14 Inspiring Stories That Prove Kindness Is The Ultimate Superpower

Ever had a stranger’s simple gesture completely turn your day around? These real people did — and their stories will remind you why humanity is pretty amazing. From the cashier who paid for groceries to the neighbor who showed up at just the right moment, these acts of kindness happened when hope felt impossible. Get ready to smile (and maybe grab some tissues).

1.

• I broke my foot and was trying to limp my way across campus with crutches in the pouring rain. Someone ran over with their umbrella and walked across campus with me so I wouldn’t get rained on. © Mads_83 / Reddit

2.

• The time my car broke down in the middle of the night, and my phone died, and I didn’t know what to do. A random stranger pulled over and told me, “We all need a little help sometimes,” and I’ll never forget her words as she helped me jumpstart my car. © dnebesh / Reddit

3.

• I missed the last bus home due to a traffic accident on the main road. My money had run out and I knew I couldn’t afford another ticket. I realized I’d have to spend Christmas alone in my dorm room, unable to visit my sick grandmother. I was sitting at the bus stop crying when a maintenance worker appeared with tissues.
  
  He asked why I was upset and said, “Leave it to me.” He took me to the information desk and convinced them to issue me a new ticket for the next bus. Before I left, he appeared again with a bag of sandwiches and hot tea. No one had ever done something so kind for me before.

4.

• Riding my bike on a long trip through Canada. With about 50 miles to go, I had a major mechanical failure. Stuck on the side of the road in a foreign country within 5 minutes at least 10 cars had stopped to check on me.
  
  One guy loaded my bike in the back of his truck and drove me 30 miles to the border where I could catch a ferry back to the US. Amazing kindness and generosity toward a stranger. He just asked that I pay it forward and to date I’ve helped 5 cyclists who were broken down in honor of that promise. © countlessbass / Reddit

5.

• My alternator died while I was driving home from university. The engine gave out just as I exited the freeway in the middle of the night, in a not-so-pleasant part of town—back in the days before cell phones. As I was pushing my car out of the intersection, a guy in a truck pulled up and offered to push my car to my neighborhood, a good three miles away.
  He did so, and as I pulled into my neighborhood, he simply gave a wave and drove off into the night. I never even had the chance to thank him. © KahBhume / Reddit

6.

• A man in a full business suit with a briefcase handed me an umbrella during a torrential rainstorm and wouldn’t take no for an answer. I still had to walk through Times Square to get to the train, and I’m sure he got soaked going wherever he was headed.
  A couple of weeks later, I gave the umbrella to a lost girl in my neighborhood when it started to rain, and she didn’t have one. It felt like the universe wanted it to happen.
  I’ll never forget that man, though. © Unknown author / Reddit

7.

• I was around 19 years old, in my first year of community college. My dad had lost his job, and my mom was supporting our entire family. We had been struggling for a while. I remember being in my night class one day, starving. I figured there’d be no dinner, so I told myself I’d go straight to bed when I got home and not think about being hungry.
  
  When I got home after class, there was a giant box of Costco pizza on the kitchen counter. Apparently, one of our neighbors had bought it for us because my dad had fixed part of her fence a few months back. I think it stuck with me because:
  A. I was so hungry, and
  B. The chances of her bringing food that night, of all nights, felt insane to me.
  It might sound stupid, but I’ll never forget it. © melimelsx / Reddit

8.

• When I was at school, I helped a girl out when she was having a meltdown in the bathroom. A few weeks later, she pretended to be my friend who had been waiting to meet me when I was being followed home by two guys.
  We never saw each other outside of those two occasions, but I still think about her and hope she’s doing okay somewhere out there. © Numerous_Emus / Reddit

9.

• I was nine years old, waiting for the school bus in a Wisconsin winter. I had a thin coat, no hat, and no gloves. A woman driving past saw me, stopped her car, and pulled out a blanket from the back.
  It was long and skinny, so she wrapped it around my head and shoulders like a big scarf. I remember thanking her but feeling confused. I told her I didn’t know how I would give it back when I was done borrowing it. She hugged me and said not to worry.
  I still have that blanket. © saintdelft / Reddit

10.

• I was in NYC taking a lunch break at a job I absolutely hated. I was sitting alone, eating at a McDonald’s, when after about 15 minutes, a man in his 40s or 50s walked up to me. (I was a 28-year-old male at the time.)
  
  He looked at me and said something like, “Hey man, you look really sad. Things will get better,” and then shook my hand. It takes a lot for one adult man to offer that kind of support to another stranger. It really cheered me up. © Unknown author / Reddit

11.

• I transferred in the middle of the first grade to a school that did Ice Cream Fridays, where you’d pay like 50 or 75¢ for whatever kind and then watch an educational video in the classroom. I was unaware of this when the first Friday rolled around, so I didn’t have any change, and neither did the kid next to me. Normally, there would be a few kids who didn’t get ice cream, but this day, we were the only two.
  
  So the teacher called the both of us aside and gave us each the change required to get our ice cream. I think the biggest thing was that she didn’t do it in front of the other kids, so it looked like we had brought the money all along. It was incredibly kind of her—she was a wonderful teacher outside of that as well. © Unknown author / Reddit

12.

• I took my sister, who’s in a wheelchair, to the cinema for the first time on my own. At the end, I realized I couldn’t undo the brakes and was blocking everyone. I felt like crying because I thought everyone was pissed at me, but a kind lady came over and helped me.
  She even walked us out afterward. She told me she once had a son who needed a wheelchair. This was a long time ago, but I’ll never forget her kindness. © Zedfourkay / Reddit

13.

• I mentioned to my teammate that I really missed home-cooked meals. I was 21 and had moved to a different state for my first job. I’d never lived alone before and could barely cook anything decent. I mostly survived on delivery food and frozen dinners, which I was getting fed up with. I just craved a real meal prepared with care.
  
  The next day she arrived with three prepared meals in containers for me. Earlier she had casually asked about dietary restrictions, which seemed like normal workplace chat until I realized why. It moved me to tears, and she seemed puzzled by my reaction since it was just what she normally did for her own kids.
  
  That gesture will stay with me forever — the food was delicious and heartwarming, like it came from a mother’s kitchen.

14.

• When I was little, I was waiting for my aunt in a supermarket. Whenever someone exited the supermarket, the doors were automatic, so every time someone left, I stood by the doors and pretended to magically open the doors. One person said, “Thank you”. © Unknown author / Reddit

We’ve all been there — your boss tears into you at work, or you lose something that meant the world to you. Those days when everything feels like it’s falling apart? They’re rough. Еxplore this collection of 12 true stories that prove tomorrow really can be completely different.