We can train our brains and hearts to learn how to help others. Helping others changes lives. This simple trick will help you find opportunities to do good.
When 95 year old Bill Palmer called BBC Radio’s Alex Dyke on air and told him that he missed his wife and that he was lonely, Dyke did the only (heart warming) thing imaginable: he invited Palmer into the station for a cup of coffee.
Dyke said, “You probably listen to this show and think I’m a right idiot. But I’m your idiot, Bill, and I’m here to keep you company every morning.”
So Dyke decided to send a cab to bring Bill to the studio.
Images via Radio Solent + The Huffington Post
This is the kind of story that warms my heart a million—and one—times over.
Besides the cup of coffee and the community support—thousands of listeners phoned in to let Palmer know that they were thinking of him and his wife—Dyke gave Palmer the opportunity to tell his story, and to be listened to and be heard. And I can hardly think of anything more impactful than that.
On air, Palmer said that he visits his wife in a nursing home everyday, but otherwise he’s alone. We rarely know peoples’ full stories. The act of noticing others and being open to them is tremendous, and the act of telling our stories and reaching out for support and help is equally so. I love that when Palmer reached out, Dyke spontaneously responded.
In this story, it was Dyke’s, “I’m your idiot” line that really got me. We are all each other’s, aren’t we?
Mantra for taking care of each other’s hearts: If you see it, it’s yours. Tweet
I believe that all of us have these kinds of instincts, but we talk ourselves out of them because our lives are busy and fast and rushed. But we can teach ourselves to slow down for each other, by listening to my friend Kate.
Kate once told me that she tries her best to live by the mantra, “If you see it, it’s yours.” So if you notice someone hurting or needing, lonely or sad, it, they, are yours to try and help in big or small ways.
This is how we can move toward living in a society where bullying is surprising and kindness is expected.
For more information on this kindness story: “Radio Station Invites Lonely 95-Year-Old Listener For On-Air Cup Of Coffee” by Samantha Guff on The Huffington Post
The concept behind the 31 Day Kindness Wins Challenge is as simple as it sounds. For anti bullying month to be effective, we need to change the conversation from anti bullying to pro kindness. Kindness wins every day in small and big ways. I’m spending the month of October, National Bullying Prevention Month, noting Kindness Wins moments near and far. Join me here and on social media using the hashtags #kindnesswins and #seethegood. Together we can change this story.
- How the kindness wins 31 day challenge began: A first grader’s response to being name called
- Day 1: A dad honors the stepdad in his daughter’s life in a shockingly kind way
- Day 2: A mom surprises her trans teen with as much love and support as a cake can hold and it turned out to be a whole lot
- Day 3: A woman is fat shamed in a coffee shop and buys her bullies a cup of coffee. This is why.
- Day 4: A dad shows his little girl (and the rest of us) that being a bullying bystander is a privilege and how to choose wisely what to do with this role with this incredible anti bullying video.
- Day 5: See how one couple chose kindness over snark with a tip and a Facebook post
- Day 6: This is why one vlogger lost her job because of a fat shaming video.
- Day 7: These girls were publicly shamed for taking selfies. How they responded will shock you.
- Day 8: A white teacher was put on administrative leave for using the n-word. You won’t believe how her students responded.
- Day 9: Schools participate in a lovely event for anti-bullying month and you can, too.
- Day 10: A woman is shamed for the state of her skin. Nine months later, she handles the whole situation like an absolute boss.
- Day 11: A new platform has launched to provide real-time support to people being harassed online and it’s ALLCAPSAWESOME
- Day 12: A man harassed a woman on a bus. You’ll never guess what a stranger did when he saw it happen.
- Day 13: A mom shows the whole world why the phrase “I bet he likes you” needs to be retired
- Day 14: How one flight attendant is creating a big, kind world with small, handwritten notes
- Day 15: This is what happened when an Israeli soldier met a ten year old Arab girl
- Day 16: UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey explains why self kindness is important to anti bullying and shares her simple secret for getting it done.
- Day 17: A woman opens up about the medication she takes for her mental health. What happens next is kindness in action.
- Day 18: A photojournalist explains how telling and hearing hard stories makes us softer and the world kinder
- Day 19: See what happened when IHOP made an off-color joke online and Twitter responded … swiftly
- Day 20: See how an animal shelter volunteer changed how the whole world viewed a pit bull for the better
- Day 21: This is how Glee’s Lea Michele thinks women should treat each other
- The Kindness Wins shop is on sale–30% off of t-shirts, print books, and kindness contracts and 60% off of the kindle version of the book (making it only 99 cents!)
Never miss a single thing,
sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.
[…] Day 22: 95 year old Bill Palmer called radio host Alex Dyke on air to tell him how lonely he was. Th… […]