10+ Stories That Prove Kind Acts Are Often Done in Secret

In the busy pace of life, it’s good to let a little positivity in with the help of stories online that highlight the beauty of secret acts of kindness. These heartfelt accounts reveal moments where kindness went far beyond wanting recognition. From anonymous gestures for loved ones to selfless deeds for strangers, they show that there’s always someone looking out for us, even when we least expect it.

• My mom divorced my father when I was 10. She was going through a hard time, sleepwalking, and doing weird stuff. I would wake up and bring her back to bed.
  One night, I got up out of bed to check on her. She was sleeping peacefully. So I just stood there and watched her. Then I kissed her on the cheek and went back to bed.
  Years later, I overheard her telling a friend about that rough time in her life. And how one night, she felt like she was kissed by an angel and finally found peace. I guess I was her angel. 😇 © IJustDontGetIt5 / Reddit

• My previous job had a major perk: a lottery system in which the winners got to accompany a group to various locations in the world for a hybrid vacation/work trip. I won the lottery one year and was selected to go to Istanbul. I heard a co-worker talking to her spouse on the phone about how bummed she was that she didn’t get it (she was selected as my backup, but did not know who she was backing up).
  She had hoped to visit a long-lost family member. She is a quiet, sweet, helpful person — very behind the scenes, rather underappreciated. I gave up my spot due to a “prior commitment.” She got to go instead. I had a great time looking at her pictures. © SchleppyJ4 / Reddit

• My boyfriend tends to grind his teeth at night during his deepest sleep cycles or when he’s having a stressful dream. To help lull him out of the dream and get him to relax so he doesn’t wake up with a sore jaw, I start rubbing his arm, gently call out his name, and in an overly loving whisper say things like “I love you. You’re the best. I’m right here. You’re my guy.” And then I ask him very politely to please stop grinding his teeth.
  He always responds with happy murmurs even though he’s dead asleep, and then calms down enough that he stops grinding and drifts back off without ever actually waking up. He generally has no idea I do this, and I just smile to myself when he wakes the following day remarking how great he slept. © Bma1500 / Reddit

• I put together a surprise Christmas for my sister, her husband, and their 5 kids about a decade ago after finding out they didn’t have any money for presents due to emergency expenses.
  Dropped off the family presents for 12 days before the holiday (coats one night, a big dinner another, hot chocolate kits, etc.), and once my then-husband’s ridiculously rich family found out what I was doing, they joined the cause. By Christmas Eve, we had about $4k in presents, ranging from clothes to toys to Home Depot gift cards to drop off. We hired a Santa lookalike to ring the doorbell at 10 p.m. and drop the toys off for us. He also ended up giving them $500 of his own money.
  She still has no idea who was behind it to this day, and I hope she never finds out. She and her now-grown kids still talk about “the magic Christmas Santa visited us.” © gingeslc / Reddit

• I live in a village that is like 80% old people, meaning they can’t walk up to the church and see their loved ones’ graves very often. Once a month, I go into the graveyard and clean all the graves and make sure they have fresh flowers on them, and they look nice. I got caught once by an elderly lady who has since died — I take extra time on hers because she was just so sweet. © areyouproudma / Reddit

• It was my first day as a nanny looking after a baby girl. I took her to the park and was taking videos of her and got her to walk to me. She walked 3 steps to me and then fell on her butt and cried. It occurred to me that I didn’t actually know if she had walked with her parents yet, as she wasn’t sure of her footing yet.
  Speaking to her mom later on, I learned she was super close but hadn’t walked yet. I figured she must’ve walked with me because she was feeling clingy without her mom. I never told her parents she walked with me, and it was about 3 weeks later she finally walked for her parents. © Sydneyfigtree / Reddit

• For many years, my uncle used to bend down and pick up every penny he came across, which was maddening to my aunt who was worried the neighbors would see him and assume they were poor, needing every penny they could find. They used to tease each other about it.
  My uncle got cancer and passed away. After the funeral, we were walking to the car and my aunt saw a penny and said, “Oh, John is thinking of me. He left this penny for me today.” So whenever I’m around my aunt, I purposely drop pennies on the ground for her to find. I haven’t been caught yet, and I hope I never do. © RedheadBanshee / Reddit

• My stepdad died in January. June 23rd would have been his and my mom’s 20th wedding anniversary. She has been so down since his passing. Knowing the things he did to “prep” before he became bedbound (like taking her car and having it serviced, filling the cabinet with the hard-to-find sorts of expensive dog treats, etc.), I had a BIG floral arrangement sent to her on their anniversary.
  I asked the card to be signed, “I’m always with you,” and threatened the floral shop with life and limb to NOT tell who came in and paid for it. She was so happy. She thinks he thought of it, but it really was me. I’ll never tell. © TeenieRee2032 / Reddit

• Maybe it was very dumb and slightly creepy of me, but back in seventh grade, I would follow a lot of people from school on Instagram, and often I would see that some classmates and friends were sad or just going through a rough time. So I would write them a letter with some encouraging words and put in like $10 from the money I had saved up through the years and tell them to buy something nice with it. I would watch them during school to see where their lockers were and sneak out during class to go to the “restroom” and put the letters in their lockers. © idkxxyz / Reddit

• I’ve had my cat for 18 years. I’ve had my husband for 3 years. He always wanted a cat and never had one. Their love is strong and true, but obviously, the cat is slightly more attached to/familiar with me.
  My husband loves that cat so much and gets a little bit of a thrill out of the idea that the cat loves us equally, even though I had a 15-year head start. What my husband doesn’t know is that I sometimes intentionally annoy the cat so that he will go snuggle with my husband instead because it is so cute how giddy my husband gets about it. © MaidMilk / Reddit

• When I was a kid, I used to always twist the quarter machines on the way into stores, just in case. I got lucky a couple of times and got a few free toys. Now that I’m grown, if I’m leaving a store with them, I like to drop change into them if I have it and leave them half-twisted. © spconnol / Reddit

• When I see 2 girls walking by and one is clearly more beautiful than the other, I keep eye contact with the less attractive one and smile.
  In school, I wasn’t very attractive, athletic, or popular. There was a group of popular girls, and a couple of them would always say hi to me, although they were not friends with me. They’d congratulate me on my birthday, invite me to events, etc. These little gestures can mean the world to people with low self-esteem. Those small tokens of attention from those girls inspired me to be better in college, do sports, socialize more, pay attention to detail, and not be rude to people. © _P***sonic_ / Reddit

• My 15-year-old little sister has a small book review blog she’s really proud of. I use a VPN to make it look like there are people all over the world that read her blog. I comment in other languages sometimes too. She’s working on her Spanish and French to respond in simple phrases. © Vaisbeau / Reddit

It’s not just kind acts that people keep to themselves. Sometimes people also hide truths from their loved ones that might hurt them in some way. Fortunately, people can get their secrets off their chests online while still safeguarding others.