Random Acts of Kindness Then & Now: The 20th Anniversary of a Simple Idea That Changes Lives (Stories of Kindness) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1573245879 ISBN 13: 9781573245876

Publisher: Conari Press, 2013

Synopsis

Timeless Stories of Kindness That Have Inspired Over a Million Readers

Old and new stories come together in this collection that adds inspiring new material sourced from Facebook, Twitter, and various other social networks.

One of the most inspirational books of all time. The original Random Acts of Kindness had such a big impact on society, that it led Congress to declare a National Random Acts of Kindness Week in February 1995. It was even named USA Today’s Best Bet for Educators in 2000. This new and improved motivational book contains those same stories of kind words and selfless acts–plus new ones fit for modern day readers.

Boost your compassion, faith, and spirit. The stories, quotes, and suggestions in this book are guaranteed to restore your faith in humanity, while healing your own spiritual wellness. The spiritual connection shared between people is beautifully presented and explored in this book, compelling you to act and live in kindness and generosity. The book brings out the kind person in you that’s always been there.

Discover:

• Unbelievable true stories and thoughtful self-motivation quotes
• 21st Century crowdsourced wisdom from Facebook, Twitter, and other social media
• Inspiration and motivation to be kind–all in a beautiful new design

If you enjoyed books like Channel Kindness, HumanKind, or Deep Kindness, then you’ll love Random Acts of Kindness Then & Now.

About this title

About the Author

M.J. Ryan is an inspirational speaker and human development expoert, and author of several bestselling books including This Year I Will..., The Happiness Makeover: How to Teach Yourself to Be Happy and Enjoy Every Day and Attitudes of Gratitude. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her family.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Random Acts of Kindness Then & Now

By Editors of Conari Press

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

Copyright © 2013 Conari Press
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-57324-587-6

Contents

Introduction by M. J. Ryan
Roadside Angels Stories of Kindness from the Road and Abroad
When You Least Expect It Surprising Acts of Kindness
Blessings Multiplied One Kind Act Leads to Another
Kindness After Loss Grace from Family and Friends
Sharing the Wealth A Bounty for One and All
It's the Little Things Small Acts That Make a Big Impression
Kindness Stories from Superstorm Sandy When Neighbors and Strangers Jump 
in to Help
Afterword by Addie Johnson

CHAPTER 1

Roadside Angels

STORIES OF KINDNESS FROM THE ROAD AND ABROAD

The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.

—Oscar Wilde

A Hundred-Dollar Bill

I arrived at the airport in Pullman, Washington, excited about my approachinginterview for admission to the University of Washington's veterinary school. Iwent directly to the rental car agency to pick up my car, only to find, to mydisbelief and horror, that my credit card had been declined and I had no othermeans of payment.

I ran to the pay phone and called my roommate back in California. I was tryingto explain what had happened in between hysterical sobs, when a man walked up tome, tapped me on the shoulder, handed me a one hundred dollar bill, and walkedaway. Thanks to the generous compassion of a total stranger I made the interviewon time and was accepted into the veterinary school.

* * *

A Missed Bus

One year when I was away at school I had gone to the Greyhound bus depot tocatch a bus home for Christmas break. I looked all over for the right bus, butnone of the buses lined up at the terminal had my destination on them. As I wasstanding there trying to figure out where my bus was, one pulled out and thedriver changed the sign as he was leaving—to exactly where I wanted to go. Istood there watching my bus disappear down the highway; I must have been visiblyupset because a woman came over, took my arm, and led me to the street. Shehailed a taxicab, gave the driver a five-dollar bill, and told him to get meover to the ferry dock quickly, because the bus made a stop there before headingout onto the highway. She wished me a Merry Christmas, and all I could do wassmile.

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.

—Charles Dickens

Ah, Bambini!

My husband and I were traveling in Italy with two small babies and an au pair.We would trade sightseeing time with the au pair so we could all visit therequisite churches and museums. But on this day we took the babies along, sincewe only had one day to go to Assisi and all of us urgently wanted to see it. Themorning was wonderful—feeling like happy pilgrims, we read each other storiesof St. Francis while the babies cooed and gurgled as we drove up the windingstreets.

But by the end of a very hot day traipsing up and down hills in the ninety-degreeItalian sun, the kids were crying nonstop. One was throwing up; the otherhad diarrhea. We were all irritable and exhausted, and we had a three-hour tripahead of us to get back to Florence, where we were staying. Somewhere on theplains of Perugia we stopped at a little trattoria to have dinner.

Embarrassed at our bedraggled state and our smelly, noisy children, wesheepishly tried to sneak into the dining room, hoping we could silence thechildren long enough to order before they threw us out. The proprietor took onelook at us, muttered "You wait-a here," and went back to the kitchen. We thoughtperhaps we should leave right then, but before we could decide what to do, hereappeared with his wife and teenage daughter. Crossing the dining room beaming,the two women threw out their arms, cried, "Ah, bambini!" and took the childrenfrom our arms, motioning us to sit at a quiet corner table. For the duration ofa long and hospitable dinner, they walked the babies back and forth in the backof the dining room, cooing, laughing, and singing them to sleep in gentle,musical Italian. The proprietor even insisted we stay and have an extra glass ofwine after the babies were asleep! Any parent who has reached the end of his orher rope with an infant will agree that God had indeed sent us angels that day.

If you want happiness for an hour—take a nap.If you want happiness for a day—go fishing.If you want happiness for a month—get married.If you want happiness for a year—inherit a fortune.If you want happiness for a lifetime—help someone else.

—Chinese proverb

Two Flat Tires

I used to make an eighty-mile drive to visit my parents, and there's a fortymilestretch of the road that's in the middle of nowhere. One day as I wasdriving alone along this barren patch, I saw a family on the side of the roadwith a flat tire. Normally I do not stop in such situations, but for some reasonI felt the need to do so that day. The family was very relieved when Ivolunteered to drive them to a gas station about ten miles down the road to gethelp. I left them at the station because the attendant said he would take themback to their car and drove on my way. About twelve miles later, I had ablowout. Since I couldn't change the tire myself, I was stranded and not surewhat to do. But in only about ten minutes a car came along and pulled over tooffer help. It was the same family I had stopped for earlier that day!

We realize that what we are accomplishing is a drop in the ocean.But if this drop were not in the ocean, it would be missed.

—Mother Teresa

* * *

I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhereand don't notice it.

—Alice Walker

The Carpet Sellers of Kathmandu

After a trek to Mount Everest, I found myself in a rug shop in Kathmanduconsidering buying a carpet.

I had entered to big smiles and choruses of "Welcome, my sister!" from theproprietors, a pair of brothers from Kashmir named Qayoom and Yousef. Afterintroductions and handshaking all around, I was offered a seat and something todrink. At first I declined, but Qayoom insisted, so I asked for black tea. Hesaid something in a language I couldn't recognize to an old man with half-closedeyes who stepped outside to fetch our drinks.

Qayoom lived with Yousef's family in four rented rooms in a quiet section oftown. The old man lived with them. They had found him drunk and living on thestreets, and, as good Muslims, they felt it was their duty to help. So theyoffered him a job on the condition that he quit or at least cut back. The oldman took a new name, Surkedai, which translates to "Happy Man." He used to be"one hundred percent bad" when it came to alcohol, said Yousef. Now he is"eighty percent good and only twenty percent bad." In return Surkedai fetchesdrinks for customers, dusts the shelves of small knickknacks in the front roomof the shop, walks the twenty minutes back to the house to bring lunch each day,and rerolls the carpets that customers aren't interested in.

This old man, whose wife and family abandoned him to the gutter because of hisdrinking problem, now has a place to sleep, a small wage, and people who careabout him.

Un-Lost

I was wandering aimlessly through the aisles of the Sears automotive departmentin a big, impersonal East Coast city. I felt terribly alone, far from home, andso totally preoccupied with my own misery and loneliness that I don't think Ireally saw anything on the shelves. After awhile I became aware of a small childabout three or four years old, walking and crying at my side. I don't know howlong she had been keeping me company, but I sensed that somehow she hadgravitated toward me as someone who would help her. I knelt beside her and askedif she was lost; with tears streaming from her eyes, she just nodded. I held outmy hand and told her not to worry, that we would find her parents. She put herhand in mine and I led her up to the counter, where two wonderful salesladiesimmediately enveloped her and promised to find her parents.

As I was leaving the store I heard the announcement over the paging system andhad no doubt that she would soon be reunited with her parents. I also realizedthat all my own doom and gloom had disappeared. I thought to myself that just asthat little girl had renewed my spirit, perhaps the small acts of strangerswilling to help would allow this child to grow up with a little less fear and amore compassionate outlook on the world.

The ocean, king of mountains, and the mighty continentsAre not heavy burdens to bear when comparedTo the burden of not repaying the world's kindness.

—Buddha

* * *

It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters,in the end.

—Ursula K. Le Guin

In a Strange Town

On my first trip to the States, I arrived in New York as a student and went downto the bus station to buy a ticket. I had my money in one hand and my handbag inthe other—it didn't have anything valuable but my address book in it. Going upto the counter to pay, I put my bag down for a second and when I looked again,it was gone. I couldn't believe it. I started to panic because I realized thatwithout my address book I didn't know how to get in contact with my brother, whoI was going to stay with.

The friend who was with me suggested we go to the police. With what I knew aboutNew York's reputation I told her that would be a waste of time. But we wentanyway and met two policemen who seemed to be straight out of a television show.They couldn't have been nicer. They said, "Such a terrible thing to happen toyou on your first trip to America." They took down the details and then startedasking me questions: Where was I going? Did I know how to get in touch with mybrother? Of course I didn't, because my address book was gone. Then onepoliceman said, "Do you know anybody who knows him?" And I remembered I knew hisin-laws. So they allowed me to make a long-distance phone call to the in-laws toget my brother's address and phone number. And when I got off the phone theysaid I should go ahead and call my brother right then and there so I wouldn't beanxious. Then they walked us back to the bus stop where we could find our wayback to our hotel.

The Taxi Driver

New York City is a great place to find kindness because it is always such asurprise. I was going to a trade show and my plane was delayed, so by the time Igot to my hotel everyone I was supposed to meet had already left for the show.The concierge told me that if I walked around the block I could catch a shuttle.So I walked to the bus stop, but the last shuttle had already gone. Then a youngman standing on the sidewalk said, "The convention center isn't very far, it'sonly four blocks." So I started walking. But it wasn't only four blocks, and Iwalked and walked.

It started getting dark, I was already an hour late for my meeting, and I foundmyself in the warehouse district— definitely not the kind of place you want tobe in when you're all by yourself in New York. Eventually I saw a little lightin the distance and started walking toward it. As I walked, a taxi drove past,then backed up and asked me where I was going. I told him and he said, "Get in.I'll take you there." By then I was really relieved, particularly when it turnedout to be quite far to the convention center. To make the moment even sweeter,when the driver dropped me off—safely back among my friends—he wouldn't take anymoney from me.

In Need of a Guide

I had been traveling in Asia for three months and was in Hong Kong to meet upwith my boyfriend who was flying in for a week. Somehow his pending arrival hadbrought up all the homesickness that had stayed buried during the day-to-daydifficulties and joys of traveling. I had boarded a bus that I thought was goingto the airport, but the bus flew past the airport without stopping and I burstinto tears. I was eager to meet my boyfriend's flight but instead I was on a busto God knows where. I kept calling out "airport, airport," but the bus driverspoke no English.

A Chinese woman who spoke some English told me to get off at the next stop,which was in the middle of an expressway. The woman exited and headed off in theopposite direction, after indicating that I was to follow a second woman who wasgesturing wildly and speaking Chinese. Then she too turned off in a differentdirection after aiming me down still another street. After a few steps I noticedan old man who had been there all along. Quietly and patiently, looking backevery so often to make sure I didn't get lost, he guided me through the crowdedand confusing streets of Kowloon to the airport. To this day I think gratefullyof my shy and silent guide and of course his more vocal friends.

Take My Seat

I was standing in line getting ready to board a plane when this guy comesrushing up to the ticket counter. He had obviously sprinted through the terminaland was furious when the woman at the counter told him his reservation had beencleared and his seat given away. She offered to get him a confirmed seat on thenext flight, which unfortunately was not leaving for nearly five hours, but hewould have none of it. He started screaming about how important it was that heget to Chicago by seven, how irresponsible the airline was when, after all, hehad a confirmed ticket, how he wanted to see the supervisor, and on and on andon.

Finally he stopped his tirade and, in a very quiet voice, said, "I'm reallysorry. I'm just completely stressed out and I can't believe I am going to missthis meeting." Right then an old man who was standing in front of me in theboarding line watching this whole thing stepped up to the counter and said,"Here, take my seat. I'm retired and I'm in no real hurry to get anywhere." Theguy was so happy and so humbled at the same time that it looked like he wasgoing to cry. Then he took the ticket and got on the plane.

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?

—Martin Luther King, Jr.

Let a good person do good deeds with the same zeal that an evil person does badones.

—Shalom Rokeach

Roadside

We were on vacation in Florida, with four kids all under the age of ten. Theweather had been very hot and humid so this particular day we decided to pack acooler full of sandwiches and soft drinks and drive out along the coast until wefound a nice beach. It was sort of an adventure since we really didn't knowwhere we were going, but after a while we found a beautiful beach that waspretty isolated. We parked and unloaded ourselves onto the sand. It was reallygreat, except after a few hours it got too hot for the kids and they werestarting to whine and complain. So we decided to head back to the air-conditionedhotel.

When we got back to the car we discovered the keys, dangling from the ignitionwith all the windows rolled up and all the doors locked. In frustration Iscreamed, "Who locked the doors?" to which Beth, my five year old, responded,"You tell us always to lock the doors." I felt totally defeated. At first I wasjust going to smash the window in, but after Beth's evenhanded comment, Ithought that would be a bit too violent. So I walked up the road about a half-mileto a house along the beach. I knocked on the door, and an elderly coupleinvited me in. They let me use their telephone to call roadside service, thenpacked me into their car and drove back to pick up the rest of my family. Theybrought us all back to their home, and within a few minutes the kids wereswimming in their pool while my wife and I sat on an air-conditioned verandasipping a cool drink and swapping vacation stories. Roadside service came andwent, and three hours later we headed back to our hotel, refreshed and glowingfrom the surprising and wonderful experience.

Past the seeker as he prayed, came the crippled and the beggar and the beaten.And seeing them, the holy one went down into deep prayer and cried, "Great God,how is it that a loving creator can see such things and yet do nothing aboutthem?"

And out of the long silence, God said, "I did do something. I made you."

—Sufi teaching story

Chosen People

An adventurous group of Australians traveled to Nepal to attempt to climb Mt.Everest. At the 10,000-foot level, one member of the group became very sick withchills, fever, nausea, and vomiting. His "friends" wrapped him up in hissleeping bag and continued their climb. Two weeks later, he woke up in a Sherpavillage. They had found him on the mountainside, where he had slipped into acoma, and had brought him to their village to nurse him back to health.

It took many months for the climber to fully regain his health. Finally, sixmonths after being abandoned on the mountainside, he returned to the Australianembassy in Kathmandu to find that his passport had been turned in by hisclimbing partners with the explanation that he had died on the slopes of Mt.Everest.

The man who had been so lovingly nursed back to health was—in his life inAustralia—a trained nurse. He had his worldly possessions shipped from Australiato Nepal, and he returned to the Sherpas to repay their kindness by living,working, and caring for his new "chosen people."

A Trip to the Post Office

Kindness is not always a straight line. I was traveling in Central America witha friend, and we were looking for a post office. We were standing on the cornerand did not know what the Spanish word for "post office" was. Some kind soulcould see we were confused and came up to us. We tried to explain what we werelooking for, and he said, "Oh yea, yea," and led us, with our backpacks on inthe middle of the heat of the day, down all these little crooked streets. Itseemed like we walked for miles. Finally, he pointed us toward a buildingwithout any name on it. But when we went in, it turned out not to be the postoffice. When we came out and were again standing around looking lost, someoneelse came up and asked if she could help—she knew where the post office was.Again we headed off as she guided us to another building which also had no signand which also turned out not to be the post office.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Random Acts of Kindness Then & Now by Editors of Conari Press. Copyright © 2013 Conari Press. Excerpted by permission of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: Conari Press
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1573245879
• ISBN 13: 9781573245876
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 247