About 20 years ago, I was on vacation in Jamaica, me and a friend were scheduled to go out on a snorkeling trip with a local fellow named Lincoln, on the last day of my trip.  Unfortunately, that night, A tropical storm started to blow in, that was not severe enough to do any damage, but it created a chop in the water that rendered any snorkeling completely useless.  So when My friend and I showed up at Lincoln's boat dock, he was putting his boat ashore where it wouldn't be damaged by the waves, and told me that he had the rest of the day free, and would I like to go on a tour of the Island, the way the people who lived there viewed it, instead of the tourist trips.  So I asked what it would cost, and he said nothing, just pay for his bus tickets and he'd show us the REAL Jamaica.  Well I spent the next 6 hours getting the most authentic understanding of Jamaican culture and scenery that I had ever imagined.  And he took us to meet his family, and invited us to into his home, offered us lunch, and we just had a wonderful time.  Later in the day, I asked him why he did all this, and he simply told me that there was all kinds of bad publicity due to a couple of acts of violence that had happend due to the recent elections, and he simply wanted us Americans to know how much of a friendly place that Jamaica was, even though it was a poor nation.  Well, we took Lincoln and his family to a wonderful dinner that night, and tipped him all of the profit that he WOULD have made had he been able to take us out on the Snorkel trip.  But he had no expectation of this at all.  He really just wanted us to be Ambassadors of the goodwill of his country.  

And, BTW, there was no Ganja involved in this entire trip, although he did tell us where NOT to buy it, and where to buy it, if we had the desire.

I guess I've been lucky.  I have a few to choose from.  

Years ago I was out of work and down on my luck.  I had run through my unemployment insurance and out the other end.  Had to give up my apartment because I could no longer pay rent.  The only reason I wasn't facing homelessness was the possibility of moving out of state and living with my parents.  I love my parents dearly, but at 40-something this was not an appealing prospect.

Friends, a married couple, took me in.  I never asked, they just offered.  Perhaps insisted would be a better word.  No compensation, just c'mon in and join the family.

Years later I had a good job and someone I knew was in the same situation I had been.  So he became my roomate, rent free, for a while.  What else was there to do?  Would I have done it had I not been through the earlier experience.  I'd like to think so, but who can say for sure?

So I guess where I'm going with this is the best way to say thanks is, pass it on.  You never know who's life you'll influence for the better.

At the very least, kept me from being badly hurt.

When I was about 5 years old a friend of my mom was babysitting me at her home. Her house was the last one on a slightly hilly street that dead-ended into the woods. Being a small child with a curious nature and a love of playing cars & trucks, I wandered unnoticed out to the babysitter's car which was parked on the street headed into the direction of the woods. It was a station wagon with a standard transmission and because it was summer the windows were open and the doors unlocked. Naturally, I helped myself into the driver's seat and closed the door and pretended to drive the car. I don't remember how I did it but I assume now that I probably unlocked the emergency brake and the car must have been in neutral because I managed to get the automobile rolling towards the woods. I was only 5 but I knew I was in trouble and didn't know how to stop the car. Suddenly the front passenger door flew open and a man jumped into the car, pulled me onto his lap and applied the brakes! No damage to either of us or the car.

It turned out that he was a neighbor from across the street who had been working on his lawn and just happened to look up in the nick of time. As I said, I'm not sure if he saved my life but he sure as hell kept me from getting hurt. The babysitter? She was furious with me and made me stand in the corner until my mom came to pick me up. By the time my mom got there, I felt certain that life-long imprisonment in my bedroom was to be my future. My mom, however, was just happy that I wasn't hurt. She kept reassuring me that she wasn't angry and, of course, she was extremely grateful that the neighbor (a complete stranger) jumped into a moving car to rescue her little boy. I've been thankful for that kind stranger for over 40 years --  I wish I knew his name.

I am a recovering alcoholic with 28 yrs. sobriety.
All those years ago I had several friends that knew I
had a problem with booze.
They got together and developed a plan to lead me to a better life.
Never said a word to me.
But as time went on certain 'things' and
chance meetings of people (AA'ers)
socially they craftily helped me find my way.
They knew exactly what they were doing.
After I got into recovery I cornered them.
They fessed up, gave me a big hug and asked for no thanks.
They claimed that I did it all by myself with the help of my HIGHER POWER.
I have passed it on many times in these years.
I know of two people that are living clean and sober because I nudged them in the right direction.
When giving a gift it has been my experience that the best gift is the one you give anonymously.

I was 14 and "husky" is the PC word.  I was at that awkward age where I thought I was the biggest dork on the planet and my self esteem was probably lower than at any other time in my life. On Saturdays my Mom would drop me off at the local roller rink (this was around 1981) and we'd do the skate thing for about 4 hours.  Every half hour they would have a couples only skate.  I'm standing along the rail looking slightly miserable as I was perpetually unattached (going to an all boys high school didn't help much either).

Just then a 20 something gorgeous blonde skates over and holds out her hand, smiles at me, and invites me to skate with her.  I light up, take her hand, and skate out with her for two songs.  I feel like a million bucks.  Halfway through, I catch her sneak a glance at a 20 something guy who looks like a GQ model and wave at him, at first I'm a little hurt, but then I realize that he is her boyfriend, and he is skating with a young girl who also wouldn't have been picked first by a guy her age.  The other girl is also beaming.  The 2nd song ends, she thanks ME for the skate and skates off back to her beau.

Hey, for an amazing ten minutes I felt like one of the "beautiful" people.  That is one of those small "random acts of kindness" that pay dividends much larger than the investment.  I still hope that there is a special place in heaven set aside for these two when they no longer walk among us.

Partly because of how I felt at that moment, I also tried to perform similar good deeds for complete strangers.  In college, I would overhear someone complaining that they couldn't get a ride to the airport, or that their car had broke down and they needed to get somewhere.  I would introduce myself and offer to help them out and give them a lift.  I'd flash my ID to their friends so they didn't have to worry about the "psycho" thing as they would know who I was to alleviate their "don't talk to strangers" fears.  The interesting thing was that I met a large amount of people this way and got myself into a lot of groups that I might not get into otherwise.  A couple folks would tell me I was a sucker for doing these good deeds without getting anything back in return.  I'd just remember that girl on the rink and figured I was helping to make the world a slightly happier place.

Jeez, that sounds like a Disney cartoon, and not to come off as too much of a softie, but I've found that life usually pays me back eventually for my good deeds....

EV,

Thanks for starting the thread. It reaffirms my belief in what life is all about--recycling the love.