Please take a moment today

[Dyler Turden]

And help someone less fortunate than you. Even if you don't have a lot of money, just a kind word can do wonders and change a life.

The simplest of things can and do make a difference. It can be with your child, a stranger or your significant other. A simple word or action is all you need and you will know what it is when you see it.

I guess I'm just trying to say that it would be cool if we all took a moment to make someone else's life a little better today.

Maybe it would start something.

[Skittles]

1. it is a way of life for me

donating platelets (37 gallons), sending packages to troops overseas (the one going Thursday has toys, mittens and socks for Afghan kids), dropping a toy in a Toys for Tots box, canned goods in the food drive boxes, sending a congratulations card to a coworker who has lost 50 pounds....it is a lifestyle for me

[Dyler Turden]

2. I wish there were more like you.

Good on you.

[avaistheone1]

3. Then yours is a wonderful life.

A toast :toast:

[Skittles]

4. it's why the "season of good will" mystifies me

it should not be a "season"

[w8liftinglady]

9. you are a good person...it's a lot easier to sleep that way

I work with homeless vets-trying to get them help,donate different things to the families of sick in the hospital where I work(when I'm working),help someone walking down the street with three little kids(we have no public transportation here),bring some canned goods to the food banks,make healing beads for my patients and their families.
for me,don't ask me why,the important thing is to do it off the record.It's not supposed to be for you,it's for them.
Now,when you are talking big money donations,that may be a different story(I don't know,because I've never been there)
Thank you for bringing this up.
donation does have a positive effect on you,as well.They feeling of joy when you help someone else is indescribable

[blondeatlast]

16. As a platelet recipient, I owe my life, quite literally, to those like you.

I know that many would like to donate and can't (I would be among them!), but for those who do and those who want to but can't--you all have made many lives so much better.

I will try to pass the kindness on in whatever way I can.

[Skittles]

23. aw thanks bal; see, comments like that.....

is what keeps me going. Lord knows it is not fun having a needle stuck in my arm and laying immobile for 100 minutes (high platelet count = double dose) every two - three weeks. But, I get to talk to nice people / watch a movie, while giving back to the community. No problemo! :D

[PBass]

5. What are you... a bunch of

Bleeding Heart Liberals?????






I like this thread.

[Dyler Turden]

13. Guilty.

It's an affliction of sorts. :)

[Skittles]

24. better a bleeding heart than no heart at all

that's what I always say :D :hi:

[handmade34]

6. I recommend this post

and encourage all to do just as DT says... Hug your kids, partner or parent. Tell the clerk at the store, they are doing a great job. Leave a 50% tip today. Open a door for someone. Write a letter or card and mail it to a friend. Go onto Wishadoo. Pick up a bit of trash. Let someone go first. Tell the person you meet that they have great eyes (hair, voice, hands, etc. - teenage girls especially love this one when it is sincere) Wave at the guy who has to stand on the street corner with a sandwich board advertising something ridiculous. Buy the person behind you a cup of coffee. Take some food to the foodshelf. The list is limitless.

[w8liftinglady]

15. I loved your post.Little gifts make all the difference in the world to

people who are trying to get by,are suffering,are sad,are hopeless.

Thank you.

[OneGrassRoot]

17. Hugs of gratitude to both of you, for all you do....

[blueamy66]

7. I just read a story in the paper about the food banks

I plan on buying a few turkeys to donate.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

8. This one's easy to K&R

It isn't complicated. It isn't rocket science. It can be as simple as holding your head up while you walk, having a smile on your face and a decent word for people you see, even (or especially) in places where you just.don't.do.that.

It can be as simple as making a promise to yourself that you will NOT be that person whom another person discusses over dinner that evening, beginning with the phrase "You shoulda seen this asshole who . . . " Determining at the beginning of the day that you won't ruin someone else's often protects the sanctity of your own.

It costs nothing to tell someone they're doing a good job, or that they look nice or you appreciate some little something about them.

At the end of Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises," the female protagonist, Lady Brette Ashley says something like "Not being a bitch. It's what we have instead of god." It really can be THAT easy.

[cilla4progress]

10. So cool.

I'm fortunate to work in legal services, as a paralegal (more approachable and affordable...more HUMAN...than attorneys, IMHO). I worked in non-profit legal aid for 10 years. Now I work in a small bankruptcy firm. It's tragic - the widespread financial chaos out there. I make it my mission every day to treat our clients with simple respect, dignity, compassion, empathy.

I was so struck by a Christmas card my legal services boss sent me one year, that perfectly articulated the intangible rewards of working in this field: WE are so fortunate to be able to do this work of social justice. He turned the tables in, I think, an apt and beautiful way, and perfectly captured my feelings about doing this work. I wouldn't have it any other way (plus, right now?, feeling very fortunate to work at all...after @ 1 yr. layoff from work in my field -- and I'm "over 50"! Decent pay, no health insurance!, but new boss contributes to my individual policy premium. And she and I are on the same page about helping the poor, the elderly.) Sacred indeed.

[Lisa0825]

11. Great post..... and here is a way....

to help one of our own...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9555943

[OneGrassRoot]

12. Absolutely...

K&R!

:grouphug:

[Dappleganger]

14. Trying to multiply the effort/influence...

soup kitchen duty this Sat. morning in St. Augustine, bringing all 4 kids plus dh.

[Skittles]

25. awesome

I believe I got my charitable ways as a child watching my grandmother - she always helped people whenever she could - she called it "opportunities"

[OneGrassRoot]

18. Eye contact, a smile, a hug are priceless in today's world....

I hope these make anyone reading smile. Consider yourself hugged ~ and don't forget to hug yourself!

:hug:







:grouphug:

[blondeatlast]

19. It really can. One never knows what the recipient of the simplest kindness might be going through.

I've just thanked store clerks for slightly going out of their way to help me and been told that it made their day. A year ago, I brought a little toy to my hairstylist for her 3 year old--she told me that her husband had left her the week before; she started crying and I gave her a hug (they've since reunited, I'm happy to report).

When my ex-husband left me. my neighbor took me with her to a Christmas party--it really cheered me u--that's a rough time to be alone.

Just the other day, I approached a check out counter and got a call on the mobile at the same time. I told the caller (my guy) that I'd have to call back. The clerk said no one had ever done that for her before; she was astonished (in a good way).

It takes a mere moment, yet it can make an amazing difference--and I always think that that kindness will be passed to another.

[OneGrassRoot]

20. I hear you...

:)

So much of it comes down to respect...respect for others as human beings, respect for ourselves. We often forget the basics as we try to survive each day, but then when we get BACK to the basics, it can make the survival a tad bit easier.

Did you see this article? "Survival of the kindest." I like that. :)

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/12/08_survival_of_kindest.shtml

:hug: to you!

[Dyler Turden]

22. +1000 Great piece.

I haven't seen that before. Well worth the read.

[w8liftinglady]

21. you are so right.I have seen it in action

simply sitting on a patient's bed,giving them a hug...telling them a joke..slipping some crackers to a family member who was afraid to leave a patient-had no money to eat.
i can't tell you how much a seemingly insignificant action can change their world.

Many thank me several years later...for a snack,a hug,a small little gift of a few minutes.
It is priceless...for both the giver and receiver.