Please allow me to tell you about my husband. He has always had a huge affection for older people and has had several elderly friends to help out in the past but this time is different. Mr. Daves has fished the same lake as my husband, John, for over 15 years. A friendship developed but when Mrs. Daves died 5 years ago, it left Mr. Daves alone. They had no children and after 60 years of marriage, he was lost, so John took Mr. Daves fishing with him every time he went, which was often.

Mr. Daves was very energetic for 80 years old and never tired of being with John. After a few years of this, Mr. Daves had a stroke which paralyzed his right side, he lost his speech, and was put into a nursing home. Confined to his bed and unable to communicate, Mr. Daves soon suffered from depression which broke John’s heart. John finally got permission from the nursing home to take Mr. Daves out for a ride. They were both excited to be together again but it was very painful for Mr. Daves to be lifted into John’s truck, as he was paralyzed on one side and that weight pulled heavily on his good side. John worried about this but still took him out about every 10 days. John had gotten his truck a year earlier and it was the truck of his dreams, a real cowboy Cadillac. He came home one day and announced he was selling it so we could buy a van that was equipped for a wheelchair. We researched these vehicles and found one which he bought. He did sell his truck and uses this van for his transportation. It isn’t sporty or fast but it sure eases Mr. Daves pain on their outings so they both enjoy them much more.

John has rigged up a special fishing rod that Mr. Daves can use so they still go fishing together at a nearby lake. Even though Mr. Daves can’t talk, he has led the nursing home staff to believe John is his son. Mr. Daves is getting old now at 86 but is still enjoying life thanks to John. I don’t know anyone who would give up their prized possession to help a friend. I hope he can be an example for others to take a step to help those who are in need.

This article first appeared on the following website: A Magazine of People and Possibilities. It has been reprinted in full. Please visit their website for more stories of kindness.

One Kind Act Calls for Submissions

One Kind Act is now accepting submissions for its first anthology. One Kind Act is a social movement aimed at making lives happier and more fulfilling while making the world a better place … One Kind Act at a time.

Life is all about interacting. We forget that as we speed past other people in shiny boxes on the highway, or buy our morning coffee from a stranger in a window, or pump gas next to five other people never lifting our heads to see who they are.

But when we choose to notice the people around us and we act with kindness, we cause a chain reaction. A smile in the grocery store. An open door for a mother struggling with a baby carriage. A double batch of soup so there is extra for a neighbor. When we give and receive these gifts, we realize it really is the small things that matter.

We at One Kind Act have heard a lot of your stories and now we want to anthologize them to inspire and motivate others. We are looking for stories of both givers and recipients of Kind Acts. They may be with strangers, family members, or friends in private or professional settings. Don’t think your story isn’t what we’re looking for. If a Kind Act popped into your head, send it to us. And tell your friends. The more diverse, the merrier.

Guidelines

• Nonfiction stories and essays can be between 200 – 2000 words in length.
• Please submit your stories electronically as an attachment (word or pdf format) or in the body of your email to stories@onekindact.com. Subject line: “Anthology.”
• You may submit anonymously. However, if you would like to be credited, please include you name, city, state, country, age, profession, or any other pertinent details you would like us to include. Limit is a 65-70 word bio. Inclusions of web address will be considered.

Other Details

• You retain all rights to your work. We just need one-time and electronic reprint rights.
• Will reserve the right to edit your story for consistency, grammar, and spelling.
• You may submit as many stories as you like for consideration. Please send individual submissions separately.
• Deadline for submissions is midnight February 12, 2010. You will be informed by the end of February if your story will be included in the anthology.
• Publication is anticipated mid 2010.

Stay up-to-date about the anthology’s progress at: www.onekindact.com

The Bottom Line
Publishing this anthology is a labor of love for One Kind Act. Hence, we can not pay for contributions. However we will actively promote the anthology and your writing.

*A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the book will go to fund One Kind Act.Com to keep the website up and running, as well as,  funding  random acts of kindness.

Thank you for considering a submission.

About the Editors

Matthew Costello is an e-commerce guru and CEO of Web Marketing Advisors, a strategic marketing and business development firm. Matthew is also the founder of One Kind Act, a social movement designed to change the world by motivating others to leap in and really live, just One Kind Act at a time. He is dedicated to helping people focus on kindness and energize their lives. In addition to One Kind Act.Com, he also owns and operates The Winning Attitude.com, a site dedicated to motivation, inspiration, and more.

Julie Luongo is the author of The Hard Way (Forge, 2008), her debut novel, which was met with unanimous critical praise. She holds a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from Temple University and a Bachelor’s from Penn State in Advertising. She is a former writing instructor, editor, and playwright. She always thanks cashiers; waves people through in traffic, and sometimes even smiles at strangers. In addition Julie played a large role in the creation of One Kind Act.Com and continues to do so.

*Reprint Notice:
Permission to reprint or redistribute altered or excerpted material from this post is allowed only if you do the following:

• Include, all links, bio’s and credits.
  or
• Provide a direct link back to the post, and email us, to let us know about the link.

Copyright© 2009 ONE KIND ACT.COM. All Rights Reserved.

Random acts of kindness are a wonderful way to reach across time and space to touch the life of another being. Publicizing and raising awareness of the significance of human kindness undoubtedly makes the world a better place. At every step along the path of expanding awareness there is the opportunity to go deeper; to explore more of the potential of our divine humanness. So it is with kindness. Acts of kindness are really not difficult. An intention is formed, and you carry it out. It makes you feel good. Holding kindness and compassion in our hearts, and integrating them into the complexity and stresses of daily life, every day — now there is a deep challenge!

Parents can learn to discipline kindly, remaining firm, yet doing so with love and warmth. Teachers can learn to remain patient and forgiving, no matter how frustrated they might feel with a particular student. Employees can choose to cooperate and remain positive about employers, rather than going into polarity. They can preserve their integrity, leaving the job if they must. Employers can honor the individuality and dignity of each staff member, placing the significance of the human over the material. Men and women can choose to focus on what is beautiful and special about the opposite sex, rather than battling for superiority. Children can learn to let everyone play, rather than setting up exclusive games. We can all begin to celebrate adolescence and help teens to feel proud of themselves, rather than raising our eyebrows in disgust. Teenagers can learn to be patient with and accepting of adults in spite of our limitations, instead of raising their eyebrows in disgust. Drivers can realize that there is enough road to share, and time to get there.

Allowing a spirit of kindness to permeate our collective lives would be a quantum leap, from an evolutionary standpoint. Eliminating meanness, pettiness, gossip, criticism, judgment, polarity, and blame would be a superb act of kindness. It is also a fundamental step along any spiritual path. Those negative qualities reflect a very dense, heavy energy, vested solidly in ego, and they block the light of the spirit. Random acts of kindness amidst the darker energies are certainly a positive start. We can do more. Much more. We can resolve to be kinder, gentler beings. All day, every day. We can treat those closest to us with the same respect and politeness that we reserve for friends and colleagues. We can refuse to litter the lives of others with negative energy. If we do this, we will be doing our part to create a world in which kindness is never a random act, but rather a way of life.

About the Author:
Gwen Randall-Young is a psychotherapist who bridges the worlds of psychology and spirituality, and the author of several books and audio tapes. grandall@telusplanet.net

It is not about reading goodness that people do, it’s about doing goodness. It’s about making a change in your life, in your community, for a better world in which to live. I strongly suggest, or maybe the word is challenge, I challenge you to stop reading and start doing.One daily deed a day is all you have to do, you will feel so good about making a difference, you will want to do another and another. Don’t sit back and think it’s for the other guy to do. We change the world, one person, one kindness, one deed at a time. Be the change you want to see in the world.

It’s not only a matter of doing. What if everyone told someone they know about Project Linus, or started a get together with your friends once a month to make blankets for Project Linus, now you have a monthly social get together for a good cause.

Put a flyer in your church, or supermarket, with the idea, post your number, now you have a group of new friends!

Better yet, if you know of seniors, or contact a senior facility, tell them about the project. Ask them to knit or crochet 9 x 9 squares and you will pick them up, then have your group put the blankets together. Makes the seniors wake up everyday to a job they need to do, making them feel needed. Go back and take pictures with them when the blankets are made. They can post it in their monthly newsletter. I’m sure they’d be smiling for days over that.

Look in the phone book, and call your local assisted living, ask to speak to the activities director, and tell him/her about the Sunkist Lemonade stand. This would be a perfect project for seniors to do, they can raise funds for the local food bank, donate to the girls scouts, or to an animal shelter. It’s so important for seniors to feel needed and this is the perfect task. This is something they can make, and surely be able to sit and sell in front of their facility. This site is about change, and passing on ideas is helping to make a difference.

Take it from an ex-activities director, ideas are always welcome. This great idea was posted by Kindness Matters, as was Project Linus, way to go!!

You don’t have to necessarily do it, you can be a co-coordinator, let’s face it, not all of us have the energy to garden, but if we posted a flyer calling all high school students that need community hours. Become a Gardening Angel, earn your hours and make a difference. I’m sure if you contact any church, they will post that in their weekly bulletin, along with an ad on anyone physically not able to garden and is in need, please call (your telephone number) all you have to do is co-ordinate the two.

I have read such great ideas on this blog site.  I myself have started the Birthday Club (thanks Betty)

This article has been re-posted. It originates from Blog 4 Change.org. Blog4Change.org is a charity project that allows anyone who wants one a free blog. A simple platform is used so users can easily start blogging about all the positive things they have done in their life that have influenced positive change in others. Think of this site as a daily journal of positive action. Be sure to visit Blog4Change.org for more articles.

We love stories of both givers and recipients of Kind Acts. They may be with strangers, family members, or friends in private or professional settings. Don’t think your story isn’t what we’re looking for. If a Kind Act popped into your head, send it to us. And tell your friends. The more diverse, the merrier.

Also, we are compiling an anthology of stories to inspire and motivate others. So, if you share a story, it just might make it into our book!

Thank you,

Your Friends at One Kind Act.com

Please submit your stories electronically as an attachment (.word or .pdf format) or in the body of your email to stories@onekindact.com. Subject line: “Anthology.”

Acts of kindness and generosity come in many different forms: Giving food to a hungry stranger, donating one’s time to aid homeless people or helping a fellow tenant make the rent. But it’s their ability to touch us and stick in our memories that makes sometimes even small gestures a powerful and lasting force in our lives.

Couple years ago, NPR invited listeners to share stories about “good deeds” they had witnessed or heard about. The original audio program highlighted some of the stories, but there were many more that couldn’t be fit into the short time slot. Below are some of those gems:

After the Storm
Beverly Jordan witnessed an extraordinary act of generosity after Hurricane Andrew slammed into South Florida in 1992, leaving a wide path of destruction in its path. Jordan, a nurse, volunteered to go door to door in Miami delivering emergency relief.

Her relief van pulled up to a house that was nothing but a shell. She asked the young owners if they needed anything. “They said, ‘No, but can you wait a minute here?’ They came back out with a case of diapers and four or five bags of food and said, ‘Would you please give this to somebody who needs it worse than we do?’”

Jordan says she never got the couple’s name and wishes that she could thank them for their generosity.

The Most Memorable Christmas
Amy Scharman of Mapleton, Utah, remembered the Christmas after her parents divorced. Her mother was raising 13 kids with no child support. The holiday was looking pretty grim.

“It was about dusk on Christmas Eve and we heard a knock on the back door,” Scharman says. When they opened it, no one was there. But someone had left 10 big bags filled with presents for the children, including clothes and toys.

“It was such an overwhelming feeling to see such generosity from I don’t even know who it was,” she says. Ten years later, Scharman and her family still don’t know who did that good deed. Amy Scharman ends her note, “If you’re out there, thank you for making that Christmas the most memorable of all.”

A Mother’s Good Example
Sometimes witnessing a good deed leaves a lasting impression. Donna Delfino Dugay of Harper Woods, Mich., remembers a day in California when she was 11 years old, and her parents took their six children for a special day at the beach. Donna’s mother brought a picnic lunch — fried chicken and her famous potato salad — and prepared a plate for each of them.

“When I looked up from my plate, my mother was fixing one more plate… She turned away from us and walked over maybe 20 or 30 feet to where there was a man by himself. And he was picking his way through the trashcan. And my mother — I don’t know whether she just put the plate there or whether she touched him gently or whether she said a few words — but I remember him turning to her in a gesture of thankfulness.”

Dugay’s mother came back and sat down at the table. “Years later, Dugay asked her mother if she remembered the incident. “She laughed and said, ‘Not at all.’ But for me, I remember it very well because for me, it was the touchstone for what good deeds became in my life.”

Never Too Young to Help
Many listeners wrote of the generosity of very young people, Stamberg reports. Four-year-old Justin Dingman took the hand of a frightened fellow pre-schooler, serving as the welcoming committee on the boy’s first day at school. Liadan Susoeff, 7, took books to a shelter in Pittsburgh at holiday time and read to the children there. Eight-year-old Luke O’Neill took one of his own coats to school so a less fortunate classmate could go outside at recess.

‘A King’s Ransom’
Peter Strupp of Boston remembers being “flat broke” his senior year at the University of Wisconsin. When he could no longer afford the rent at his fraternity, he found refuge in a campus Christian fellowship house.

Strupp would sneak into the kitchen to take food bought by his fellow tenants. “Inevitably the month came that I couldn’t make the rent…

“The night before I was going to tell my housemates I was leaving, one of them stopped me in the kitchen. We were alone… He reached into his pocket and handed me a month’s rent, in cash. Before I could say anything, he said, ‘Don’t pay me back.’ Though the rent was less than $100, Strupp writes, “in a dark hour, it was a king’s ransom.”

Kindness in Passing
A simple act of kindness on a hot day nearly 50 years ago left a lasting memory for Dan Sullivan.

“There is hardly anything more boring than traveling in a military convoy,” Sullivan writes. “In late 1955, a deuce-and-a-half truck filled with a dozen GIs and I were crawling across northern Iowa. It was hot, even with the canvas sides rolled up. There were no stops for sodas, and the 30 thirsty miles per hour took us nowhere forever. One of the few entertainments was watching an occasional car pass, so when a convertible pulled in behind, we took notice — even more notice when the beautiful woman in the passenger seat waved and smiled. And oh, miracle, she reached back into a cooler and pulled out two bottles of ice-cold Royal Crown Cola, which she passed up to us as they went by. Wherever that woman is, I hope she sleeps well tonight.”

Giving at Work
David Hutmacher of Marietta, Ga., wrote of the generosity he received from co-workers when he became seriously ill three years ago. After three hospital stays, including two surgeries, he had used up all of his vacation and sick leave.

“It was the end of the year and my last paycheck at the first of December was for approximately 10 percent of its usual amount. I was worried it was fast approaching Christmas and I wouldn’t be going back to work until mid-January at the earliest. I am married and have two daughters who at that time were 8 and 5, respectively. My wife, who is a schoolteacher, was just barely keeping things together. I really didn’t think there would be much if any Christmas that year. So I was very surprised when on the 15th of December I received a paycheck. When I opened it there was not only a full pay period but also the pay I was missing from the previous check. I immediately called our comptroller for an explanation. It seems that all the employees had gotten together and donated any vacation that they had left for the year so I could get paid. I cried. It was truly a Good Deed.”

About The Post
This post has been re-printed from HelpOthers.org a fantastic website dedicated to helping others. You can read many more stories by visiting their website @ www.helpothers.org. Copyright 2009 – HelpOthers.org, All Rights Reserved

Technorati Tags: be kind, daily acts of kindness, Helping Others, kindness, one kind act, random acts of kindness, small acts of kindness

Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval have moved to the top of the advertising industry by following a simple but powerful philosophy: it pays to be nice. Where so many companies encourage a dog eat dog mentality, the Kaplan Thaler Group has succeeded through chocolate and flowers. In The Power of Nice, through their own experiences and the stories of other people and businesses, they demonstrate why, contrary to conventional wisdom, nice people finish first.

Turning the well-known adage of “Nice Guys Finish Last” on its ear, The Power of Nice shows that “nice” companies have lower employee turnover, lower recruitment costs, and higher productivity. Nice people live longer, are healthier, and make more money. In today’s interconnected world, companies and people with a reputation for cooperation and fair play forge the kind of relationships that lead to bigger and better opportunities, both in business and in life.

Kaplan Thaler and Koval illustrate the surprising power of nice with an array of real-life examples from the business arena as well as from their personal lives. Most important, they present a plan of action covering everything from creating a positive impression to sweetening the pot to turning enemies into allies. Filled with inspiration and suggestions on how to supercharge your career and expand your reach in the workplace, The Power of Nice will transform how you live and work.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
The Power of Nice

For years, we have loved a particular security guard in our Manhattan office building. In fact, most of us at The Kaplan Thaler Group think the world of him. A large, jovial man in his mid-fifties, Frank brightens people’s days by giving everyone who walks into our building a huge, warm greeting. “Hello, Linda!” “Hello, Robin!” he’ll say. “Happy Friday!”

Frank’s engaging banter changed the way we started work in the morning. Instead of simply flashing our passes anonymously and making a beeline for the elevator, we found ourselves seeking out Frank and making sure to say hello. He set a positive tone for the entire day. But we never considered how Frank might be helping our business, other than preventing intruders from entering the premises.

That is, until the day Richard Davis, the president and COO of U.S. Bank, the sixth-largest bank in the United States, came to see us. For months, our entire team at The Kaplan Thaler Group had been working to create a pitch that would wow Davis and win us the huge U.S. Bank account.

At the time of Davis’s visit, it was down to the wire. We were one of two agencies still in the running for the account. Davis and his team were flying in from their executive offices in Minneapolis to meet personally with us. We didn’t realize it at the time, but in fact Davis and his staff were a bit apprehensive about the kind of treatment they’d get in New York City. The furious pace and hard-bitten “out of my way” attitude of the Big Apple had become part of the mythology of the city. They were afraid we would be too cold, too aloof.

But when Richard Davis and his team walked into our building, they received a warm, enthusiastic greeting from Frank. When Davis reached our offices a few minutes later, he was gushing about the friendly security guard. “This guy gave me a huge hello!” he said. “And all of a sudden, I thought how could I not want to work with a company that has someone like Frank? How can I feel anything but good about hiring an agency like that?” We won the account.

Of course, Davis wouldn’t have awarded us the job if he wasn’t impressed with our work. But we’ve gotta give Frank credit. With a multimillion-dollar account in the balance, it was Frank’s warm hello that helped us cinch the deal.

That is the power of nice.

The security guard wins the heart of the COO. It might sound like a Disney movie, but we can assure you it was no fantasy. We wrote The Power of Nice because we completely disagreed with the conventional wisdom that “Nice guys finish last” and “No good deed goes unpunished.” Our culture has helped to propagate the myth of social Darwinism–of survival of the fittest–that the cutthroat “me vs. you” philosophy wins the day. One of the biggest-selling career books in the past few years is called Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office. Yet this completely contradicts the way we have run our business and our lives. In less than a decade, we built The Kaplan Thaler Group into a powerhouse in advertising with close to $1 billion in billings, making it one of the nation’s fastest-growing advertising agencies. Our success was won not with pitchforks and spears, but with flowers and chocolates. Our growth is the result not of fear and intimidation, but of smiles and compliments.

It is the patient passenger who politely asks the airline ticket agent to please check one more time who gets the first-class upgrade, rather than the “I’m a triple platinum member” blowhard. It is the driver who is polite and apologetic to the police officer who sometimes is forgiven for driving over the speed limit.

But nice has an image problem. Nice gets no respect. To be labeled “nice” usually means the other person has little else positive to say about you. To be nice is to be considered Pollyanna and passive, wimpy, and Milquetoast. Let us be clear: Nice is not naive. Nice does not mean smiling blandly while others walk all over you. Nice does not mean being a doormat. In fact, we would argue that nice is the toughest four-letter word you’ll ever hear. It means moving forward with the clear-eyed confidence that comes from knowing that being very nice and placing other people’s needs on the same level as your own will get you everything you want. Think about it:

Nice is luckier in love. People who are low-key and congenial have one-half the divorce rate of the general population, says a University of Toronto study.(1)

Nice makes more money. According to Professor Daniel Goleman, who conducted research on how emotions affect the workplace for his book Primal Leadership, there is a direct correlation between employee morale and the bottom line. One study found that every 2 percent increase in the service climate–that is, the general cheerfulness and helpfulness of the staff–saw a 1 percent increase in revenue.(2)

Nice is healthier. A University of Michigan study found that older Americans who provide support to others– either through volunteer work or simply by being a good friend and neighbor–had a 60 percent lower rate of premature death than their unhelpful peers.

Nice spends less time in court. One study found that doctors who had never been sued spoke to their patients for an average of three minutes longer than physicians who had been sued twice or more, reports Malcolm Gladwell in his book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.

It is often the small kindnesses–the smiles, gestures, compliments, favors–that make our day and can even change our lives.

Whether you are leading your own company, running for president of the PTA, or just trying to conduct a civil conversation with your teenage daughter, the power of nice will help you break through the misconceptions that keep you from achieving your goals. The power of nice will help you to open doors, improve your relationships at work and at home, and let you sleep a whole lot better. Nice not only finishes first; those who use its nurturing power wind up happier, to boot!

In the chapters ahead, we’ll show you that being nice doesn’t mean sacrificing what you want for someone else. There’s always a second, third, or even fourth solution when you apply the principles of nice.

Chapter 2
The Six Power of Nice Principles

The Power of Nice Principle #1
Positive impressions are like seeds.

Every time you smile at a messenger, laugh at a coworker’s joke, thank an assistant, or treat a stranger with graciousness and respect, you throw off positive energy. That energy makes an impression on the other person that, in turn, is passed along to and imprinted on the myriad others he or she meets. Such imprints have a multiplier effect. And ultimately, those favorable impressions find their way back to you. That doesn’t mean the waiter you tipped well will one day found a Fortune 100 company and offer you stock options (unless it was one hell of a tip). The results of the power of nice are rarely that direct. In fact, you may not notice any impact on your life for years, apart from the warm glow it gives you inside. Nonetheless, we have found that the power of nice has a domino effect.

You may not ever be able to trace your good fortune back to a specific encounter, but it is a mathematical certainty that the power of nice lays the groundwork for many opportunities down the road. These positive impressions are like seeds. You plant them and forget about them, but underneath the surface, they’re growing and expanding, often exponentially.

Here’s an example of how the power of nice has worked for us. Not long ago, we featured Donald Trump’s wife, Melania, in an Aflac commercial, at the suggestion of Aflac chairman and CEO Daniel Amos. We gave Mrs. Trump, as one of the stars of the commercial, her own trailer and made sure she was comfortable and had everything she needed. Our team treated her nicely not because she was married to a famous person, but because we have a policy of being polite and respectful to all the talent on our advertising shoots.

Months later, the producers of The Apprentice asked Linda to be a judge on one of the shows, in which the apprentice hopefuls were required to create a car advertisement:

Before the first segment was shot, I introduced myself to Donald Trump, mentioning that we were the agency that had used his wife in an Aflac duck commercial. Well, Trump clearly remembered his wife’s experience, because right before the shooting started, he leaned over and said, “You were so nice to my wife. Watch how I return the favor.”

Then he got on and described The Kaplan Thaler Group as one of the hottest ad agencies in the country–on network television! He then went out of his way to include me in the on-camera discussions. All because we were nice to his wife.

The Power of Nice Principle #2
You never know.

OK, you’re thinking. So it pays to be nice to Donald Trump’s wife. But we’re all smart enough to cooperate with the important people in our lives–the people we interact with often, like neighbors and coworkers, and the people involved in important transactions, such as mortgage brokers and prospective employers. We’re much less likely, however, to worry about, say, a stranger whom we’ll never see again. Too often, our thinking is “What does it matter?”

Diane Karnett certainly never thought the young woman she met on a train home to New York City would transform her life. The woman was visit…

About the Authors:

Linda Kaplan Thaler is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Creative Officer of The Kaplan Thaler Group, which she founded in 1997. Linda and her agency are responsible for some of the most memorable advertising in America. The hilarious quacking Aflac Duck campaign is just one of the agency’s cherished accomplishments. Read More…

Robin Koval has been a driving force in the advertising world for over 20 years. A marketing strategist and new products expert, her experience spans almost every category from beauty and beverages to distilled spirits and pharmaceuticals. Her successes include the daring”Yes, Yes, Yes” of Herbal Essences and the Aflac Duck quack heard round the world. Simply put, Robin helps marketers get noticed. Read More…

Entire Post Reprinted with Express Permission. © 2006 The Power of Nice, All Rights Reserved. Make it a point to stop by and visit The Power of Nice.com and send an e-card, start a group, and much more…

Tags: The Power of Nice, Change The World, Kindness, The Power of Kindness, One Kind Act, Making a Difference, Helping Others

As a waitress you meet and see all types of people. I guess you could call it the melting pot of the highway because the food connects us all.

I was about to end my shift one afternoon when a group of people came in. As they sat down, they explained that they were trying to make it home and just had enough to buy their children a small snack and that all they needed was water. So I showed them a few things on the menu and asked them what they would like.

As I walked away to turn in their order, I just couldn’t see this family leaving hungry with a snack and some water! So I asked some friends to join me in helping this family and they agreed because they know how I am when it comes to helping others and it gives them the fuzzy feeling of making a difference too.

So I went back to the table and quietly let the parents know that they could order what they wanted because it was taken care of by some strangers. At first, they didn’t know what to say but with a smile and a glance at the menu, they kindly accepted.

When they left all you could see was smiles, and with a tear in my eye, I wished them a safe trip and asked them to stop by if they were ever in the area again.

I learned that with every kind gesture you connect with that person and the emotion it gives flows both ways. I guess you could say they brought me home to my heart that day and every day.

About Help Others.org:
One college student was talking to another slightly older twenty-something guy about pranks that students do for rival football teams. The older guy says, “Isn’t it interesting that students are motivated to do such incredible acts without getting any credit?” Such acts are fun, collective, creative, and incredibly challenging. But typically, they’re not all that constructive nor do they leave anything with a lasting “wow” feeling either. So the question followed –why not do the same with kind acts?

More friends joined in the conversation. Right then, we thought up a game of doing anonymous act of kindness and leaving behind a “smile card” to keep the chain going. Over the next three months, we tested out the concept. And then, we setup this anonymous website and got started.

Starting in September of 2003, smile cards began appearing all around the world. They are markers of a newfangled game of tag, where “you’re it” because someone has done something nice for you. Then it’s your turn to do something nice for someone else and, in the process, pass the card along. This is a game of pay-it-forward: anonymously make someone smile, leave behind a card asking them to keep the ripple going. It’s easy and fun. Is kindness truly contagious? There’s only one way to find out …

(Reprinted with Permission © Copyright 2007 www.helpothers.org)

Technorati Tags: change the world, considering others, daily acts of kindness, Generosity, one kind act, pass it on, random acts of kindness, one kind act a day

Some of the world’s greatest leaders, authors, and speakers, already know the power of this concept.

I am sure you’ve heard the saying “Action speaks louder than words.”

You can think about making a difference all day long, or you can make a decision and do something about it! Once you decide you are well on your way to taking action. The decision is half the battle. Remember, “the ancestor to every action is a thought!”

We hope you enjoy this collection of quotes and the message they send, it makes you wonder, where would we be if we never heard of Gandhi, Emerson, or Helen Keller, just to name a few?

“Let us become the change we seek in this world.”
- Mohandas Gandhi

“The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind.”
- Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

“In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it.”
- Marianne Williamson

“A mind expanded by a new idea, never goes back the same form.”
- Victor Hugo

“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something else.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.”
- Maya Angelou

“When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.”
- Helen Keller

“Giving connects two people, the giver and the receiver, and this connection gives birth to a new sense of belonging.”
- Deepak Chopra

“I don’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.”
- John Cage

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