Month: December 2018

Good Will – Take Three

Christmas is almost here. Have you done your baking, shopping, wrapping, cleaning? All those Christmas chores threaten to rob the holiday of its true meaning. I hope this little collection of “good will” stories helps you to remember “the reason for the season.” 

Story One:  While hustling out of the rain the other day I went to enter a narrow doorway, with a triangular step. Not the easiest of entries but no a problem for me. I’m quite able. However, an elderly gentleman stood in the rain to hold the door for me. Feeling a bit embarrassed to have put him to the trouble, I mumbled thank you. “My pleasure,” he said, with such genuine warmth that I believed he enjoyed performing that small service. I went on my way with a Christmas glow in my heart.

Story Two:  While standing in the check-out line of my local grocery the clerk and I were exchanging stories of political correctness run amok. Every year it seems, Christmas is the victim of some outrageous slander — like declaring “White Christmas” racist.  The white is about snow, people.   Anyway, I shifted the conversation by explaining about this blog and my collection of good will stories. Three people cheered and one asked for the URL of my blog. So, lady in Fairway checkout, if you’re here, Merry Christmas, and thanks for making my day.

Story Three:  this incident was perhaps more an accident than an act of good will, but it made me happy, so I’ll include it anyway. My husband and I were touring the Butchart Gardens to look at the lights. They are absolutely stunning! In one window was an installation of a toy train, with mountains and tunnels and a curling rink and a carousel. I was trying to take a picture when a young lad, so overcome with excitement jumped in front of my camera, only to be scolded by his father. I assured him I didn’t mind. Another little girl was fascinated by the toy merry-go-round so I asked if she’d ridden the real one in another part of the Gardens. Her eyes grew round as saucers. “Can I?” She vibrated with excitement. We all shared a moment of Christmas cheer. Thank you, generous parents, who allowed strangers to share in their children’s wonder.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series of good will stories. I’ve been delighted to read the ones you contributed in the comments section. Please keep them coming.

This will be my last post until after Christmas. I wish you all a joyful and blessed Christmas. May you know peace and good will throughout the season and in the new year.

Visits: 134

Good Will, Take 2

Last week I started a Christmas hunt for good news stories. Readers responded. Thank you for spreading good will at Christmas. I’m especially delighted to note that kindness is contagious. One good deed inspires another. Let’s keep spreading peace on earth. Here are my stories for this week.

Story One: A friend reported a touching story from her workplace. It seems one of the maintenance staff is Indigenous. Her mother was a master beader, creating lovely objects and selling them as a business. One prized item was a lampshade. It was sold, then pawned, then redeemed and sold again and pawned again. The last time it appeared in the pawn shop, the owner set it aside. He knew the bead-maker and he knew she was in the last stages of terminal cancer. A month after the mother died, the pawnbroker contacted the daughter, my friend’s colleague, and offered the lampshade to her — a remembrance of her mother.

Story Two: A group of young school girls was given a prize for some charity work they’d done. The teachers and parents expected the girls to throw themselves a party. Instead, the group decided to use their prize money to help others at Christmas. They made soup and sandwiches which they distributed to the homeless, along with a small Christmas gift, Those who received were very grateful. Those who gave were happy to see their good fortune benefit others. Wouldn’t surprise me if that group of girls gets into the “giving” business on a regular basis.

Story Three:  Over the years, I’ve encountered my share of grumpy, disinterested by-the-book postal clerks. Especially at Christmas time. This week I found an antidote. I took my parcel to a small postal station, and found a cheerful clerk who weighed and measured my parcel, then checked the address. The postal code turned up an error. So, she waited while I made a phone call, then produced the required writing utensil to correct the address and sent it on its way. All the while chatting cheerfully about homemade Christmas decorations.  That little postal station is now my mailbox of choice!

So, there are my stories for this week. Please add your own in the comments section. Let’s keep the good news flowing against the tide of anger, and hate and incivility.

By the way, I’ve just completed my short story for Christmas 2018. Get your own copy free by subscribing to my newsletter. (see right side bar.)

Visits: 171

Peace, Good Will

 

‘Tis the season of frantic shoppers, aggressive drivers, wild-eyed bargain hunters and parking lot fender benders. The newspapers are full of stories of selfishness and greed and down-right bad manners. As an antidote, I’m collecting stories of generosity, selflessness, and kindness.

For the month of December I’ve got “good deeds” on my radar. Not the seasonal ones like serving dinner in a homeless shelter, or putting a float in a parade, or being a secret Santa to a shut in. Those are certainly good deeds and kudos to everyone to participates in those kinds of activities.

But for the purposes of this blog, I’m collecting  small acts of kindness, the unorganized kind. The kind that spread the Christmas Spirit everywhere and anywhere, even in unexpected places.

  • Story One: While waiting in a line-up outside Tim Hortons I encountered a young dad taking his little hockey players out for hot chocolate after an early morning practice. Reason enough to give him a pat on the back. But, he went further. He talked to a young man sitting on the sidewalk. Asked if he was hungry, exchanged names, then offered to bring him a breakfast sandwich. The young man on the sidewalk opted for a donut instead. The dad obliged, even after trying to talk the young man into a healthier choice. I was so uplifted by that dad’s good deed, I emptied my purse into a collection box when I finally reached the counter.
  • Story Two: I lost a prized jacket. Searched the house top to bottom several times. Looked in the most unlikely of places. Retraced my steps. Finally, in a last ditch effort, I called the airport. I was sure I hadn’t worn the jacket when I went to the coffee shop there, but  I was ready to try anywhere. Lo and behold, I did wear the jacket and left it hanging on a chair. Some honest soul found it and turned it in to lost and found. Two days after the jacket went missing, the commissionaire produced it from a back room and restored it to me. I am so very grateful to the people who enabled me to get my coat back. It would have been so easy just to walk away with it.
  • Story Three: I needed to make a left-hand turn mid-block. An oncoming vehicle stopped, allowing me to turn and freeing the line of traffic jammed up behind me. Thank you lady driver. You are a remedy for all the angry drivers out there who drive down the shoulder, cut in and out of traffic and steal parking spaces. I hope you have a Merry Christmas and that your act of kindness inspires others.

So, that’s my list for this week. Watch for more as I celebrate the Christmas season. Please share your own story of peace and good will in the comments section. Let kindness reign!

Visits: 357

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