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Would you like to join a kindness and gratitude thread?

(180 Posts)
Applegran Fri 10-Oct-25 19:51:11

I think we all know that loving kindness given and received makes us happy. And gratitude makes us happier too. There is plenty of research evidence to confirm this – but all we have to do is pay attention to our instinctive knowledge to know it is true.

So I have the idea of a thread where we share examples of true loving kindness, and of gratitude for things in our lives, some of which we might otherwise take for granted.

We could grow a shared positive life thread. This is not to deny that we all have painful times – just to say we can have happier lives if we allow ourselves to pay attention to kindness and gratitude, and this will help us in the hard times too.

On this thread you can tell us about kindnesses done and received, and if you are shy about telling something kind you have done, in this thread its ok to say “someone I know/a relation/a friend…..’ or whatever you like. And of course it is ok to tell us directly of kindnesses you have done yourself. We could use the thread to express gratitude for kindness received too.

We can learn from each other and be uplifted by the loving kindness of others.

Gratitude is about paying attention to the good things in our lives and being grateful. Some people keep a daily gratitude diary and write about three things they are grateful for that day, with a word or two about why they are grateful. This thread might become a shared gratitude diary – if others join in, I would aim to add at least a short post about something I am grateful for every day. And kindnesses too but not necessarily daily. We could be cheered by each other and it could become part of the day for any of us who chose to join. What do you think?

I will start with something I am grateful for today: seeing beautiful tall trees beginning to turn to autumn colours. This took me beyond myself to enjoy and feel connected with nature.

And a kindness which springs to mind: I stopped in the street to rearrange a lot of bags and parcels I was carrying, and then walked on. A minute or two later a passerby caught me up – and gave me my handbag which I had left in the middle of the pavement.

Sending you loving thoughts for whatever difficulties you may have and wishing you good things.

Dorsetcupcake61 Sun 02-Nov-25 08:22:02

My dearest friend visited from another part of the country. We had a lovely catch up. Im so lucky and grateful for her and the memories we share.

GoodAfternoonTea Mon 03-Nov-25 07:11:00

My lovely heart doctor. I went in for my first consultation expecting some po faced medical practitioner but was met by the most delightful young doctor who explained everything, was very caring and pleasant. I came out of the room feeling like someone actually listened. Mind, the hospital have had a lot of complaints about patient welfare, so I think they may be having a drive on being more human.

Applegran Mon 03-Nov-25 14:17:31

Reported the post from Fredno

Maremia Mon 03-Nov-25 16:51:42

Let's have a happy one now.
At Hallowe'en I was invited to be part of my GD's group.
We were the Sanderson Sisters from one of her favourite films, Hocus Pocus.
Lovely to be included.

Applegran Mon 03-Nov-25 17:22:43

Maremia what a lovely thing to share - thank you. My daughter has sent me a photo of me with a grandson years ago, cuddling up to me as I read to him from a picture book. Such a lovely memory.

lixy Wed 05-Nov-25 20:31:18

Today I am brimming with joy. My DS was made redundant suddenly in September. Today he has been offered a new job, one that he really wants to do too. So very pleased for and proud of him.

Crossstitchfan Wed 05-Nov-25 20:44:09

lixy

Today I am brimming with joy. My DS was made redundant suddenly in September. Today he has been offered a new job, one that he really wants to do too. So very pleased for and proud of him.

So happy for you and your son, I hope all continues to go well for him and the family.

lixy Wed 05-Nov-25 21:08:02

Thank you crossstitchfan. I think we’ll all sleep a bit better tonight.

gentleshores Thu 06-Nov-25 05:53:59

Gratitude to the lovely AA man who gave my OH a lift to the hospital after towing the car to the garage. Wish I could say the same for the ambulance driver that got me home but unfortunately not such a nice experience!

Gratitude that Im back home and not in hospital. Empathy for all the other people sitting in A&E for 10 hours waiting to see a Doctor and getting now sleep.

Thankful I took time to chat to and cheer up an elderly man in A&E who had been there all day asking if his accommodation was sorted yet :-)

Applegran Thu 06-Nov-25 09:07:22

Grateful that Mr A went swimming yesterday and really enjoyed it, in spite of health problems. We are having a short holiday - very grateful that we are able to.

V3ra Thu 06-Nov-25 10:48:50

At Vauxhall station the other day, a long flight of steps reminded me of a few years ago when I was at the bottom of them with a heavy suitcase - having already come all the way by train from Dijon.
So I’m still so grateful to the lovely man who picked my case up without a word, and carried it up for me.

This happened to me outside Waterloo station.
My husband was already at the top of the steps, watching. I don't think he was even embarrassed 🙄

Maremia Thu 06-Nov-25 12:38:13

That's really good to hear about your son, lixy.
Lovely posts on this Thread.

Applegran Sat 08-Nov-25 18:23:37

Mr A and I are on holiday in Europe where the tap water is not for drinking and we set out to find somewhere where we could buy a bottle of drinking water. We could not find anywhere , so we went into a pharmacy on the off chance that they sold water. The friendly woman behind the counter disappeared to somewhere in the back of the shop and came back with a bottle of water for us. I asked how much it was and she said 'Nothing - it is mine!' Of course I said I could not just take it - but she insisted and finally, with many grateful thanks we left with a bottle of water. Such kindness from a stranger.

Applegran Mon 10-Nov-25 17:43:40

Well amazingly this turns out to be World Kindness week! I learn this from this organisation kindness.org/
It introduces KQ - Kindness Quotient - which they say is like IQ but kinder. I think you can answer questions to learn about your own kindness to people you work with!
It is about kindness in everyday life, and at work and in the classroom and they have a podcast too. Much of what they suggest is research based - and they show that things work better all round when people are kind. So I celebrate this thread with so many examples of real kindness. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this thread - and to others who may add more about kindness and gratitude.

Whiff Mon 10-Nov-25 17:54:16

Unfortunately expect the trolls as they love to try and destroy anything that's good , helps people and makes people happy.

Maremia Mon 10-Nov-25 19:09:51

Had a lovely after school visit from GD. Caught up with all of their weekend news.
Grateful that she still wants to drop by.

Applegran Sun 16-Nov-25 15:17:33

Returned from holiday at around midnight last night - had enjoyed the holiday and am grateful. But at this minute I am thinking of the young woman who helped us at the airport - took any stress out of getting through the airport to the right place to get the plane in good time. And then a brilliant much needed night's sleep! smile I know I am lucky to have had a holiday at all, and am glad MrA enjoyed it , as his health may make good holidays difficult in the future - so I celebrate what is good right now.

Applegran Sat 20-Dec-25 16:14:54

I am waiting for some of my family to arrive - they will stay till new year. I am so grateful that I will see both my son and wife and two grandchildren. And I have done some cooking and preparing and also agreed that the next generation will now do the work - they are happy to do it and it means I can just enjoy this precious time.
Other family cannot be here this year but we will all talk to each other so it feels good that we can all connect.
And I am grateful too that I have had a helpful consultation with an eye doctor and, though of course wish I did not have a problem with my eyes, I am very grateful that I am getting excellent care.
I wish everyone the happiest time possible over Christmas and send special good wishes to the people for whom this is a difficult time.

Greenfinch Sat 20-Dec-25 16:24:51

We had a similar experience with suitcases and the underground. At the bottom of some steep steps someone offered to carry my suitcase up and said to his mate “you take Grandad’s”. By the time we got to the top of the stairs they had vanished before we could thank them.

Maremia Sat 20-Dec-25 17:35:09

Thank you Applegran for this lovely Thread and your Christmas wishes. Sounds like you are going to have a wonderful busy time. 🍎

Wyllow3 Sat 20-Dec-25 17:43:51

After a week of fluey aches and heavy cold,

I went back to my gym, and as I live alone, it is good to be out and stretch a bit and say hello to people:

And now enjoying a Costa which is a "local". Friendly regulars and staff. (one of them is humming to herself right now as she's just moved to a lovely flat ☺️)

Wyllow3 Sat 20-Dec-25 19:50:49

Even better!

The neighbours from across the road just came over outside the door with recorders, a Christmas song, and little Christmas biscuits.
They were a German family and follow those customs. It was so sweet. ☺️.

Maremia Sat 20-Dec-25 20:10:03

How lovely, Wyllow. Glad you are on the mend.

Applegran Wed 24-Dec-25 13:50:23

Grateful for a beautiful sunny day and for having some family here and more are coming later. I just wanted to say I hope everyone has something they can be glad about and to send loving thoughts and good wishes again to those who find this time of year is not easy. I am sure others on GN also send those warm thoughts to you.

lixy Wed 24-Dec-25 14:18:38

I was grateful to the railway companies - Southern and Thameslink - for running trains to schedule yesterday, despite various hiccups.

I had a hectic day and was delighted that I had time to pick up a cup of coffee at my change-over station, and got home bang on time.
Thank you.

Merry Christmas to anyone who is celebrating; looking forward to a positive start to the New Year too.