10 Stories That Prove Kindness and Love Can Heal a Dark World

hour ago

10 Stories That Prove Kindness and Love Can Heal a Dark World

Kindness has a way of affecting us all. Whether we’re the recipient of an unexpected gift like a bunch of flowers or we’re watching someone show empathy to another, it stirs emotions that could change the world. Here are 10 stories of kindness and compassion that prove love can heal even in the darkest and harshest corners of the world.

It was my first day at my first job ever. A man ordered a burger, then threw it on the floor screaming, “I SAID NO PICKLES!” I was 17, humiliated, and fighting back tears. But I apologized and made him a new burger. He snatched it and left.
The next day, he came back. My body froze when he gripped my shoulder tightly and threatened, “If you ever let anyone treat you like I treated you yesterday without standing up for yourself, you’re going to have a miserable life.” I was confused.
His eyes were red. “I have a brain tumor. It’s affecting my impulse control and emotions. Yesterday I couldn’t stop myself, and I saw the fear in your eyes. You stayed professional and kind anyway, but you shouldn’t have to deal with that.”
I replied, “Yeah, what you did was wrong. But no, I don’t want to become bitter or defensive because of one bad interaction. That would hurt me more than it would hurt people like you.” He started crying.
Then, he handed me his daughter’s phone number. “I’d like to ask for your help. If I ever come in and act like that again, call her. She’ll come get me.” He visited weekly after that, always apologizing if he felt even slightly irritable, always grateful.
His daughter called me six months later to say he’d passed, but that he talked about me often—about how a kid working their first job showed him more grace than he deserved, and it mattered to him until the end.

Bright Side

Our car had a flat tire on a road to nowhere in Montana. Suddenly a bunch of cars start coming down this road but from the opposite direction. The first car is a hearse. Next car is kinda a limo type thing.
The car stops next to us and asks if we need help. We do. We need a jack. The car unloads with like 6 people in it, including a really old lady. In the next 10 minutes we learn that this lady’s husband just died and they are on the way to the gravesite.
The other people in the car are her children. They say their father always stopped for people in need and taught them how to look out for one another. The old lady is laughing and crying as she tells us stories of her husband. I try to change the tire myself but am shoved out of the way by one of the sons who wants to do it.
Then they call the closest tire shop and get us a tire. Apparently his brother-in-law or someone owns the tire shop and he called and told them to give us a free tire. It was amazing.
So a funeral procession on the way to bury their husband/father/friend stops, gets us a jack and changes our tire for us. All while they were traveling in the opposite direction as us. I’ll never forget that. I really wish I still lived in Montana, the people there are amazing.

When I was 22 I cooked in a restaurant for a ruthless old Italian man. Screamed at me 24/7 about how I couldn’t cook and threw multiple plates I made across the kitchen in a rage.
My wisdom teeth kept getting infected, the pain was unbearable. I was broke and estranged from my family, so there was no way I could afford the extractions. One day, he found me crying in the back of the kitchen and asked me what the hell was wrong with me. I explained the situation and he sent me home.
The next day he told me to get in the car, we were going to buy groceries. He took me to his oral surgeon and paid for my consultation and surgery and allowed me to pay him on a payment plan.

I was about 19 years old and driving a beat up old Volvo and while driving down the road the hood flew up and bent around the top of the windshield. I was in 40mph traffic and had to stop blind. I was all by myself, a scrawny girl trying to push the car from the center lane out of the way.
NO ONE was stopping to help, except finally these really intimidating rough looking motorcyclists, leather and chaps and bandanas and tattoos, who pulled their bikes over and ran out to help me. I was officially rescued by them, and I will never forget it.

I went to this lady’s visitation today.
I met one of my bffs 39 years ago when I was in high school. The 1st time I went to his house after school, his mom came home from work with a big bag of Long John Silvers. Used to love Long John Silvers.
Anyway, I was in the living room when they went into the kitchen to eat. She told me to “come on in! There’s plenty for everyone!” So I did.
I was almost done when I realized she was eating a bologna sandwich. She had fed me her dinner. That was the 1st time we had ever met.
I still feel guilty about it to this day. But, that was the way she was. Just a sweet kind lady.
Now I’m feeling even more guilty, as I’m sure I never told her how much that meant to me. Goodbye Kay. I’ll miss you.

When my wife lost all her hair to chemotherapy, I did what lots of guys do and shaved my head in a show of support. She couldn’t walk very well, but she still wanted to show independence.
So, when we went grocery shopping, she took one of the electric carts. We were walking through the store and some random guy caught sight of us. He came to me with tears in his eyes and said “Be strong, brother.” Then he hugged me.
That moment of human connection was something unexpected, because in that situation, people feel like they’re alone. I felt like I was alone until that one person who had a similar experience hugged me. I’ve never seen him again, but it stuck with me.

So I was homeless in my final year of high school and my school wouldn’t let me graduate because I missed too much P.E. I was still coming to school and I was an A/B student but they wouldn’t make an exception.
Anyway, a year or so later I ran into a parent of another student (there were only 200 kids in the whole high school). He was so pissed when he heard my story he got me to do some work to make up for my missed credits and got me a diploma from a school he was on the board of (he was a college counselor by trade).
Fast forward a couple years and I was living in a bad situation and that little piece of paper was all I needed to move away and start college.

I went to a Montreal Expos “meet the players” lunch when I was 10 (1977). I was a very shy kid and had only asked for a couple of autographs when I asked Gary Carter for his. His face brightened immediately and he said “Hey pal.” Carter was a star at the time, but he seemed genuinely glad to meet me.
I can’t stress this enough. He got out of his chair, kneeled down and asked me what my name was. He then wrote, “To Mike, Best wishes and good luck in the future from your friend, Gary Carter.” He then proceeded to introduce me to the entire team and got them all to give me an autograph. He could see I was shy and walked around with me until I had the whole team.
Later in life, I became a huge collector of hockey autographs (I have about 70-80) and although most of the players were nice, I haven’t seen anything close to the incredible act of kindness that Gary Carter showed me that day.

I had been rushed to the hospital after passing out with pain. They had no idea what was wrong with me; I underwent a series of tests to eliminate possibilities. It was a day from hell — everything seemed to go from bad to worse.
Nurse who did my IV was a newbie. Another nurse didn’t read my chart, fed me, and the meds I’d been given caused me to vomit. That night I was in so much pain I couldn’t walk. After all this I was sitting in my wheelchair in the hall outside the ultrasound room just crying all pathetic in misery.
Suddenly this little girl about 3 years old came over to me, took my hand, started rubbing it and said: “Don’t cry, it’s ok. You’ll be ok.” And she stayed with me and made faces/told me stories until she had cheered me up.
It was just so sweet and genuine — it was a small moment, but it was exactly what I needed that day. It still makes me smile when I think about it.

I was walking into one of my first-ever job interviews wearing a jacket and tie that probably looked a little out of place on me, a portly, long-haired nerd/hippie. A middle-aged lady and I crossed in the vestibule of the building. She looked at me and said, “You look nice today!”
Surprised, I said, “Thanks! I’m going for a job interview upstairs!” She nodded and said, “You’ll get it.” She walked out the door and I never saw her again, and I went upstairs and nailed the interview and got the job.

It doesn’t take a big heart or an act of bravery to be kind to someone. Something as small as a smile can impact people in ways we could never understand.

If you liked this article, why don’t you check out the next one: 12 Small Acts of Kindness That Quietly Changed Lives.

And now, Bright Side readers, we’d like to hear from you. Have you ever been the recipient of a random act of kindness? Or have you witnessed one? Share your stories in the comments below.