The Untapped Power of Smiling
We're born to do it. A smile is one of the most basic, biologically uniform expressions of all humans. Paul Ekman, the world's leading expert on facial expressions, discovered that smiles are cross-cultural and have the same meaning in different societies. 3-D ultrasound technology shows that developing babies appear to smile even in the womb. The mood-boosting power of a smile is unfathomable. St... posted on Mar 25 2011, 19,835 reads

Costumed Crusaders Taking it to the Streets
Crusaders costumed in tights, capes, cowls and other accoutrements are turning up with surprising regularity in American cities to fight what they consider their biggest enemy: public apathy. They call themselves Real Life Superheroes and, with names like Dark Guardian, Red Dragon, and Viper, they might be right at home on the pages of comic books. But unlike their ink-and-paper counterparts, they... posted on Mar 15 2011, 3,259 reads

From Linda to Chad to Michael to You
Whenever Linda goes out with her 7-year-old granddaughter, they play a contest: "Who Can Make the Most People Smile?" Over time, Linda subconsciously started tuning into the kindness around her. One day, while she was in line at the drug store, a young woman with a sick, crying baby was asked to come back in 2 hours; a tear trickled down her cheek, when suddenly, an older fellow sitting on the sid... posted on Mar 08 2011, 3,995 reads

From the Streets to Opportunity and Confidence
Nguyen Duc Canh says he used to stay at Vietnam's only "1,000-star hotel." Translation: He grew up under a bridge. Abandoned by his parents in Hanoi, Canh sold chewing gum to tourists. Eventually, he ran into KOTO, or "Know One, Teach One." A 2-year program in Vietnam and Cambodia, KOTO trains former street kids to cook, wait tables and speak English. It "taught me life skills and gave me a house ... posted on Mar 06 2011, 1,104 reads

Coach Donates Kidney To Star Player
A college coach has stepped up to the plate for one of his players with an amazing gift. Wake Forest University baseball coach Tom Walter just donated a kidney to freshman outfielder Kevin Jordan, a 19-year-old he recruited last year. Jordan's family was not compatible and could not donate their organs; Coach Walter tested himself and was found to be a perfect match. According to the National K... posted on Feb 27 2011, 1,292 reads

Life is 'Baeutiful'
Do you remember the name of your kindergarden teacher? I do, mine. Her name was Mrs White. I don't remember much about what we learned in her class, but my mother once told me that we used to write a lot. And I would bring back what I wrote and she would look at it and see there were so many mistakes. But no red corrections. And always a star. Sometimes even a Good! scrawled in that would make my ... posted on Feb 25 2011, 16,366 reads

Tiny Superheroes Don Capes and Do Good
"We saw someone next door and we said hi. And we gave him flowers. And we tell him he could come to our school." 3 year-old Cooper Spataro and his classmates are "superheroes of kindness," performing weekly acts of good will that include cleaning school windows and delivering paper flowers to residents of an assisted living community. Teacher Kristal Burns came up with the concept after discoverin... posted on Feb 20 2011, 2,717 reads

A Neighbor's Kind Act
They lived across the street from each other for years, but didn't know each other well. James Bronson was a fixture in Adams Morgan, a retired barber who'd been greeting passerby from his front stoop for more than 3 decades. John O'Leary was 25 years younger, a sound engineer who'd bought his six-bedroom townhouse just as the neighborhood was beginning to gentrify. Not the likeliest of roommates.... posted on Feb 17 2011, 6,069 reads

The 3 A's of Awesome
It's the little things in life. The waitress who notices your empty glass, and refills it without asking. Grabbing hold of a tissue, right before a sudden sneeze. The sound of snow falling. Freshly laundered clothes... An observer of life's smiling snapshots, Neil Pasricha reveals 3 secrets (all starting with A) to leading a life that's truly awesome.... posted on Feb 16 2011, 23,847 reads

Over Ten Thousand People Attend His Funeral
Government officials shut down the streets. As everyone silently stood in line to pay the final respects, the magic of Ishwar-kaka was evident -- the richest men in the country stood next to human-waste scavengers next to powerful politicians next to reknowned Gandhians next to vegetable sellers next to his next-door neighbors next to kids who had merely read about him. A humble man who built ov... posted on Feb 15 2011, 14,570 reads