10 Times Kindness Was the Only Thing That Could Heal a Broken Heart

Sometimes it’s easy to let our emotions cloud our judgment, and when that happens, it’s easy to lose track of the little things that make life great. But then we experience the smallest of acts, and they bring happiness back into our lives. Here are 10 stories that prove kindness can change lives.

• I worked at a café, and every day, a rescued dog would show up at his usual time for his meal. But one day, he didn’t. I started to worry. I was about to panic, I heard frantic barking and rushed outside, shocked to see how a man next to him was trying to get up from the street and struggling to gather the apples he had dropped while crossing. The dog was trying to help the elderly man, barking as if calling for help.

• I was on a ski trip in Vermont with an ex. We had an Airbnb in the middle of nowhere. I was driving up an unlit icy hill, but when I got to the top of the hill, my car lost traction, and we slid backwards halfway down the road into a snow bank. Not even a minute later, another car comes down the road and slams into my car. My ex gets out, but come to find out he has his four-year-old daughter in the car, and we are all in danger of getting hit again. We find an older gentleman and ask to use a phone. He and his wife not only call the tow company for us, but stay with us the full three hours it took to tow our cars away. I have no clue what I would’ve done without them. © Kycho8 / Reddit

• My kids’ elementary school had a program for struggling families to get Christmas gifts for the kids. It was a horrible year for us, and so I applied and got accepted. Got Christmas dinner, too. They call us and say the stuff was available for pickup. There were so many gifts, I cried hard. My kids got a good Christmas thanks to amazing people. © Unknown author / Reddit

• When I was maybe 4 or 5 years old, I made friends with another kid in an airport, and he was playing with a couple of glued-together Lego cars. That kid and I played for like an hour with those things, and when it was time to go our separate ways and board the plane, the kid insisted I keep one of the cars. And while I insisted he should keep them, he said it was proof that we were friends, and to this day, roughly 20 years later, I still have that car packed up with my childhood mementos box. That friend of mine was a good kid. Hope he’s doing well. © givebooks / Reddit

• I was in maybe 4th grade, and my parents just had my younger sister, so newborn-focused. I went to my school lunch, opened my paper bag (are those still a thing?), and unwrapped the foil holding my sandwich. There was nothing inside. It was actually just 2 slices of dry white sliced bread, and I was sad. Literally, my table mates all chipped in various components and made me the most amazing ham and cheese sandwich I’ve ever had. I’ve been chasing that dragon of a ham sandwich since, but I’m sure it was the response and not the ingredients that I loved.
  © I_Am_The_Grape**** / Reddit

• 19 yrs old, first apartment, first winter, first winter utility bill. I smiled and told my coworker I’ll just pay it, skip lunch, and eat cheap Mac and cheese for dinner. It’ll be ok. All that month, co-workers accidentally got extra chips from the vending machine. A wife packed an extra sandwich. A box of my favorite crackers would be on my desk when I came in. It was still hard, but I didn’t starve. Thank you guys. © alady12 / Reddit

• I was visiting a friend in rural PA, this is Map quest/early phone GPS days, so I got totally lost in the woods trying to find her address. It was like 11pm and after driving in circles in the pitch black I thought I was gonna have to sleep in the car until morning. I stopped near a small grouping of houses where I had cell signal, a woman was walking her dog and asked if I needed help. I told her what happened, and she was gracious enough to drive with me, following to my friend’s neighborhood. © Toastybunzz / Reddit

• About 25 years ago, we had a fuel crisis. I needed petrol for my car, as I had a lot of driving to do for work that week. I went to a station on the way home. Put £15 in my tank and went to pay, only to have my card declined. The complete stranger behind me paid for my fuel and refused to give me his details so I could pay him back. © TeenyIzeze / Reddit

• One day I got off the bus at the wrong stop because they were running an alternate route due to road closure that day. The bus driver knew where I usually get off and stopped the bus again to tell me to get back on because there would be a stop closer to where I usually get off. I later learned she did that for many people. She had memorized where all the regulars got off and on.
  © Unknown author / Reddit

• We were a poor family. My mom had made a point of saving up enough once to take my sister and me to the zoo & museum. We had a great day and even ate out. Then, on the way to the bus stop heading home, she realized she’d overspent & didn’t have enough to pay for all three of us to get there. We were looking at a 6-mile walk, and it had just started snowing. We duck into a small Chinese restaurant & ask if we can use the phone (Mom was going to ask someone for a ride). The owner asks us why we needed the phone, and after Mom explains, he not only gave us the money we needed to get on the bus but also sent us home with enough food to feed 6 people.
  My mom told him we’d try to pay him back one day, but he asked that we pay it forward instead.
  It was the first random act of kindness that I’d ever received & sticks with me 30 years later. © hassenoma01 / Reddit

Kindness has a way of affecting people in more ways than we can imagine. The smallest of gestures can have the biggest of impacts, even if we don’t always see it.

If you enjoyed this article, take a look at the next: 12 Quiet Acts of Kindness That Made People Feel Alive Again.