17 Stories About How One Act of Kindness Can Change Someone’s Life—or Just Brighten One’s Day

They say that what is a small thing for one person can be a gift from heaven for another. We often don’t realize how an insignificant act or a timely helping hand can influence the fate of others. Or even save someone else’s life. It may be enough just to be in the right place at the right time.

We, from awesome.club, we guarantee that to make this world better, or just someone’s life, you don’t have to move mountains. Sometimes all it takes is just being present and showing a little compassion. Check out!

My boyfriend yelled at me on the street, in front of everyone, just because I couldn’t keep up with him because my new shoes were hurting me. I couldn’t even respond to his barrage of unnecessary insults. So he just turned around and left me alone in the middle of the street. Almost crying, I walked slowly to the subway, when suddenly a stranger called me right at the entrance and said: “Girl, don’t cry. He’s not worth it!”, gave me a rose and left. At that moment I finally made the decision to leave the person I had already spent four years of my life with. © Overheard / Ideer When I was just two years old, my parents were barely making ends meet and could lose their house for non-payment. My father’s colleague accidentally overheard his conversation with my mother over the phone and offered to lend them money. She refused to charge interest and it took my parents 10 years to pay her back. She didn’t even know my dad that well before she offered to lend me the money. Of course, to this day my parents are good friends with her, and I don’t think Dad ever felt like he repaid her adequately. © Unknown author / Reddit

“A stranger left a figurine of an angel near my grandmother’s flowers. Since my grandfather passed away, I have never seen her so happy!”

Once, I forgot an important document on the bus. An unknown girl found it, found me on social media, and texted me asking if we could meet so she could return it. It was so nice that she cared about a stranger and made the effort to help me. © Dorka Aschenbrenner / QuoraWhen my wife was pregnant, from the sixth month onwards her blood pressure periodically dropped, causing dizziness, weakness and nausea. She wouldn’t go anywhere without me or her mother because she was afraid something would happen, but one day she decided to go for a walk in the supermarket. She took the products, walked and suddenly felt bad. She almost fell, but caught herself on the wall. All the customers walked past her and didn’t give a shit, but the janitor noticed something was wrong. He came, asked if everything was ok, took care of her, called me at her request and waited for my arrival at her side. He took her by the arm, shook her and even bought her hot tea. When I arrived, he didn’t want any money or a box of chocolates as a token of gratitude (my wife had already bought them), he simply wished our family health and went to work. I hope he is OK. © Camera № 6 / VKA teenager in front of me in line at the supermarket was buying roses and a cake to surprise her mother when she got home from work. His card didn’t work, but mine did. © foraloysiussake / Twitter

“Someone noticed that I left my sunroof open during a storm. I sincerely thank you for the gesture of kindness.”

As I was on my way to the car to go for a ride with a friend this morning, a guy at a bike shop noticed my wheelchair tire was low and offered me his bike pump. It made my day and our trip so much easier. © ezbear / TwitterMy mother works as a cook in a cafe. When she was a child, she went hungry, so she is very sensitive when she sees someone in need, especially a child. She sometimes feeds children and homeless people by cooking something simple with kitchen scraps that no one will use, taking the bare minimum from the pantry. Recently the manager found out and fired her. My mother, of course, was upset, she cried for several days until the owner of the cafe came to our house with a bouquet of flowers and an apology. He said he didn’t immediately know what had happened but that he greatly respected her kindness. He told his story and said that he himself had survived thanks to a woman like my mother. Mom went back to work and the manager was transferred to another cafe. In addition, now the owner allocates a small monthly amount to help the people my mother takes care of. He even wants to file an adoption application for the children. I am very proud of my mother and incredibly happy that such people exist. © Camera № 6 / VKMoro in Rwanda. And due to the climatic conditions of eternal summer, it is very pleasant to stay in the pool. The best option, and the safest from a health point of view, are expensive hotels. I was in the pool area having a cup of tea and nearby was a 2-3 year old child. The child ran into the pool and went to the bottom. And it was pretty deep for the little one—five feet. The waiter, without hesitation, placed the tray on the deckchair and, in a suit, shoes and all, dove into the pool and pulled the child out. I don’t know if those were his instructions, but the efficiency of the guy’s actions impressed me. I hope he gets a bonus. © kolma / Pikabu

“I work as a waitress and a few weeks ago I had a very difficult shift. A teenager drew me and now I carry this drawing with me as a reminder that there are still kind people in the world.”

When I was a child, my friend and I would always feed a homeless person who lived in a culvert, but at the same time, we were very afraid of him. One time, we took a bag of food to the manhole, knocked it out and ran away. When we went there again, there was a piece of cardboard written in charcoal “Thank you”. © Podslyshano / TwitterI was rafting down the river when I saw two teenagers without life jackets falling out of a canoe in a place where there was a strong current. I immediately jumped out of the boat, grabbed them both and swam to a fallen tree where they could grab hold, and then helped them, one at a time, to swim to shore. © j_a_g / Reddit When I was around 7-9 years old, I went to a fast food restaurant. I was eating my prime rib sandwich, and all of a sudden a piece got stuck in my throat. I couldn’t breathe or swallow. My mom looked at me and immediately realized what was going on. She started screaming for help. A man, who was sitting behind me, quickly jumped up to me and, without asking a single question, sharply bent me over, thus helping my throat to get free. Then he just walked away as if nothing had happened. Thank you, my guardian angel. © Overheard / Idear

“In the middle of a difficult day, I saw that a package had arrived for me. I went to check and what did I find? Someone sent me a Paddington bear! Whoever performed this kindness, thank you! I immediately cried, it meant so much to me!”

I remember in 2000 I was just an ugly 15 year old girl. My classmates already had boyfriends for a long time and I suffered because nobody was interested in me. One summer day, I was taking out the garbage early in the morning when a guy of about 25 years old who was passing by in a car shouted loudly: “Little cat! You are very beautiful!”, and smiled. My self-esteem skyrocketed, and when I walked into the house, I could see a beautiful girl in the mirror. I don’t know who he is, but I’m very grateful to him. © Overheard / IdeerA guy saved me once. I was listening to music on headphones and had already set foot on the train crossing when someone pulled me back by my coat. At that moment, the train passed right in front of me. I looked around, took off my headphones. The guy told me something like: “Don’t cross without looking! Have you lost the will to live? The train passed before I could say anything, and the guy was already crossing the street while I was still recovering from the shock. © Black.Lisxen / PikabuMy first boss had a huge impact on my life. After graduation, I was very depressed, I had no experience, but he still liked my resume and hired me. He taught me to love my profession, something I didn’t feel before. I learned a lot from him. I made good money and made wonderful friends that I keep to this day. It radically changed my life for the better. © AtleastIhaveakitty / Reddit When I was finishing school my mother was called by the principal. I was in a panic wondering what I had done. He gave her 250 reais to help with my prom dress and said, “I’m sorry I can’t give more!” Then I found out that the director helped all the low-income girls. © Podslyshano / Twitter

“I was traveling across the country and my tire blew out. After about 30 seconds, this guy stopped and helped me.”

I have a 15 year old daughter. She is a very shy girl and pretty much lives at home. Suddenly, she started going out every day and asking for money for needs that were clearly made up. It didn’t affect my pocket, but it was strange behavior. On my way back from work, I passed a friend who lives nearby and saw my daughter sitting on a bench talking to a homeless man. At first I was surprised and even angry, but I decided to calmly figure out what was the matter. It turns out that a foreign tourist had recently been mugged. He wandered the streets for several weeks asking for help in English, but it was all in vain. My daughter helped him, brought him food, old clothes and tried to figure out what had happened to him even in poor English. She was afraid to tell us because she thought we would condemn her for talking to a strange adult.🇧🇷 We decided to take him home and then find his relatives. Later he left, but we still communicate with him periodically. We improved our English and now his family keeps inviting us to visit them in Canada. © Chamber № 6 / VKA few years ago I was having coffee with a work colleague. Another colleague approached and asked her a question. After she left he started saying that she was annoying, always asking stupid questions with obvious answers. In short, he didn’t like her, to put it mildly. So I decided to play a joke and said, “Pay attention to her. She comes to you for a reason — it’s obvious she has a crush on you. It’s clear to everyone, only you didn’t notice. After a few months they started dating, a year later they moved in together and then got married….