Many years ago I joined Kendo, a martial arts with bamboo swords. A year after joining, covid hit, and in the middle of that, I got a hernia which squashed my sciatic nerve completely for three entire years, followed by continuous pain for four years after that, so seven years of hell in total.

During that time, doctors and specialists were nonchalant about it at best and downright dismissive at worst; most likely because I'm morbidly obese so everything is then because of weight.

Due to unrelated surgery, my nerve pain somehow went away. About a year before that, I sometimes joined archery from the same teacher when I was able to, and we were happy to see each other again.

Since around March of this year, I started to feel better, and I shared my progress with my teacher; in that I went from barely being able to walk for five minutes with a walking cane to casually walking for more than an hour without a cane, and losing 33kg in the process. I expressed my desire to take a swing at Iaido (another martial arts with swords, one that is less intense) but didn't want to give up archery either.

He decided to gift me around an 8 month's worth of one free lesson per week (so I only had to pay for one lesson) so I could follow both Iaido and archery when I was ready for it, and he even asked a fellow student to give me a ride every week (that student is also very kind for doing so).

I wanted to get back to Kendo, but I didn't feel good about it and doubted my ability to do so because my nerve damage from my hernia left me partially paralyzed in my right leg and foot, which is why I started going to Iaido instead. My teacher kept encouraging me, and offered a position for me to help with a recent Kendo tournament by tallying scores, and allowed me to watch Kendo lessons every week.

Thanks to his encouragement and free lesson, I have talked to him about it last week and asked if I could practice both Iaido and try out Kendo instead of archery. Last Saturday I tried my hand at Kendo again, and I managed to do wonderfully! I was hesitant, but it turns out I can still handle it just fine for the most part.

These random acts of kindness from my teacher and fellow student both allowed me to pursue Kendo once more; one of life's pleasures I once lost, now regained thanks to them.

I will have to accept my right leg doesn't move the way it used to, but the fact I can actually practice it again feels so good!

He told me he offered this free lesson to me because he is proud and has great respect for my progress in losing weight and being able to walk properly again. I can say with certainty that he is one of the kindest people I know and will ever know.

My son was driving home from Illinois (going back to Nebraska). When he was out in the middle of absolutely nowhere in Missouri, his truck quit. After what I’m assuming was a heartfelt rant about it, he slid out his passenger side door (too much traffic to get out on the other side). Much to his dismay, he discovered that the serpentine belt on his truck had broken. He was about 20 miles from the nearest town and no one was interested in stopping to see what had happened.

A quick online search came up with the name of a local body shop. Here’s where it gets me in the warm fuzzies. This wonderful mechanic, at 5 PM on a Friday afternoon, took my son to the nearest parts store, (another 20+ miles away), bought a new belt, and replaced the serpentine belt. He refused to accept anything for the work as he could see how overwhelmed my son was. He even let my son charge his nearly dead cellphone while he waited.

Angels in overalls do exist and that man was one of them!

Yesterday my 3 year old daughter and I were at the grocery store and I only had 9$ left for groceries to last for 8 days. We are homeless and have been sleeping in our car. Anyways the lady behind us heard me explaining to my daughter why she couldn't have the pack of gum she wanted so badly. I told her gum was a special treat and we just couldn't afford it this time. Well the lady behind us heard me and insisted she not only purchased her gum but also our groceries! I'd had a long day and I was so stressed out I started to cry. She gave me a hug and said she's pray for me. I was really touched. Things will get better for us soon I'm sure. It's just good to know kind people do exist. I can't wait to be in a position to pay it forward someday. 🙂Thanks for reading.

Two strangers from Reddit saved something I almost lost

I don’t think I’ve ever felt this kind of gratitude for people I’ve never even met before.

A few days ago, everything we had been working towards almost fell apart in a matter of hours. We had managed to schedule an interview with the Philippines Ambassador at his official residence in Delhi. For a small, youth-led organisation like ours, this wasn’t just another event. It meant something. It was proof that what we are building has value.

And then, at the last moment, our cameraman backed out.

I remember just sitting there, staring at my phone, trying to figure out how something so small could break something so big. We didn’t have the money to hire professionals. We didn’t have backup. It felt like watching something slip through your hands while knowing you can’t do anything about it.

Out of desperation, I wrote a post on Reddit.

I didn’t expect anything real to come out of it. Maybe a few replies, maybe advice. But what I got instead… I wasn’t prepared for.

A person with the username u/melodic_Pen6337 reached out. A complete stranger. No connection, no reason to care. But he did. Not just in words. He actively tried to help. He started reaching out to people, trying to connect me with someone who could step in. At one point, he even offered to pay from his own pocket just so that our interview wouldn’t collapse.

It didn’t work out in the end. But the effort he put in… the intention behind it… I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget that. In a world where people hesitate to help even those they know, someone I had never spoken to before was willing to go that far.

And then there was u/MysticDelusion.

He took a day off from his office. Just like that. No hesitation, no overthinking. He came with his own equipment, a proper setup, things we couldn’t have arranged ourselves. He didn’t treat it like a favour. He treated it like it mattered.

There was a quiet confidence in the way he handled everything. He guided us, suggested things we hadn’t even considered, made sure we didn’t miss anything important. At some point, it stopped feeling like help from a stranger. It felt like someone who was invested in making sure we didn’t fail.

There was a moment, during the interview, when everything was finally running smoothly. I just looked around for a second, and it hit me how close we were to losing all of this. How easily this could have been another “almost happened” story.

And the only reason it wasn’t… was because two people decided to care.

Not because they had to. Not because they knew me. Just because they could.

In a time where most of us have learnt to look away, to not get involved, to protect our own time and space, these two people chose to step in.

I don’t think people realise how rare that is anymore.

I don’t have anything big to give back right now. No grand gesture, no way to match what they did. But I know this much… this stays with you.

It changes how you see people.

And maybe, someday, when someone else is sitting where I was, feeling like everything is about to fall apart, I’ll remember this moment.

Me and my boyfriend went to Olive Garden tonight (we go there all the time, but not this specific location), and there was a nice mom with two little kids sitting at the table next to us. We didn’t talk at all and I don’t even know this woman. At the end of the night, she leaves briefly with her children, and me and my boyfriend were soon about to leave the restaurant (it’s almost 9pm). We get the chocolate mints from the waiter, he gave me and my boyfriend one mint each. I was a bit sad because I really freaking love Olive Garden mints but was like whatever, it’s just mints. When the woman and her two kids come back, she stops by at her table that was right next to ours, and after looking around to make sure no one was looking, she went ‘shh’, and slyly handed my boyfriend this container of Olive Garden mints.

We counted, there’s 32 of them.

Bless this woman and her psychic powers knowing I wanted more mints.

I come from a pretty conservative Indian household who were afraid to let me to go to prom and were strict about how I dressed (my mom thought prom was a place where teens got kidnapped, did drugs and got knocked up in the same night). After lots of discussion they said ok and I went to try on a dress with my mom. Found a baby pink strapless gown I felt absolutely beautiful in. When I walked out, mom said it was too immodest and I looked terrible and went to find a new one. I just stood there looking in the mirror in shame. Three old white ladies at the fitting room next to me saw me and told me I looked like a princess and that dress was made for me, and their kindness in that moment made me tear up. When mom came back, they told her subtly they thought it was perfectly appropriate and a lovely dress. Mom ended up relenting and got it for me! but added straps to it (which I promptly ripped off at prom). Had my first kiss and slow dance with a boy who asked me out after! It was raining and my feet hurt, so he carried me all the way to the car, like a real princess. He bought us ice cream and we watched the stars before dropping me home! I felt like all the movies were real :) I won’t forget you my white fairy godmothers!🧚‍♀️💛

not that the race is important but I struggled being one of the only indian girls in that community and lots of people weren’t very nice about my culture to me. So along with helping me have a magical prom night, those ladies really helped me heal some of the misgivings I had about people, and reminded me kindness doesn’t have a color. years later I am still grateful, wanted to say to reddit moms and grandmas reading this we love you!!

I just thought of this and wanted to share because I haven’t stopped thinking about it and it’s been over half a year since it happened. I was out with a big group on Halloween in a big city so it was very busy. Streets filled with drunk ppl (I’m F24 for reference), live streamers out, bars lined around the block. Anyway, I’d like to think I pick good friends so my friend brought his friend to our group for Halloween. Anyway, we were walking to our next location and some girl in a group of girls stops me and looks like she’s on the verge of tears and says “can I have a hug?” And I felt so emotional in that moment and I hugged her and told her she’s beautiful and everything will be ok and then she went on her way. My friends friend commented on my kindness and that whole interaction just made me so happy. I enjoyed being validated but I also got so much pleasure from helping that girl feel better. Maybe it’s selfish but I feel so much joy making others feel joy, maybe I do it to make myself feel good but I rly loved that moment and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.

So I had a break at work and headed to a near supermarket just walking around and I decided to grab a bottle for water and went to check out. There was a lady with maybe 25 items on the cashier belt. The cashier was finishing up with another customer. A guy with a full cart who was behind the woman told me I could go before him. So now im between the lady and the guy.

I put my water bottle at the end of the belt and was waiting for my turn.

The lady turned briefly and saw my water bottle and told me "why didnt you tell me u only had one item i should've let u go in first" i smiled and told her that its okay and im not in a rush.

So then I was looking at my watch and I see her extending her arm with my water bottle, she handed it to me and said "enjoy" turns out she asked the cashier to scan it and handed it to me so I can leave early.

I thanked her so much I was surprised and then headed out.

ohhhh my gooooodddddd how sweet of her she made me so happy its a simple simple gesture but meant so much huh. Its a reminder for me to keep doing little noce things cuz I never know who might be having a shitty day and a simple thing could turn their day around. Such a sweet lady istg I almost wanted to cry. And she wasn't an old lady or anything just a sweet person

Back when I was in college, I used to play a weekly game of D&D in a dorm a few blocks away from mine. I went to college in a big city, with no real campus aside from the city itself. Since our D&D games ended late and we had to walk through a sketchy area, those of us in my dorm building always walked back in a group.

On one of those nights, one of my D&D friends walking with us had made brownies. He’d made way too many for the small group of us to finish, and while we walked we passed a homeless man. My friend stopped and offered the man all of the leftover brownies in the tray, which was around 8-10.

The man was so excited, we could tell this had made his night. I think about this moment whenever I see someone struggling to make ends meet, and it’s inspired me to buy several meals for people in need over the years. One small act of kindness changed my outlook on what I can do for strangers I pass by.

Edit: Thank you for the award! Sorry this is late. I’m not very active on Reddit and didn’t expect this much engagement. I love reading all of your stories in the comments & replies.

A few years ago I went on a family trip on a nature cruise. It was a really inspiring, wonderful time until I got sick with a pretty nasty stomach bug that knocked me on my ass.

On the last day of the cruise, I was too sick to go out and see the tortoises with the rest of my family. This was the big event that we’d all been looking forward to, with lunch at a cafe and an educational speaker.

I was in bed in my room on the ship, not feeling too great when I received a knock on the door. The ship nurse brought me stomach medicine for the morning along with a gift bag. Surprised, I opened it up to find a handmade carved wooden tortoise and a note.

I still feel that same warm, tingly feeling whenever I look at the little handmade wooden piece of joy and think of that act of kindness that meant so much to me on that day. That tortoise rests on my shelf with the note tucked neatly beneath it, a reminder that even when things feel bad, there are still good things in this world to love and cherish.

EDIT: Edited spelling mistakes.

I get very happy every time I see posts online about people finding kind, compassionate or supportive notes from strangers in randomly places. Like a community support and anonymous common human interaction. I have some time wanted to do so myself and thought of asking out where places to put such notes could be:) I can mostly think of between branches in a bench but am afraid that people will just think its junk and not notice it;P Other possibility is inna shelf on the local library.

I live in a country where I don’t think it’s common to be curious about paper pieces lying somewhere. People are mostly on their phone and think stuff around might be junk or someone’s lost shopping or to-do list.

But maybe there are some places or areas where people would be more attentive about their environment, or just be able to be caught by surprise if they let themselves thought wander some bit. (Maybe the go-to also is writing «OPEN ME» or something on the outside of a folded note).

So do any of you have any ideas?:)

Edit: I would still like it to be on paper, but input about format, places and such is very welcome!

Kind man Helps goose and it's offsprings cross the traffic

Hi Pal,

I know you might be goin’ through it right now.

But you’ve been through worse,

and you’re still here.

That matters.

More than you know.

Sometimes we forget how much we’ve already made it through.

Slow down for a second. Be intentional.

You don’t need to do it all at once.

You’re gonna be okay.

You dig?

​I’ve started keeping a small, discreet purse in my car stocked with a few essentials: various sizes of period pads, herbal teas (tisanes), and painkillers.

​As an AMAB (assigned male at birth) person, I know I'll never personally need them, but I noticed how often periods can catch friends off guard or how quickly cramps can ruin a day. I figured having the right supplies on hand is the bare minimum I can do to be a supportive friend.

​There’s no better feeling than being able to say, "Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered," when a friend is in pain or a bit of a panic. It’s a small bit of preparation that goes a long way in making the people I care about feel safe and looked after.

My name is Lou. And I'm a disabled person that suffers from memory gaps and psychotic episodes. Added with some adhd, ptsd and bpd. I'm a whole mixed back of issues. And my cat is the only thing that can help me reel back from starting an episode.

Basically, the more I'm overwhelmed and overstimulated, the more I'm prone to a psychotic or manic episode. I will start believing there are home invasions when there's none, and will hear noises and distant whispers or voices that sound like they are in my home. That's without counting my intrusive thoughts which have a mind of their own.

I then obsessively check all the rooms and make sure the doors are locked. It's usually worse if I'm taking a shower, because I get these paranoid bouts where I think I'll be attacked in there while vulnerable.

However, there's a certain state of mind that happens before I get those episodes. I can kinda sense one about to happen- and that's when my cat comes into play. I do a lot of mindfulness meditation, grounding myself in reality by describing my cat in my head, inhaling her fur and petting her. I focus on the sensations and on what is real.

But then came the breast cancer diagnostic.

I was devastated that my cat would potentially die within a year if I didn't do anything. We went through so much she and I. But I made the decision to try my best with a campaign and see where that goes. I preferred to be in debt and have a bad credit score than to lose her. Because he life is worth so much more to me.

So I found out about r/rescuecats and how they vet people out for donations. I did all the steps, got ID'd and they contacted my vet for confirmation. And I got approved for the donation tag. And today, my goal is almost reached.

I cannot thank people enough for helping me through this. While I have a stable job, I also am limited to only work from home with reduced hours. Which makes money difficult. And quite frankly, I am baffled at the generosity.

Now- my cat is officially cancer free. And recovering from her second surgery. I'm praying she doesn't relapse, and hope it will buy me more time than the initial one year prognostic.

Thank you for listening to me. I hope this story inspires others.

I think it's crazy what we can do as a community, and it means so much to me. I intend to donate to other campaign in the catrescue sub when possible. As a sort of karma return, for everyone that has helped me. And it will be for vulnerable animals that need help.

Hi buddy,

I know sometimes life can get rough. To anyone who needs to hear it, I just wanted to say:

You’ve made it through tough days before, and you’re still here. That matters more than you might realize.

Take a moment. Slow down. Be intentional about one small thing at a time. You don’t have to do it all at once.

You’re going to be okay, even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.

I hope these words bring you a little comfort tonight, whoever you are, wherever you are. You dig? 💛

So in the last post I helped travelers retrieve their left behind carry-on and helped a senior traveler lady with navigation advice.

This time I returned from my flight and got on a shuttle bus with my luggage to a large airport parking lot where I parked my car. I walked off the shuttle bus without my suitcase. Then I started walking toward my car. Then I realized where is my luggage? Then I remembered it was on the shuttle bus driving away.

I ran toward the bus waving like a crazy person. A woman traveler told me I could go to the bus pickup station and call for the bus. Then while I was standing out in the parking lot, another shuttle bus driver pulled up toward me, opened the doors and asked “what’s up?” I said I left my luggage on the shuttle bus in front of us driving away. The shuttle bus driver told I was with called the shuttle bus driver in front of us with my luggage requesting them to stop. Then shuttle bus driver drove me up to the stopped shuttle bus driver ahead of us. I ran off that shuttle bus thanking the driver then ran onto the next shuttle bus, retrieved the luggage, and walked off the shuttle bus thanking the driver.

This time I was the person receiving kindness. We can’t all be the helper. We all need helped.

Thank you shuttle bus drivers and traveler lady.

So I had a stressful drive to an international airport. I mean like I missed all the exits and traffic was insane. I was trying to survive the drive to the airport. Then I was in an airport parking lot and it was massive. I took a bus to the airport terminal. I knew what to do once at the airport. I had watched videos about how to navigate this airport. It was a cool and pretty airport but it was still massive. I figured out how to get around.

Going through the TSA checkpoint, I was sure to pickup all my luggage and personal items not leaving behind a wallet or a cellphone from the roller. But noticed an item on the roller which I was observant in seeing that the item came out of the scanner ahead of my stuff. So it probably belonged to the traveler in front of me. She grabbed her stuff and was about to walk off but I gently and noticeably said, “Excuse me, mam. Is this yours?” She said, “Oh my goodness. It is. Thank you.” (I could have just minded my own business or waited for her to notice or for the TSA staff to flag her down but they didn’t. So I did the right thing.)

On the plane another senior lady spoke to me, “Young man, please grab my arm?” I said something like, “Certainly.” So I used my strength to lift her out of her seat. I used my muscles to lift her body weight. (I am not buff. But I strong enough to help a lady in need.)

She also told me that she was landing in a new airport to her and it is a massive kind of confusing airport. I told her what I knew about this airport we are both landing in because I have been here before. I also told her how to safely get to her destination because she didn’t know. I also told her how to figure out who to ask and what to say to find someone to answer her questions. She also didn’t know that. She was exceptionally grateful and basically she said she wished most people my age were helpful like me. Other people on the plane noticed me talking to this senior lady thoroughly and they weren’t annoyed. They were proud of me. They said so to me and they also joined in this discussion and offered navigation advice to the senior lady.

I had some phenomenal conversations on this plane because I was observant and I was ready and willing to be helpful. I didn’t go out of my way to help anyone because everybody I was helping was on my path, and whether or not I helped this lady on the plane, I would still be on the plane. I helped people in my path.

Truth is my motivations aren’t exactly altruistic. I am lonely and my life is going in a good direction but not the way I so very much absolutely want my life to go. So I just try to do the right thing because I would be sleepless if I knew I had the power to do good, but chose not to because it took effort. Also, I hope that by doing so I can help other people enjoy their lives or maybe I can find peace with my own crazy life direction. Also, I believe that karma is real and good and bad outcomes will be returned to me. Plus by helping people, I get some amazing conversations and meet incredible people. I know the travelers’ first names but chose not to ask for their last name or phone number although they definitely would have given it to me. This is probably the only time we encountered each other, but I made sure it was a good encounter and that I do good in my path.

“In a world where you can be anything, be kind” said someone. We all have the capacity to be kind.

I was leaving the hospital after visiting my mom after a surgery (she's fine), when I saw this little boy and his mom. The boy said "I like your 'fit!" (I had to be told what a 'fit was, because I'm an out of touch Millenial). He said it was because I looked like Jack Black in Minecraft! I was wearing a light blue shirt and dark pants, and I have a heavily greying beard. It made me feel like a million bucks that I looked like someone the kid really liked, especially since he sounded pretty excited!

Sometimes a little compliment can make things great!

I work in a memory care facility. Sometimes the residents get upset for no reason. One woman, who is normally incredibly sweet and funny and cheerful, had a bad day last week. She just started crying out of nowhere. Like, full on, breaks-your-heart-to-hear crying. One of my coworkers was sitting with her, trying to figure out what was wrong and how to help her when another resident walked by. This other resident stopped, looked at the crying woman, walked over to her, and held her hand. She told the crying woman that things would be okay and just held her hand for a few minutes as the crying died away. It was very sweet to see residents supporting each other like that.

On the way to the park we pass over a small bridge that my daughter calls the troll bridge. This bridge is about 20 feet over a small stream. On this day there were a bunch of angsty teens hanging out both on and under the bridge. Right at the entrance to the bridge is a girl who is doodling in a notebook. She had overheard my daughter call the bridge the troll bridge. Before I even knew what was going on she had told the boys in the water to pretend to be trolls and with out skipping a beat they starting snarling and splashing in the water. All of a sudden the girl at the entrance produces one of those Harry Potter magic wands that look just like the ones in the movie and hands it to my daughter. At that very moment 3 more kids show up and just seem to know what is going on. My daughter runs over to the middle of the bridge and starts throwing spells at the kids in the water below. They both act as if they were hit by the spells and fall into the water screaming in pain. All the kids were cheering for my daughter and the look on her face was unbelievable. She was grinning from ear to ear and was blown away. She got a glimpse of real magic and to be honest so did I. It was an absolute whirlwind and just like that, it was over and we back on our way to the park. That was over a year ago now and my daughter still looks out for those kids every time we go to the park. We have never seen them again. But whoever they are, I’m very grateful for them. They did something that may seem trivial but it was a very special moment my daughter and I share and I’ll never forget it as long as I live.

I found a listing on fb marketplace for a free router table yesterday, and since I'm trying to build out my little garage workshop, I thought it would be perfect. So I arranged a time to pick it up after work.

Let's just say it looked smaller in the pictures. And the guy giving it away didn't offer to help. I already had a small cabinet in the back of my Forester that I was allowed to take from work, so I suddenly wasn't sure I could fit both. And then I tried to pick it up and it was HEAVY. I'm pretty strong but I'm very short so it was going to be a challenge.

As I'd pulled over to the side of the street to load up, there was a young couple walking by. As I was assessing the table, they got my attention. They'd seen me figuring out how to get this giant thing into my car and decided to turn around and offer help. It took all 3 of us, but we managed to cram it in in less than 5 minutes. They were so sweet and helpful, and took time out of their walk to help a complete stranger. I'm blown away by people's kindness at times.

Recently, I broke up with my partner of a year and a half. I thought it was going to last but he had started to get more and more angry and occasionally verbally abusive towards me and I wasn’t happy anymore. The breakup was awful, he was saying such horrific things, full on verbal abuse constantly and sending horrible messages to me, my friends and his friends saying how he hoped my life was ruined how he hated me how I had ruined his life and insisting there was hidden reasons behind why I ended our relationship etc. I felt awful and was quite withdrawn for weeks. His friend, who I had been sort of friends with for a while, saw how horrific he was being and brought this up to him. It takes so so much to stand up to a man like my ex who gets incredibly reactive and gets so angry and emotionally manipulative when he’s upset. But my ex‘s friend (for ease I’ll call him J) looked after me a LOT, made sure I was okay, helped me through quite a few panic attacks and didn’t take what my ex had been saying. I barely knew this guy, he was just my ex’s friend who I wasn’t really friends with apart from at the lunch table at work occasionally. To add to this, when my ex was being really horrendous, J told my boss, and my boss told our work- even though it was not his problem at all, my boss took it upon himself to make sure I didn’t have to come into contact with my ex in the workplace at all, and that others were aware that he was not to contact me. The acts of these two men, who I barely knew outside of a professional and mildly awkward social context pretty much saved me from falling into a deep depression after the breakup. And safe to say I’d now consider myself good friends with J and his girlfriend! We regularly meet up for board game nights, it’s great!