Share something that restored your faith in humanity

[missy]

In this sometimes dark world can you share a happy experience? Can you share something that when it happened restored your faith in humanity?

 

[AV_]

No such trouble; there is Faith that the day's worries end with the day.

 

[missy]

No such trouble; there is Faith that the day's worries end with the day.

I want to be you when I grow up @AV_

 

[AV_]

@missy This isn't me, it is my culture, everyone gets taught this sort of faith & it does take some growing up into (what sense cold such a saying make at 10 YO!).

 

[missy]

@missy This isn't me, it is my culture, everyone gets taught this sort of faith & it does take some growing up into (what sense cold such a saying make at 10 YO!).

For me the longer I live the harder life becomes. Losing loved ones unbearable but bear it we must. There is no other suitable alternative. But then I look around and see what feels to be the world gone mad.

Would love to hear uplifting experiences from others. Occurrences that gave them a bit of a more upbeat perspective. Actions from others that restored their faith in humanity. I often wonder if we are losing our humanity as a nation. Right now life feels dark and depressing. Any positive humanity experiences to share would be most welcome.

 

[the_mother_thing]

Good question @missy I really look for and focus on the positive in others/their actions every day, given our society has so much negativity everywhere you look, it seems (e.g., news).

Lately, I’ve been really appreciative of the people in my community who have worked to help a woman (who recently moved to our area) locate her lost pet. They’ve gone beyond just ‘spreading the word’ or looking in their crawlspaces, to helping organize group search parties, donating resources to bring in search dogs from out of state to help locate the missing pet’s scent/trail, etc. It’s been really nice to see folks come together to help this woman, and not just for the reward she’s offering, but to be good neighbors who want to help.

I’m also really touched by my dad’s friends who live near him. He’s on a very limited/fixed income, and visually impaired so cannot drive, and I do as much as I can being 3 states away to stay connected with him regularly, help make sure he has what he needs (order non-perishables/supplies for home delivery, help out financially, tend to some of his financial/legal/medical affairs, etc), and my brother lives near him and helps out as well, but my dad’s life-long friends really go above & beyond to drop home cooked meals off to him, pick him up to take him shopping for ‘fresh’ grocery needs, run him to a dr appt, etc. (Honestly, I feel like my brother should/could step up more in that department since he lives only 10 mins away, and it’s a once-week trip he could easily combine with his own shopping, but I digress). I really appreciate his friends and what they do to help, and feel - in this day and age - that type of ‘life-long friendship’ is going by the wayside with the onslaught of technology and everyone moving toward “digital” vs. IRL friendships; that really saddens me. But that’s a whole other topic/discussion/thread.

 

[AV_]

@missy Not sure what 'nation' is - a novelty, barely two centuries old. Politics - whoever wants power can have it so as to see what it is worth, I even vote them into it every now & then. Faith is for what cannot be known at all & not to trifle with.

Then - who ever has not done anything good, willing or not willing?

tuppence

 

[redwood66]

I have the utmost faith in people as individuals and see it every day. One can get too mired in the outrage or horrible action of the day because of the media reporting of this or that. I can't change any of it so I am certainly not going to worry about it. I can only be the best person I can be and let others decide what that is for them. I am sorry you feel this way @missy.

 

[Nikki1415]

Honestly, I've learned to be selective about who I trust due to being burned before by both "friends" and "family". One of my favorite memories that restored my faith in the police precinct that is on my block is, when I was trying to help a kitten who was stuck in a car and two officers tried to get it out but the kitten got spooked and ran up into their car. They dismantled half their car before it got spooked again and ran off again. They were leaving when I asked for their help and they didn't have to help, they even called someone to help them completely dismantle their car (before the kitten ran off). Also, this was in the middle of winter hahaha.

 

[missy]

I have the utmost faith in people as individuals and see it every day. One can get too mired in the outrage or horrible action of the day because of the media reporting of this or that. I can't change any of it so I am certainly not going to worry about it. I can only be the best person I can be and let others decide what that is for them. I am sorry you feel this way @missy.

I don't feel like this about all people. Just many. And I surround myself with loving and kind people so in my day to day life I am not aggravated by stupid and insensitive behavior. I agree with you. We can be the best we can be and do the best we can and hope for the best. And do what we can to ensure the best for everyone. Not just sit back and allow injustices and bad behavior to occur all around. There is something we can do but of course it never feels like enough. I definitely feel PSers are above and beyond in terms of kindness and generosity and caring. So I sort of feel like I am preaching to the choir but just wanted to hear some inspiring and happy stories.

 

[Maisie]

I wish I had a story to share. For me life just seems so difficult lately. Everywhere I look there are bad people doing bad things. If I didn’t have my faith I would have no hope. Sorry to be so depressing.

 

[Calliecake]

The only things that helps me at times is to do as many thoughtful caring acts to helps others as possible. It may seem like a small not hugely significant gesture but if you feel you have been able to make someone else’s life a little brighter for a moment, day or a week then you are putting positive energy into the world. I’ve always believed we need to be the change we want to see. Change begins with each and everyone of us.

Look at all you and Greg to help animals @missy. You are making changes you would like to see in the world. You are making positive steps to help them every day. Hold on to this in times you feel sad. Find some happiness and joy in doing this. It’s understandable that you feel the way you do, especially because you have suffered a recent loss.

 

[JPie]

• I took off my diamond rings in the bathroom of a restaurant when I was washing my hands, and I left them behind. The lady who went after me gave my rings to the waitress and asked her to return them to me.
• An elderly man fell down at the bus stop while I was on the bus. The people who were still waiting at the stop immediately went to help him, and another person flagged down his bus and helped him board it.
• I know a few retirees who fill their days with volunteer work.
• I went to a mall store with excellent service.

 

[Matata]

I went to a mall store with excellent service.

You lie!

 

[dk168]

Random act of kindness without any personal gain.

Can't think of any specific examples though.

DK

 

[GlitterInMyHair]

This happened to me a few years ago on a work trip.

I was quite an inexperienced traveler and got on the wrong plane (no one checked my ticket when I boarded). Then I left my purse behind when I ran off the plane to catch the right flight.

So I arrived in Greensboro NC, while my purse went to Knoxville TN, at 9 on a Sunday night.

I had no cell phone, no wallet, no ID, alone at the airport. A stranger let me borrow their cell phone to call my mom and my company's travel agency.

The travel agent arranged it so I could pick up my rental car without ID & credit card, and also check into my hotel, without ID & credit card.

But the most incredible thing was someone turned in my purse to the Lost & Found at the Knoxville airport. And Delta flew it to Greensboro on a cargo plane the next morning.

So I picked up my purse at Greensboro airport after work the next day. Everything was inside, cash, credit card, cell phone.

To this day, I'm still so thankful to kindness of the strangers who helped me that day, and especially the person who found and turned in my purse.

 

[Arkteia]

(Tell me if I already told it).

In WA, it snows infrequently, but when it does, it turns into black ice, with snow caps on top. It can happen fast. I remember a couple of snow flurries falling when I got off the freeway; when in 10 minutes I reached the only road that can be used in our neighborhood during the snow, it was Dunkirk after evacuation. Cars abandoned on the road, sticking at different angles from mountains of snow, street lanterns barely visible through the snow shroud. It was 8 pm, but very cold and very dark.

I tried to drive my best, but my car fared no better. Soon I had to abandon it mid-road. I got out. The prospect to walk up a very steep hill, in snow and darkness, about 1.5 miles up, half a mile straight and then a quarter of a mile down was not enticing.

Suddenly a car (a Jeep?) stopped by, and a young guy invited me in.

His story: he is from somewhere in our neighborhood, lives further up the hill. He was sitting with his fiancée watching local TV, and saw the news about the snowfall. He had that huge four-wheeler, so he decided to drive out and help the people in our neighborhood who, he knew, would be stuck in the snow. “You are my nr. 11”, he said. I asked him if he was an angel, he said, not to his knowledge.

Then I asked him about the wedding, and the rings, and commiserated over the cost of the whole process. He did it all absolutely for free, refused the compensation for the cost of gas, all he got was my very sympathetic ear.

Such a nice guy.

 

[Tekate]

Two years ago while in Florence, Italy I took a fall, hit the high, old style curbs of the far past and down I went, I mean it hurt.. At least 4 guys came to my rescue (and John) several women ran over with band aids and gauze, there was not ONE person around me that ignored my situation, I was so overwhelmed that I cried. Such good people.

The guy who didn't summit Mt Everest but helped a climber who would've died. The climber who went back and covered a body of a Canadian woman who had died several years before. These people put their lives on hold to do something for someone else.. that is what being a good human is all about.

Madonna and Angelina Jolie have done wonderful things for girls/women of Africa as has Oprah.

The list goes on. The billionaire boys who said they would donate much to most of their estates to foundations.

All these things I read every day and they make me happy.