buying groceries for her family on such a strict budget was probably stressing her out.  I ran out to ... Read Full Story >>

The Beggar Poem

On my way to work,my eyes wander to various sights
There always sits a beggar man next to a shop
He sits outstretching his arms
I dig in my pocket to give him alms
The beggar man is my everyday sight
He gives me a smile that is just so right
We are blessed with everything in life
Yet we do not smile as if there is a strife
The beggar has wealth nor health
Yet the smile on his face is heartfelt
For sometime the beggar man is seen nowhere
I feel something missing,
I look around and stare
The shopkeeper tells me he died
Silently I pause,he will no more be in my sight
I will miss him,I do not know why
Seeing him was a habit,
I feel to cry
The beggar man taught me to smile and to forget lifes worry awhile

***based on a true story

Overhearing a phone conversation at Starbucks

A few months back I was waiting in line undecided on what to get at Starbucks. I noticed a woman in her mid-thirties, well dressed with a resume in her hand. One of the employees told her that the manager would be with her shortly. While we both waited her phone rang. She started apologizing to the person on the line, "I'm truly sorry, I lost my job a few months back and I could barely pay tuition. But I promise you as soon as I can I'll buy the girls their books. Please just give me time." I wanted to hug her right there and then. My birthday was the day before and I am obsessed with books. I got many bookstore gift cards. I knew why God put me there today. I thought of my mom and what she would say to me "come on you know what to do." I ... Read Full Story >>

A Timeless Gift

Every day I pass by a homeless man on the street near where I attend college.  He tells me 'hello'  in a cheerful manner, and I always say it back.  I give him any extra change I have.  He always wears a watch.  Not an expensive watch by any means, but it serves its purpose.  One day I noticed he wasn't wearing it anymore.  I asked him why and he looked down and told me that the battery had died so he threw it away.  I knew he couldn't afford a new battery and he certainly couldn't afford a new watch.  He stayed on my mind all day, and I knew what I had to do.  I went out and bought him a watch.  Not an expensive one, but one that was very similar to the one he had.     When I saw him the next day, he was smiling and cheerful ... Read Full Story >>

Giving A Gift Card

I was leaving Walmart the other day and saw a young man standing by the exit. He was holding a sign that read, "Even 50 cents would help."  

My heart went out to him because he looked to be the same age as my son. I didn't want to give him money, so I decided to drive to McDonalds (about a mile away) and get him a gift card.  

Carrying Love Half Way Around The World

The postie has just delivered a letter. It's from a friend in a far away land. Inside is a note, a list of "I Believes" and a beautiful bookmark.

I've been sitting here for the past five minutes at a loss for words. Not because of the gift, although it is sweet, not because of the thought, although that is also appreciated, but because my friend took that thought and that gift and put them into action, in a way that carried love half way around the world.

That's an awesome thing, and, well, it's a lot to take in.

So, I'll digress a little and mention one of the "I Believes." My friend says, "I Believe ... that your life can be changed by people who don't even know you." In a very real way, that's what you all out there in HelpOthersland are doing. You change the lives of the people you help, but you also change the lives of the people you share with on this site. We're becoming a family, for the best of all possible reasons. Thank you all for that.

And to my friend, I Believe ... you have changed my life!

Lesson from the Check-Out Line

A little part of me thought about going to another checkout line. This one had the shortest queue, there was only one guy in it, but he was in a wheelchair and there seemed to be some complications going on. Well, I stamped on that little part, and we stepped in behind him. At first, he seemed to be having difficulty getting his groceries onto the conveyor belt. But after a while, I realized that what he was actually doing was separating it into two lots. Still, getting the stuff up there was no easy task in itself. I offered to help, but he and the checkout lady had it under control. He asked Julie if she would mind putting his empty basket away. Then he reached for his wallet which was in a pouch on one side of his chair. The way he was positioned and the fact he only had ... Read Full Story >>

The Gift of a Thank You

Not long ago, I was out at the mall, buying a gift for one of my younger friends. I stopoped by Claire's to find something for her. As I was glancing at items, I noticed a little girl around 8 or 9 yrs of age walk in, we were both looking at these cute little mini lip gloss boxes that had a picture in the front: one had penguins, dogs, cats, lots of cute pictures. She started thinking out loud, saying: "They're so cute!" I told her pointing at a box, "Did you see this one? It's super cute, too!" She was just delighted! She said to herself in a soft voice, "I wish I had money to get one." I heard her and I couldn't just leave the store, so I asked her, "Which one did you like the most?" She pointed to the pink box with puppies on the cover. I said, "Ok, ... Read Full Story >>