Search Results for 'popular' (2975 matches)

Road Rage Takes A New Turn

Tonight, I went to see a play by, and full with, women I consider fierce. En route, a car cut me off. I turned my bright lights on him and I drove right behind him. At the next stop light, I pulled up beside him. He was angry, and I gave him the bird as he seemed to shout profanities at me. I rolled down my window and said, "Really? You're mad at me when YOU cut me off?!" He retorted, "YES!" And then threw what I think was his coffee grande (with cream) in my face! It covered my face, my car, and my steering wheel. Thankfully, it was cold. I didn't know what to do but I was angry and tired and not feeling 100%, so I followed behind him with my bright lights on. I called 911 to report an assault by a taxi driver. A very nice and calm operator ... Read Full Story >>

A Tail Waggin Way Of A Blessing

Last week, I was out getting the mail and noticed a dog crossing the street that looked oddly familiar. I went near the dog to see if it had a tag or if I recognized it to see if I could find the owner. When I got close to the dog, I realized that it was the same dog that my neighbors had lost 4 years ago. A few months ago, these neighbors moved out of my neighborhood, but that was not going to stop me finding them! I remebered they moved to Minnesota. I spent the rest of the day searching all of the people with their last name in the Minnesota area.  Finally when I was starting to give up hope, I called the last number.  I couldn't' believe it, it was them!   I told them of how I found their dog that went missing 4 years ago.  They thought it ... Read Full Story >>

Heaven and Hell Story

A man spoke with the God about heaven and hell. The God said to the man, "Come, I will show you hell."

They entered a room where a group of people sat around a huge pot of stew. Everyone was famished, desperate and starving. Each held a spoon that reached the pot, but each spoon had a handle so much longer than their own arm that it could not be used to get the stew into their own mouths. The suffering was terrible.

"Come, now I will show you heaven," the God said after a while. They entered another room, identical to the first -- the pot of stew, the group of people, the same long-handled spoons. But there everyone was happy and well-nourished. "I don't understand," said the man. "Why are they happy here when they were miserable in the other room and everything was the same?"

The God smiled, "Ah, it is simple," he said. "Here they have learned to feed each other."

My Neighbor's Encounter With Death

My neighbor was diagnosed with Leukemia.  He was told that he didn't have many days to live. While most would get depressed, he was as happy as ever!  I was confused and decided to ask him why. He was gardening when I finally asked the question.  With a smile, he responded, "Why be angry at the world when we are blessed with the knowledge of our death?  Why not embrace it give back something to our society?" The next day, I read in the newspaper that he was among the many who volunteered to help out the poverty stricken people in South Africa. He was already packing when I entered his house.  He said he want to go and enjoy the last few moments of his life helping people.   With his usual wisdom, he also noted, "It's better to live a life happily in the short amount of time then to live a ... Read Full Story >>

Wings of Joy Shared

My elderly neighbor, who is housebound, has always enjoyed watching birds. Since she is no longer able to get close to nature, I brought the birds closer by hanging a hummingbird feeder from a hook off her home's gutter edge, where she could see it well.

Now that the hummingbirds have migrated to warmer climates for the approaching winter, I will replace the hummingbird feeder with a sunflower-hearts seed feeder, designed for perching birdsonly. That way, there will be no mess and my neighbor can enjoy the various birds, such as chickadees, finches, etc. We are so blessed to be able to share these gifts with our feathered friends. Their wings uplift us to much joy!

Smile Cards Take Australia By A Storm

On Sunday 30th of September 2007 over 70 beautiful people in my life (family and friends) staged a Random Act of Kindness Project in our local community. We distributed over 600 SMILE cards on the day and the project is now set to be an annual event!   The day was perfect and we had plenty of volunteers. Over 30 businesses and individuals sponsored and donated and supported in one way or another. The day started off with a brief welcome from me, followed by a poem written by my 9 year old son about Random Acts of Kindness. He read this out aloud for all volunteers to hear which surely got everyone into the spirit of things! My gorgeous fiancé Steven took the reigns and lead the day.   We surprised our community with a free car and window wash, coffee, balloons, sweets, biscuits, gift vouchers, BBQ and lawn mowing. We also fed the homeless, visited local rest homes ... Read Full Story >>

How to Make a Friend

My son Wynn has autism. As a result, his social skills are stunted. Neverless, he still longs for friendship and human kinship even though he rarely knows how to properly initiate conversations. When he was 7 or 8, he went through a phase where he would approach strangers with survey-type questions such as: "Excuse me, Sir. Are you married or are you happy?" or "Excuse me, Lady. Have you always been so old?" or, my personal favorite, "Excuse me, Girl. How did you grow up to be a fat woman?" As you can imagine, he didn't make many friends for either one of us, and I spent a lot of time apologizing and feeling embarrassed (though I have to say, his questions were actually quite relevant).  When Wynn was 10, he entered the phase of being totally enamored with men who had facial hair. In his attempt to interact with his subject of interest, he would approach each ... Read Full Story >>

Victim Treats His Mugger Right

Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner. But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn. He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife. "He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, 'Here you go,'" Diaz says. As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm." The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, "like what's going on here?" Diaz says. "He asked me, 'Why are you doing ... Read Full Story >>

Husband's Act Of Kindness A Week Before Holidays After Losing His Job

We have had bad news this week, my husband was made redundant (laid off/no job anymore) from his job on Tuesday. I am thankful we are better off than most, and will be able to stretch our finances until he finds another job.

Amongst all of my stress, trying to stay strong for both of us...my husband gave me $100 cash and said "go on, go out and buy some coffee cards and Subway cards, lets take them to the hospital for the staff, they work hard" My eyes filled with tears, and I was so proud of my husband. I don't often have to say we can't do things because we need the money ourselves, but that was my first thought. He said "we will be okay, we need to look outwards not inwards" what a very special man.

Our Mother Daughter Kindness Circle

Our Mother-Daughter Kindness Circle in North Carolina gets together most months to create things that are given in the spirit of kindness. Sometimes things are for strangers, and others it's for people we know.This past weekend we gathered to make flower pens. We took simple pens and attached a large silk flower to each pen using "frog tape" (it's a brand of green painter tape that doesn't get gummy when you use the pen). We made little note cards for each pen, with quotes about joy and kindness on them.

"Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do."

Many of the girls were making them for their school teachers. Each mother made one for her daughter, and each daughter made one for her Mom. We had a wonderful time together sharing stories of kindness and making something to spread JOY and KINDNESS to people in our community.
 

The Wrong Bus at the Right Time

This happened several weeks ago. That morning, I prayed to God to use me for his glory! During my commute to work, I accidentally got on the wrong bus to my office (I was reading the news on my phone) and had to get off and walk several blocks to work, a path I never take normally. I met a man sitting on a bench looking very distressed, so I asked him what was wrong. He said his car had been towed from a public lot and he had no money to get to the airport to meet his wife. I told him I could help him and to wait there for me. I went to my bank one block away and got cash. When I returned, the man was standing there, watching me approach him. When I gave him the money, he hugged me, thanked me, and started crying! I ... Read Full Story >>

A Cake For The Man Who Waves

I baked two cakes last night - one for my children and another to give away today. 

When I have the opportunity to go walking or jogging outside I often see a man in a wheelchair. He sits outside his home and smiles and waves at passers-by. 

So, my daughter and I packed the cake in tissue paper and colorful yarn, then placed it in a bag with a Smile Card. 

She was so excited to give him this gift! Her excitement and his happiness made it all so worthwhile.

An Unexpected Tip from an Unlikely Customer

This happened to me years ago when I was a waitress, but I still remember this specific incident so vividly. As the end of the night was approaching, fifteen minutes before our restaurant closed, a gentleman came in.  I was the unfortunate waitress who got to stay after closing to take his order and serve him his food. The customer was impeccably difficult was quite openly upset with how his food was prepared, slightly overdone, perhaps a medium rare when he had requested rare. He sent his order back twice. When it eventually arrived to his liking, he needed a pot of coffee brewed fresh. Meanwhile, my managers and our cooks were breathing down my neck, as they wanted the last customer of the day to finally leave so that we could close up shop and go home.   At this point I was frustrated and tired. I had stayed 45 ... Read Full Story >>

Moved by a Spontaneous Act of Kindness from a Stranger

Last night, after donating the last of my change to Children In Need (a U.K. telethon appeal,) I got on the train from London to Manchester. Feeling hungry, I went to the buffet car, only to find that the card machine was broken and I couldn't buy a sandwich. 

Anger Management Gift Economy Style

Several years ago I wrote a book entitled “Anger Work: How to Express Your Anger and Still Be Kind.” I am a clinical psychologist working in private practice and wanted to help people who struggle with emotional pain and trauma. Over years of working with children and adults, I had learned that anger, if expressed correctly, could help people to heal instead of causing more pain and suffering. After I wrote the book, I decided to offer to send it out for free to anyone who couldn’t afford it. Then, a couple of months ago, someone e-mailed and suggested that I offer my book for free as a download from my website. Last month, I thought I would try and see if I could create an unabridged audio recording of my book and offer this for free from my website (so many people prefer audio to print books). The company ... Read Full Story >>

An Umbrella to Brighten a Day

On my way to work I would see this older man sitting beside the road and waving at everyone who passed by. I noticed that he sat there every day even if it was raining or very hot outside.  
 
One day while going to work I remembered that I had a beach umbrella at my house, so I turned around, got the umbrella, and took it to him. He was so happy and for about another six months I saw him sitting beside the road waving at people from under the umbrella. 
 
I later found out that the man had passed away, but I hope that the umbrella made his days more pleasant while he was making everyone else's days more pleasant.
 

What I Want on My Birthday

I'm a Director overseeing 5 departments, at work. Last Friday was my birthday. After lunch, I walked with my administrative assistant over to the cafeteria to get a soda only to find all of my staff currently on shift was there, waiting for me. They got me a cake and made my whole afternoon better. I choked up a bit when they sang me happy Birthday.

I know it's late - but here's what I ask of everyone each year for my birthday (from my post on FB):

"My birthday message is the same as last year: For my Birthday this year, I once again ask for something from each of you. Do something nice for somebody today. Stranger, friend, I don't care. Just something nice with no need of a reward or thank you. No need to tell me, I'd rather not know. That feeling afterward? That's my gift to you"

 

Two Good Legs and Arms

Yesterday, I met a delightful woman at a work event.  As we talked, she shared about her childhood in Manila, Philippines.  She spoke about the way her culture values their elders, and she explained that children are reared from the time of birth to honor and respect people older than themselves. It was refreshing to hear, and I so enjoyed listening and learning.  Here is the memory she shared that I found so beautiful: When she was growing up, her father had three jobs to care for his family.  She said her dad never complained, and though he worked very hard, he always had time for them.  One day, her father was injured at his full time job.  For several months, he was mailed temporary disability checks while he recovered.  When her father was able to return to his full time job, he took all those disability checks that were sent to him while he was recovering and handed them back to the ... Read Full Story >>

Acting On The Voice Of Kindness

I was riding my bike around lunch time today and passed a man sitting just off the sidewalk with his face in his hands.   My first thought was: "Stop! See if he needs help." But I was riding fast.  I slowed down and looked back.  It  looked as though he was either praying or crying, maybe both.  I decided that meant that I had to turn around.  I rode up and asked if he was ok.  No response.  For a second, I thought he might be a drunk or a bum.  But I asked again. He looked up with clear eyes and bright teeth, and gave me a big shiny smile.  He was about 55-60, wearing denim overalls and a farmer's hat, and had the hands of a manual laborer.  I quickly discovered that he spoke no English but I was able to make out that he was hungry and he had no ... Read Full Story >>

Paid in Full with One Glass Of Milk

One day, a poor boy  who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry.  He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However,he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it so slowly, and then asked, "How much do I owe you?" "You don't owe me anything," she replied. "Mother has taught us never to accept pay for kindness."  He said, "Then I thank you from the bottom of my heart." As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in humanity grew stronger as well.  He had been ready to give up ... Read Full Story >>