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.
#21
I was about 15 and crying on a step downtown because social anxiety was really a struggle for me. After a while, a girl of about 20 stopped just to ask me what was the matter. It took a lot, but I just opened up to her as she gently held me on her shoulder and wiped my tears away. As I smiled before we went our separate ways, she promised me that things would get better. I was skeptical at first, but I always remembered our words whenever I was feeling sad. I really think she might have saved me from suicide. Leah, thank you again. I will truly never forget you!
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154points
Worrying about what others think is another big challenge. If you focus on what others think, insecurity and fear might start coming out. However, working on accepting yourself, feeling comfortable in your skin and overcoming confidence and self-esteem issues can go a long way in terms of pushing away the tide of negativity coming from your own thoughts of what others might think.
#22
I was working at a local supermarket doing some construction and this little girl walks past with her dad. She stops and calls out: dad look, a girl builder. Had a little chat with her and she goes in to the shops. On her way out she runs back and has another chat with me. She was four years old. Very bright little one. It was just very heart warming how she recognised something like a female working in a male dominated industry. I had a really bad day dealing with the builder who was being a bully because I couldn't be there first thing in the morning due to having to drop my kids off to school first.
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153points
#23
My last job was working for the TSA. It was a pretty miserable job and most people didn't like you. I was just having a horrible day filled with personal issues and work issues and this nice older lady asked if I was ok. I had the standard, yeah I'm doing fine. And she asked if I could use a hug. I had a blank stare for a second, and then just hugged her. Probably the nicest thing anyone ever did for me when I worked for there. The world needs more people like her. ❤️
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148points
#24
I was traveling to the National parks in Utah. In the hotel parking lot I noticed I had a flat. I was very flustered because I was worried about the cost of replacing the tire on top of the rental company charging me extra
As I was struggling with the tire, a group of Hispanic men came over to help me out to replace. They offered me a corona beer, and we all shared a beer, and they took me through the process, guiding me but still having me do most of the work on my own as a learning experience
They refused a tip at the end.
Edit-
I’ll also add that this was a formative moment for someone growing up in the wealthy white south. Growing up my only interactions or memories with people that were Hispanic were moments like my parents not letting us play outside when the neighbors had a Mexican lawn crew out, my parents complaints when the spanish speaking waiter messed up our order, etc.
I’ll also add that this was a formative moment for someone growing up in the wealthy white south. Growing up my only interactions or memories with people that were Hispanic were moments like my parents not letting us play outside when the neighbors had a Mexican lawn crew out, my parents complaints when the spanish speaking waiter messed up our order, etc.
Even though I wasn’t racist, that moment made me stop and think of my parents and people I grew up with in a different light. It made me go from “All races are fine” to “Wow my parents and the people I grew up with are a major problem”
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140points
Remember that kindness begets kindness, and that kind of mindset might just be the pivot you need to take the next step, which is to start from the smaller expressions of kindness: making eye contact and smiling, addressing people by their name and not forgetting to listen to hear instead of responding. In fact, sometimes just listening and not speaking can go a long way. Take a lesson from Forrest Gump.
#25
There was one year where I was in Spain on holiday with my family. We were staying in an apartment complex that had crane machines to win soft toys and prizes.
So one day my sister and I are downstairs playing on the machines but we didn't manage to win anything and ran out of money and a man who was sweeping and mopping the floors comes over and unlocks the machine and hands us both a Winnie the Pooh toy. Was one of the nicest things someone's done and I still remember it 20 years later.
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131points
#26
On our one year anniversary, my husband and I went to a Restaurant and were sitting at the bar. A couple celebrating their 15th anniversary day right next to us. We got to talking and we ended up having a great conversation for 2 hours. The wife got up to go the bathroom and while she was gone the waiter came to collect our checks. He immediately returned our card to us and told us that the couple had paid our bill. (The wife didn’t actually go to the bathroom and was I stead paying our bill). She also wrote us a lovely note that we still have 5 years later!
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130points
#27
Driving on the highway, the car in front of me suddenly swerved to take an exit, and then tried to swerve back onto the highway, almost sideswiping me in the process. Luckily there was no one to my left, so I veered into the left lane and avoided an accident. A few moments later I’m passing her, and she very sheepishly looks up at me, kind of anticipating and expecting someone to cuss her out.
Well, I had just learned a new road trip trick. Flipping people off is stupid, but giving them a thumbs down REALLY stays with someone. It’s the “I’m not mad I’m disappointed” of the road. I had a huge a*s thumbs down queued up for this driver, but when I saw her face I immediately knew she didn’t mean to, she was embarrassed, and she already felt bad enough. So instead I flashed her a huge smile, dramatically and jokingly wiped sweat from my brow, and gave her a giant thumbs up. She smiled and laughed and honestly it’s one of my favorite moments in my life.
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128points
And if you want to start off even smaller and inch your way to victory, there’s also that option too. Be the one who says good morning in the office when you arrive, make someone laugh in a water-cooler conversation, help your parents with some household chores, praise someone for their work or ideas—heck, just complimenting people can put a smile on their face and break the ice inside you to do great things.
#28
I was in London and was supposed to be flying home that day. Walking down the street with my two suitcases towards the tube station nice and early on my way to Heathrow with plenty of time. Silly me didn’t realize that when the signs said there is going to be a tube strike on the day you fly home, that means the tube is COMPLETELY CLOSED. I thought it just meant delays or something. I don’t know. I start walking toward the bus station a few blocks away desperately trying to come up with a Plan B.
A young man comes up to me and offers to help carry my suitcases. He asks where I’m going, and I say Heathrow which is an hour away at this point and time until my flight is running short. It starts raining. He says you’ll never make it there on time on the buses. He calls me a cab, then finds a little awning where we can sit and wait for the cab and stay out of the rain. He lets me use his phone to transfer money to pay for the cab (mine didn’t have service outside my home country). We just sat and chatted for 30 minutes waiting for this cab, and he made me feel so much less panicked. I just couldn’t believe the kindness he showed to some random person on the street, and I’ve never been able to find him again online to thank him.
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127points
#29
When I was 16, I’d taken my mom’s old Pontiac Bonneville to the movies and I was in such a hurry that I forgot to turn off the lights. When I came out, the car was dead but someone left a set of jumper cables on the hood with a note that said, “I hope you make it home safely”. I’ve never ever forgotten about that. Since then I’ve tried to pay that kindness forward anyway I can.
Edit: Thank all of you for the awards. I was about 20mi from home and this was before cell phones were affordable so that person saved me that night. For those asking, I'm assuming the person came out and saw my lights on and maybe even saw them running low/flickering and knew there was a possibility they would burn out before I made it back to my mom's car. Even if my battery hadn't died, it was a nice gesture.
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125points
#30
I had a knock on my door and when I opened it, there was a stranger with a gift card to a local garden store for me. Apparently her kid had been pinching tulips from my garden every day to give to his mom and they wanted to pay for them, once they figured out whose garden they were coming from.
I had thought squirrels were doing it and had regretted planting them the year before, not being able to enjoy them! I spent the gift card on more bulbs!
117points
There is, however, one thing that is an even smaller gesture of kindness that means a lot to us, and that is your engagement in the community. So, be sure to leave us a comment sharing your takes on kindness and stories of good deeds in the comment section below. Remember, kindness begets kindness. You might be the first domino to initiate that in the comments.
#31
I was in the hospital, knowing I'd be there for at least a week, and possibly more. I was sick of hospital food, so I went downstairs to go across the street to the hospital Subway. I was pretty far back in the hospital - sixth floor, backside of the building, labyrinth of staircases and hallways to get out the front door. The walk from there to Subway took almost fifteen minutes, even though it was just across the street. I waited in line, got up to the counter to order, and realized I'd left my wallet in my room. (I ordinarily keep my wallet in my back pocket, but there was no need to in the hospital since I was in my room most of the time.) I was exhausted mentally by that point from the stay, told them I'd forgotten the wallet, and turned to make the trek all the way there and back again. All of a sudden, a nurse behind me bought my food for me, saving me the trip (and the money). I thanked him profusely. That was years ago, but I will never forget that act of kindness.
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116points
#32
I could not even begin to pick a single one.
In August of last year, I loaded a bunch of camping gear onto my bicycle and spent the better part of the next seven months riding 5,300 miles around the US. Along the way, every single person I met wanted to be a positive part of my story in whatever way they were able. Many kind locals opened their homes to me for a night, providing me a warm bed, a hot shower, and their wonderful company over a delicious home cooked meal. Neighbors in the next campsite over would see me ride into camp on my bike with all its gear, and they'd come over to ask about my travels. I'd give them a summary of my trip up to that point, and the plan for the rest of it, and they would invite me to join them around their fire to trade their food and beer for my stories. It was absolutely incredible z and not a single day went by where I didn't feel the warmth and hospitality of at least one person.
When I started the trip, I was most looking forward to the beautiful natural scenery I would ride through, the National Parks and such I would camp in. And indeed, there were many such highlights of the trip. Watching the cliffs of South Dakota's Badlands glow pink in the evening light. The bright red leaves of autumn juxtaposed against the pure white backdrop of an early snowfall in the mountains of Montana. A mountain goat in the North Cascades of Washington, and waking up to the yips and howls of coyotes in Joshua Tree. Those are the types of things I most looked forward to.
But they aren't exactly what I look back on most fondly. Because there much more important detail of that evening in the Badlands, for example, is the fact that I shared it with some neighboring campers around their fire. After riding through that snow storm in Montana, a local opened his home to me for the evening, and the next morning, he allowed what was initially planned to just be an overnight stop to turn into a rest day while I waited for better weather. I never would've noticed that mountain goat had I not seen two other people looking at the top of a cliff with their binoculars. After I asked what they were looking at, we were chatting for quite a bit. They mentioned the they'd been coming to the North Cascades every year for 25 years and that was their first time ever seeing a mountain goat, but even so, they were eager to lend me their binoculars so they I could get a good look. And in Joshua Tree, I watched those coyotes run right past the campground while I was coming my breakfast on my neighbors' stove. My little stove had stopped working my first evening in Joshua Tree, so they allowed me to borrow theirs every evening and every morning so they I could have a warm breakfast and dinner.
I traveled across some very different parts of this country, and not just geographically different but culturally different as well. I met people from all walks of life, people who love spending their entire life in the urban chaos of San Diego, and people who prefer the quiet communities of small town Montana. But the one thing they all had in common was their desire to make my time in the areas they call home as warm and welcoming as possible. And for that, I will forever be indebted to each of the hundreds of people I met on my travels.
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114points
#33
I had been living and struggling in NYC for three years, when my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. I decided to move back down south to be closer and help out. It was a huge, scary, life-changing decision and I didn’t know if I was making the right call—I had been working in book publishing and trying to follow my dreams but it just wasn’t what I thought it would be.
On one of my last nights in town, I got into a cab to meet someone for dinner. The eerily prophetic cab driver just looked at me in the mirror and asked, “you are leaving this city for good?” I told him I was and he said “yes, you have met many fancy animals with human faces.”
As I got out of the car and said goodbye, he said “well, we have met before 1,000 years ago or so, and I expect we will again.”
I think about that guy a lot. And yes, moving was the right decision!
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111points
#34
I was using crutches at the time after an ankle injury. Got off the tram to go to uni and hobbled straight into a surprise Melbourne spring storm. Guy with very limited English walked me from the tram stop to my class, holding an umbrella over me the entire walk (about 10 minutes). One of those lovely, warm fuzzy memories.
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109points
#35
I was going to a Starbucks to eat with a friend I met days ago. Suddently a stranger about my age asked me how to go to that exact same place, so I told him that I was going there too and we started a conversation while walking. When we got to the Starbucks, we sat at different tables and I waited for my friend. He didn't appear (because he had had some problems and finally he couldn't go). I asked the stanger if I could eat with him and he accepted. Now we are friends and we sometimes talk through our mobiles.
Edit: Grammar.
Nope, English isn't my first language but I'm still learning!
Nope, English isn't my first language but I'm still learning!
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103points