This is going to be a bit of a throwback to 2012, but if you know Joe Bereta, you’re likely aware that he was a part of SourceFed where he, at one point, had a news segment called Feelin’ Good. As you might’ve guessed already, it covered news that was all about them good vibes.
Anywho, one bit that naturally evolved from all of this is Joe’s excessively physical and just out there exposition of good—nae, ecstatic— positive emotions, followed by him saying “feelin’ good!” many times. Like this (4:00).
All of this just to explain exactly how you might end up feeling after reading this listicle.
#1
I'm a wheelchair user. At a baseball game, a little girl came running up to me and climbed on to my lap. Her mom was apologetic but I told her it was fine, no worries-- looking at the girl's face, I could tell she had some kind of developmental disability. Mom explained to me that the little girl's grandfather used a wheelchair and she missed him. I rolled around a little to give her a ride, she giggled and had a good time, then she climbed off and went back to her mom.
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447points
#2
I was in an abusive relationship and it ended with him beating me up very badly. Broken ribs, bruises and cuts all over me. He was arrested, but the process and aftermath was hell. It was spring and the weather was warming, but for weeks I wore long sleeves and high collars to hide the cuts and bruises. Eventually everything healed and faded except one very deep bruise on my upper arm. I had had enough of hiding them in shame so one day I said f**k it and wore short sleeves. I was standing in line in Walmart and noticed this rough biker looking dude staring at me. I thought he was checking me out or whatever. Then he asked me how I got that bruise on my arm. I stumbled answering and he outright asked "Did somebody hurt you?". For some reason I decided to be honest and not lie in shame so I said out loud "Yes, somebody hurt me." He looked at me me and in the kindest voice said "You did not deserve that. Whoever it was will get what's due to them one day." For some reason, that was a turning point for me. I knew then that I was going to be ok. I knew that no matter how things turned out legally, that I was going to be ok. I never saw that man again, but I honestly think he was an angel sent to give me a message.
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442points
#3
On my honeymoon in Greece we nearly got stranded driving our little scooter back from a day trip. Finally found a petrol station in this village but it was during afternoon nap/siesta time. We apologised as best we could in the little Greek we knew. The guy obliged but looked a little annoyed. He casually asks where we are from and we tell him New Zealand.
His face lights up and is amazed because he had never met someone from NZ before. He asks us what are we doing so far away from home, we tell him that it’s our honeymoon.
He tells us to wait there and comes back with a bottle of wine that’s obviously worth more than the €6 of petrol we are buying. He refuses for us to round up the bill or for us to buy anything.
He just tells us “honeymoon is honeymoon, be happy, go”
Hands down one of the best highlights of our trip.
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335points
While it is so easy to fall into a spiral cluster-truck of bitterness, it turns out being kind and caring is the better thing to do. Not only because it’s the socially right thing, but also because there are mental health benefits as well.
The Mental Health Foundation, the UK’s leading charity for everyone’s mental health, discussed this at length, explaining that there’s actual hard science behind good deeds.
#4
A few years ago, I was experiencing deep depression. My life was a mess, my apartment was a mess, I was a mess. For a moment, I decided to just go to the park and sit for a while, as I was really at the end of my rope and had zero idea on what to do.
Out of nowhere, a kid, possibly about three or four years, comes and hands me three yellow dandalions and runs back to her mom.
I don't know why, but I always remember that. That day, I went home and cleaned my apartment and made it more tidy. I wouldn't say that my life miracurously changed, but I will say that, that one moment of kindness, that neither the kid nor the mom probably remember, was one of the most memorable moments in my life.
**Edit:** You guys realize you are making a grown up ugly cry, right? I mean, that must be criminal.
Thank you so much for your lovely comments and rewards!
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320points
#5
I once took my son to a local science center for a day of fun. I also have cerebral palsy. I get around well enough. Sometimes I use a wooden cane, but I'm alright unsupported. I rock a mean limp and have terrible balance, but if you were to see me walking around most would just assume I had been injured at some point.
While walking around I spotted this woman with a young daughter of maybe 7-8 using a walker and sporting a pair of leg braces. The mother and I locked eyes a few times throughout our free roaming day until eventually our kids started interacting with the same exhibit. We were standing there watching them and I turned to the mother and before I could even speak she said:
"Cerebral palsy. You too, huh?"
We ended up spending the rest of our day together chatting about our lives and experiences and going over the many advancements and therapies that have been developed since my childhood.
She ended up telling me at the end of the day that seeing me being a single dad to my son and being so independent in spite of my disability gave her a lot of peace of mind. She said she worried a lot about what her daughter's future might hold in terms of her independence.
It was just an all around really nice experience.
317points
#6
I was in Walmart one day and some dude was blocking the aisle where the item I needed was located. I then heard him ask a Walmart employee where the cabinet liners were. She proceeded to say she wasn't sure and started to send him to the wrong location.
I nosily piped up: I know where they are. If you want to follow me I will take you to them because I just bought some last week.
The man: Oh, ok. Thank you.
He followed me to the opposite side of the store and I showed him where they were. He thanked me again and I hurried back to the other side of the store to get what I needed.
Five minutes later at the self checkouts the man showed up and I saw him just hanging around with his bag of purchases on his arm. When it came time to pay he stepped up and insisted on paying for my items. I thanked him profusely.
At the time I only had $35 in my bank account and was trying to purchase food for the week. This man who I was so annoyed with helped me so much. I still tear up when I think of his kindness. I am a single mother of two wonderful kids and this was my miracle.
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297points
To be on the same page, the MHF defined kindness as choosing to do things that help you or others, motivated by sincere intent and feeling. This includes things like volunteering, doing things for a good cause, random acts of kindness, and the like. It can be as simple as offering to make a coworker a cuppa java or paying for someone’s food order while they’re in the restroom.
#7
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon just came out in theaters. I had been planning to go see it on my next day off. I didn’t have a car so relied on the bus. The day of the movie came and there was a snow storm. I walked downtown to get the bus but there was a sign saying all buses cancelled due to snow.
I was super bummed out and walked over to the local coffee shop. I ordered a coffee and was telling the owner how disappointed I was that I couldn’t get to the movies. There was an older woman sitting in the shop and she overheard us.
She looked at me and said ‘I really want to see that movie too. Let’s go, I’ll drive’
So that the day me and a perfect stranger went out to lunch and to see a movie together.
About a year later I started seeing this guy in town and his downstairs neighbor was the lady who took me to the movies all those months earlier. We had stopped by her house for her to get a sweater before the movies. I told the guy ‘me and your neighbor went to see Crouching Tiger together’
He was like-that was you? She went on and on about how cool it was to go to the movies w you.
279points
#8
I had just lost my job and my dad had his card stolen. He was waiting on the bank but completely out of food and living in an old, run down RV. I would have figured SOMETHING out. I’d die before I let him starve. Right as he’s almost in tears talking to me about it, someone knocked on the door.
A lady had food for someone in an RV, but those people had vacated the parking lot and she wanted to know if my dad needed any. (Some sort of local helping hands org.)
There was everything from canned goods, to fresh meat, milk, pasta. Everything. She had bought it with her own money and didn’t want it to go to waste.
I’ll never forget the timing, or her generosity.
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278points
#9
More than 20 years ago, when I was still a teenager, I was on vacation with my parents. There were a lot of problems and fights I couldn't handle and it came to the point that I had a suicide attempt. I snuck out of the hotel roo, crying rivers, and tried to jump off a railing in the courtyard of the hotel. A cleaning lady must have seen me. At the moment I was on the other side of the railing, the lady pulled me back to her side, took me in her arms -very firmly and lovingly- stroked my head while crying and told me that everything would be okay. Every pain passes. I could never say thanks, but this lady changed my life and I never had such terrible intentions again. She gave me something no one else could do at this moment. Thank you, stranger woman.
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268points
Besides just feeling downright good, partaking in acts of kindness (whether random or planned) creates a sense of belonging among people and reduces feelings of isolation. Volunteering is a perfect example of this because, as a volunteer, you belong to an organization that doubles as a community that reaches out to other communities. Bonding all around. And all the face-to-face interaction only adds to the experience.
#10
I was in a bookstore and heard a young girl ask her mother for a book. The mother answered, 'I think that's a movie you can see on TV. You can watch that; you don't need to READ it.' (It was the book Chocolat.) Being a voracious reader who also never had support for my book addiction, I was enraged, so I bought the book, found the girl in the stacks, handed it to her, and whispered, 'Keep reading.' Her eyes lit up. I don't know who enjoyed that moment more, but it might have been me.
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266points
#11
I was traveling from the South of England to the North of Scotland to start a new job the next morning. I had taken a train up to London and was supposed to get on an early morning flight from Heathrow. The bus to the airport however, was cancelled and I had to make my own way using a series of night buses. However it was about 2:30 a.m. and my phone was dead, and I had never used London's night buses before.
I was young and a little scared,standing in the middle of Victoria trying to figure out the faded bus schedule when a woman came up to me and asked "Are you alright love?" And I explained through tears that I thought I was going to miss my flight and didn't even have an oyster card.
She looked up my route on her phone, wrote down all the possible variations of buses and trains that I would need to take, including the times. She waited with me the entire time, like twenty minutes, THEN when the bus came up she paid for my fare( no cash on London buses). I got out and looked to her and she shrugged and said " oh I'm not getting the bus, you just looked like you needed someone."
I think about her every once in a while, and I'm incredibly grateful for her.
EDITED for clarity
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254points
#12
I've shared this story before, but I'll never forget this experience.
When I was a kid we didn't have a lot of money, so we often shopped at thrift stores. What I loved about that was that you could get 10 books for a dollar, so I would plant myself in front of the book section and make piles of which one I wanted to get and then decided after I'd gone through them all.
One day an older lady saw me sitting with my piles and asked if I liked to read. I told her I did and showed her a few of the books I found that I liked. She smiled and then pulled a dollar out of her purse, handed it to me and said, "Promise me that you'll keep reading." I was so happy and immediately stood up and said that I would. She smiled and walked away and I went back to my piles able to pick out an extra 10 books to take home.
It was just a small act of kindness for her, but for me having a random stranger encourage my love of reading and making me promise to never stop definitely had a lot to do with my continued love of reading. This was probably 22-23 years ago, but I still think of her whenever I buy a new book.
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240points
Another huge benefit is that acts of kindness provide perspective. The MHF references studies that conclude awareness of our own acts of kindness and things that we feel grateful for have great potential for boosting general feelings of happiness, optimism, and satisfaction. In turn, this leads to a more positive outlook on life and your own predicament in it.
#13
Once I worked at a bookstore. Saw a big heavyset dude in overalls come in and I assumed he’d beeline right to the gun magazine section of our store (rural area so you kind of got a feel of where people would go once they walked in) so I didn’t initially pay him much attention. I turn around from checking a person out at the main register area and he’s standing there waiting his turn patiently. So I asked him what he was in need of, and he mentioned he had a book on order held back for him. He said it was the book A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Kind of caught me by surprise that a man that looked like a country bumpkin was picking this particular book up, and in my head I assumed it was for his wife. Found the book and started ringing him up and started chatting with him, and realized the book was in fact for him. I’ll never forget what he said because even though it was such a small moment in life it changed me a little bit. He said, ‘I think it’s important to read books like this about other cultures than ours. The news always makes the Afghan people seem so bad, but his (Khaled Hosseini) first book Kite Runner gives a good glimpse of what life was like over there and made me think twice about how I was judging those people.’ Talk about making me feel like an a*****e, here I was judging him for how he looked and he goes and pulls this on me. I purchased Kite Runner that day and read it and it set into motion a lot of thoughts I had about how I judge and look at others. To this day I try my best to see the position others might be in before I judge them unfairly. And I often fail at not judging people based on how they look, but I now try to remind myself when I do how unfair it is. It was only a 2 minute interaction with this man that I had never seen before and will never see again, but damn if it hasn’t likely made me a better person as a result.
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222points
#14
I have bright hair (currently teal) and moved from Orlando to a very small southern town. I get "the look" a lot, especially from older people. I was walking through the parking lot of an Ingles one day and an old lady (maybe 70ish) yelled out to me "Your hair matches your shorts! THATS SO CUTE!!!". It kinda made my day haha
Once we moved into our new place, a neighbor kid knocked on my door. When I answered he asked if I had any kids. I told him that I didnt. He goes "AW MAN!! I just need friends!" and ran off lol.
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198points
#15
I guess this can be perceived as pathetic by some people and thats ok but I used to go to school with a bunch of horrible people. I'm disabled so I look and walk weird. Every time I'd go out for lunch to my favourite food place and see them, they'd hurl insults.
Anyway, I was standing in a long queue and they were behind me. There was an old lady (maybe like 70-80) behind them. They were making fun of my walk (I sorta cant walk straight bc I had a stroke as a kid) and this old lady called them a "bunch of cruel twats".
It was really kind of her to stand up to them. I always will remember that.
193points
All this positivity piles up over time to create a long-lasting effect that ultimately improves our self-esteem and makes us more confident about stuff. And that applies to both those who offer kindness and those who benefit from it.
Just make sure you follow three basic concepts when you make the decision to channel more kindness towards others: do something you enjoy, keep others in mind, and don’t overdo it. Easy enough, right?
#16
When I was 18 I had a friend in the hospital with brain cancer. His time was limited. I visited him when I could. He was kind of hippie alternative punk. I wore a leather jacket and had long hair. I walked to his room, a nurse saw me. Without saying a word she walked to me and gave me a long comforting hug. That's how I knew he passed.
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187points
#17
For context, I'm a fat lesbian. While grocery shopping, I saw a man about my age (mid-20's) who was clearly putting a lot of effort into his appearance and it was working. He had two-toned dyed hair (one half blonde, the other black), was wearing some well-done makeup that I couldn't do, bright purple jeans, good tattoos, etc. Overall, the look worked, and he'd clearly put effort into it.
I said excuse me and mentioned that I thought he looked very happy and confident and good. The dude began crying in the middle of the supermarket. I felt so guilty for reducing a stranger to tears like that, but he explained it was because I'd made his day and he very rarely got complimented. Made me sad-happy at the same time, but mainly happy. :)
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186points
#18
I'm sitting at a red light with my wife and son. I'm directly behind a yellow school bus full of kids.
Some of the kids were just being kids and making faces out the window at cars, etc. A small group of kids were gathered near the back of the bus looking at us.
All of a sudden, one kid does the "Gangnam Style" crossing the wrists and bobbing the hands up and down part.
I do it right back to him, with a huge grin on my face. Then I do the part where you stick your arm up in the air and twirl it around while moving your head back and forth.
By this time just about the entire bus was watching and as the light turned green I heard them absolutely erupting with laughter.
Best red light ever.
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173points
Kindness does, however, come with its challenges that stem from a number of factors. A major factor here is personality. Everyone has one, with all the pros and cons included. But instead of focusing on the negatives, try to credit yourself for the things that make you great. It also helps to do some self-reflection and to find people you’re compatible with to help with letting your kindness out.
#19
i was walking home from work one day and there were two young guys cleaning out back of the local cinema. one was singing a bit (i think it was a disney song). his mate told him "she's going to think you're a weirdo", so i joined in and sang the rest of the song with him while i strolled down the street. never let someone else narrate your story.
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170points
#20
I was flying between Melbourne and Brisbane and found myself sitting next to a nun not much older than me. We chatted for the whole two hours about life, death and infinity. It was really pleasant, much more than I thought it would be.
As we were landing, after we exchanged goodbyes, she looked me straight in the eyes, touched me on the arm, and said, " God bless you".
I felt uplifted and strangely humbled, especially as I am an atheist.
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168points