15 Real-Life Moments of Kindness You Need to See Today

Sometimes it feels like kindness is a rare gem, but in reality, it’s all around us. From small gestures on the street to moments with neighbors or coworkers, these real-life stories remind us that compassion and generosity are closer than we think. Get ready to be inspired by everyday heroes and unexpected acts of goodness.

• Came home today and realized that in the morning, when I locked the door, I hadn’t closed it all the way. I rush inside, heart racing, and realize someone’s in the house. I tiptoe into the living room and see this: my elderly neighbor just sitting in my armchair, reading a magazine. She looks up and says, “Oh, there you are. I saw your door was open, peeked inside, and no one was home. Figured I’d wait for you.” I’m like, “Wow, thank you so much! Have you been sitting here long?” She goes, “Nah, it’s fine. I’m home alone anyway, might as well help someone.” We’re going to swing by tonight with a cake and a big thank-you. © 4ipalino / Pikabu
• So, I used to work at a fast-food place, and one day a customer left her Louis Vuitton purse on the table. I figured she’d come back for it, but no one ever claimed it. I ended up taking it to the back with the other lost items. A month later, my manager says, “Hey, do you want to keep it?” Of course I said yes. I open the zipper and inside is a receipt and a note: “For the girl who could use a new purse for the holidays.” The receipt was for $1,700!
  Turns out this woman just decided to leave a little gift for someone who needed it. I carefully put my stuff in the purse and took it home. I still have it to this day. It reminds me how a small act of kindness can really change someone’s life — back then I was barely making ends meet, and that purse helped me make a great impression at job interviews and land a better job. © Katelyn Guzman / Quora

• My mood completely turned around this morning! I woke up absolutely starving, but the fridge was empty. Grumpy and annoyed, I dragged myself to the store. When I was paying, I pulled a bill out of my wallet and put it on the little tray. Then I noticed someone had drawn a tiny heart and written on the edge of the bill: “Wishing you happiness, whoever you are.” At first, I actually thought about taking it back, but then I decided, “No, let it keep traveling and giving people little moments of joy.” © Overheard / Ideer
• It was rush hour, and I was on my way to work, the bus completely packed. I barely managed to get one foot onto the step when the bus started moving. I pulled my other foot up and realized my shoe had been left on the sidewalk — my foot was bare. But before the door closed, I suddenly felt my shoe back on my foot! Someone had actually run after the bus and slipped my shoe right back on. © Lyudmila Pyanikh / Dzen
• When I was 19 and broke, I worked at a gas station in the next town over from mine, about 15 miles away. My manager was awesome! He gave me the grocery products that had to be pulled on their best-by date, when company policy said he couldn’t. He’d run fake pump tests to front me gas before payday so I could get home and back whenever he’d find me sleeping in my car behind the station. He gave me extra uniform shirts for free, so I didn’t have to go to the laundromat as often. He was great. Jim at SuperAmerica, thank you, and I miss you! © SallyHeap / Reddit

• Going from a grocery store to my car in the rain. I’m trying to balance carrying my infant, 2 bags of groceries, keep an umbrella over everything, and open my trunk. This middle-aged, bearded, longhaired behemoth of a man comes sprinting through the rain over to us without an umbrella of his own. He opens my trunk, holds the umbrella over baby and myself, while I load the groceries. Afterwards, he handed me the umbrella back and said, “When she gets bigger, tell her an old hippie helped you!” before sprinting away again. © sauron-lorenson / Reddit
• I was about 10 years old when my mom and I went to the market to buy groceries — fruits and vegetables and all that. We came across a stall with books, and I really wanted her to buy me something to read, but we didn’t have much money left. I walked away disappointed, and then the woman from the stall ran up to us and said, “Here you go, kid, take the book for free.” I don’t even remember what book it was, but that moment was unforgettable. © Denis S / Dzen
• My husband lost his phone. We kept calling and finally a girl picked up. She said she’d found it in the park. When I came to get it, she was there with her mom, and the first thing I noticed were their worn-out sneakers. I wanted to give them money, but they refused. So I couldn’t think of anything better than to leave the money behind and run off. © Mamdarinka / VK

• It was dark, wintertime. I walked out of the store with a bag of groceries, the bag tore, and everything spilled out. What was I supposed to do? I’d already walked away from the store, the groceries were in the snow, I was trying to scoop them up in my arms, and everything kept falling. I was ready to cry. Some guy ran over like he was going to help, but then he suddenly ran off. Great. But then I saw him coming back from the store with extra bags. It may seem like a small thing, but I still remember it. Thank you, guy! © Galina S. / Dzen
• This happened more than 10 years ago. I ran onto a train just 2 minutes before it left. I didn’t have any food with me, and my wallet was empty. Everyone else was having dinner, while I just sat there with my nose in a book. Then a guy said, “Would you like some tea?” I said I wouldn’t mind. And with the tea came some cookies. I took a couple, even though I was starving. Then out came a little sandwich, and eventually even some chicken. If he had offered me chicken right away, it would’ve felt awkward. But he ended up feeding me and distracting me from my gloomy thoughts with conversation. Sam, if you’re reading this — thank you!
• My mother-in-law is amazing. After my divorce, when I hit rock bottom financially, she gave me half the money I needed for a decent 2-bedroom apartment. Not really for me, of course, but for her grandson — my son. She never lectured me, never criticized me, never tried to defend her son. She looked at the situation objectively. I wish I had that much wisdom in life. Later, my husband and I got back togethe,r and things worked out, but I’ll always be grateful to her for being there when my whole world was falling apart. © Overheard / Ideer

• I was coming back from a trip late at night and left my bag with my documents, money, and phone in a taxi. I was standing on the dark square in front of the station, crying, when a man came up, asked what had happened, and invited me into his car to help chase the taxi. He had been at the taxi stand and remembered the license plate. We caught up to it! Alex, if you’re reading this, I think about you often, and I’m so grateful. © Tatiana S. / Dzen
• This was back in 1984. I was pregnant with our first son (my husband and I married when we were still college students). He had just graduated, and I was in my third year. We borrowed a little money from a neighbor, bought some bread, milk, a few vegetables, and had only a bit of change left. That evening we went for a walk before bed, passed by a movie theater, and decided to watch a movie. We were just a tiny bit short on the tickets, though we didn’t realize it until we handed the money to the cashier. She loudly announced we didn’t have enough, and I burst into tears — I wanted to see the movie so badly. Then she said, “Go on in. I’ll cover it, and may this be the biggest sorrow of your life!” I still remember that woman with gratitude to this day. © Mila Tsvetkova / Dzen
• I had lost my job and was crying upstairs in my thin-walled apartment. I hear a knock on my door, and it’s my downstairs neighbor who is a much older lady. Without saying a word, when I open the door, she just hugs me. And I continued to cry. I still very much appreciate receiving that hug in my time of stress and am grateful she came upstairs to be kind to me. I really needed that hug. © stressandscreaming / Reddit

• My parents got divorced when I was about a year and a half. I ended up moving in with my grandparents. At first, my dad would drop by sometimes, but eventually he just stopped coming around. One day my aunt — my mom’s sister — was getting married and wanted to introduce her fiancé to the family. Everyone was talking about it: “Kyle is coming today!” — and my dad’s name is also Kyle.
  So the door opens, this guy walks in, and I scream, “Daddy!” and leap into his arms. In my toddler brain, it made perfect sense: Kyle = dad, and I barely remembered what my real dad looked like anyway. Imagine being that guy — meeting your fiancée’s parents, and a little girl comes flying at you from the doorway. Most people would freeze, but he just said, “Well, hello there, kiddo,” and started chatting with me. They’ve been married for years now, have two kids, and he danced with me at my high school graduation, cried at my wedding, and whenever anyone asks how many kids he has, he proudly says he has an older “daughter” too. © IamLie / Pikabu

And here’s even more heartwarming stories you won’t want to miss.