You never know when doing the smallest kindness for someone else can change their day (or even their life).

It’s hard to know what someone else is going through each day, which is already a pretty good reason to practice kindness with everyone you meet, even if you will never meet them again.

The best thing about performing acts of kindness is that it really doesn’t like a lot of effort on your part. You just have to take a few extra minutes to empathize with someone else, and then the kindness can just come pouring out of you.

These 20 people shared the act of kindness that a stranger performed that really turned their day around. The stories will definitely warm your heart.

20. The nurses cared.

My folks sent me out of my dads hospital room to get tissues (AKA talk about the hard shit while I was out) and I just burst into tears the second I got to the nurses station. I couldn’t even talk, I was just shaking so badly, I couldn’t breathe from how hard I was crying.

This nurse ran over and gave me the tightest hug and helped me calm down a little and promised to keep an eye on my dad until we could take him home.

I had just found out he was dying of cancer and that…. that meant a lot.

His nurses, also all knew my name and my favorite snack at the time (rice krispy treats) Dad was always ordering extras with his lunch, because he wanted to make sure I ate something while we were there.

“He’s always getting you those.” same with the cookies… I miss my dad so much, but the staff really did do their best to make the worst days of our lives a little better.

19. A gift of water.

When I was a kid, my parents took us up to the mountains for a day of hiking. On the way up, our crappy van broke down and we were stuck on a turn off. A guy pulled up and got out and asked if we were ok.

I remember it seemed funny because he looked at the engine with his hands on his hips and shrugged then left after a couple niceties to my parents. We had to wait FOREVER for a tow truck so we were there for a while, about an hour or so later, that same guy pulled back up and had a huge bag of water bottles for our family.

He had driven up to the nearest turn around (mountain roads being one way up and one way down with a divider in the middle), back down into the city, bought drinks, and drove them back up the mountain to us.

Then, like that, he was gone again. Even as a kid, I thought that was so selfless, like a guardian angel on the mountain roads.

18. Toddlers!

I’ve commented this before but one time I was at the shops with my kids, my oldest in school and my youngest was a toddler at the time. My toddler was being really difficult, refusing to sit in her pram and running around trying to knock things of the shelves.

I was desperately trying to keep her from destroying the shop, I was almost in tears trying to get stuff my oldest needed for school the next day while my youngest just would not stay in her pram and was squirming and kicking while I tried to strap her in.

A random woman saw me and asked what I needed. I told her and she went and went around the shop and got everything for me. I thanked her a lot and think about it now even though it was 5 years ago.

17. A free tow.

My campervan broke down while my bf and I were backpacking in NZ. The clutch had completely gone suddenly in the middle of a busy road. While we were panicking about what to do, a guy stopped his truck and towed us to the nearest garage.

This would have cost us a fortune if he didn’t stop and we didn’t even know who to call in the first place. We got to the garage at about 3pm. They close at 5. They could obviously smell what was wrong with it so they made the call then and there to get us a new clutch and priced it.

I did not expect to get it back until the next day so we booked into a hostel for the night. They called us later that evening to tell us it was fixed and left it outside for us to pick up.

We bought them a crate of beers to say thank you. Kiwis are probably some of my favourite people in the world.

16. You just never know.

Back before cell phones, I was traveling home very late at night along a rural highway, about an hour from home.

I got a flat and couldn’t change it on my own. No way to call AAA or anyone. Felt risky to walk to a house (not that I could see one nearby anyway).

So I stayed in my car that was pulled onto the shoulder, waiting for help or daybreak so I could figure out my next steps. I dozed off after a few hours. Cars passed me, none stopped.

Then in the wee morning hours a minivan pulled behind me. It was a family in a rental, visiting from Denmark. No idea why they were driving so late or where they were going.

They cheerfully helped me change the tire, gave me their family’s business card (they had a bunch printed up for their trip to the U.Ss) and went on their merry way. As did I!

I wish I still had that card; this happened almost 30 years ago and I still think about their kindness.

15. Buying tires just to be nice.

Neighbors asked to borrow my truck. Told them I could not trust my truck because the tires were bad

Next day mr neighbor called and said he was getting new tires for his suburban and I could have his old ones. Told me to just show up at this certain tire shop and they would put them on

Get to tire shop and they put on brand new Goodyear tires. I asked what happened to the old tires I was suppose to receive.

Shop owner said the “old tires” was just a story to get me in the shop.

Mr neighbor bought me a full set of new tires instead of the old tires he said I could have.

14. A helping hand.

Riding my bike on a long trip through Canada. With about 50 miles to go, I had a major mechanical failure. Stuck on the side of the road in a foreign country within 5 minutes at least 10 cars had stopped to check on me.

One guy loaded my bike in the back of his truck and drove me 30 miles to the border where I could catch a ferry back to the US. Amazing kindness and generosity toward a stranger.

He just asked that I pay it forward and to date I’ve helped 5 cyclists who were broken down in honor of that promise

13. Showers can be life-giving.

I was given access to a shower and a hot meal after being homeless for 9 months.

12. A life-long memory.

I was nine years old, waiting for the school bus in Wisconsin winter. I had a thin coat, no hat or gloves. A woman driving past saw me and stopped, giving me a blanket from the back of her car.

It was a long skinny one, so she wrapped it around my head and shoulders like a big scarf. I remember thanking her, but being confused. I told her I didn’t know how I would give it back when I was done borrowing it.

She hugged me and said not to worry. I still have that blanket.

11. He didn’t even need a thank you.

Alternator died while I was driving home from university. Engine died as I exited the freeway in the middle of the night in a not-so-pleasant part of town in the days before cell phones.

As I’m pushing my car out of the intersection, a guy in a truck comes up and offers to push my car to my neighborhood a good three miles away.

He does so, and I’m pulling into my neighborhood, he simply gives a wave and drives off into the night. I never even had a chance to thank him.

10. It only took a few minutes to help out.

I took my sister whose in a wheelchair to the cinema for the first time on my own. At the end, I realized I could’t undo the brakes and was blocking everyone.

I felt like crying because I thought everyone was pissed at me, but some nice lady helped me, then took me and my sister out. She said she once had a son who needed a wheelchair. This was long ago but I’ll never forget

9. They were brand new!

I was out of a job at a time that I had to support my mother. Finally landed one but I had to walk back and forth and I didn’t have any shoes that would hold up on the walk or the work.

Went to fb and mom asked around for some hand me downs we could buy from some one. A day later a very kind man showed up with a brand new pair of really nice shoes he had just gone out and bought for me.

He left before I could even get any money for him. I cried

8. Keeping a kid’s dream alive.

I recorded a homemade album with my garage band in high school and handed out a few CDs. A few weeks later my English teacher approached me with 5 pages of notes on what he liked and what I could improve on.

He apparently got the CD from someone at the high school and listened to it all the way through (it was over an hour long). He didn’t know I was the singer and guitar player until he asked the person who gave him the CD.

He said that if I ever got a shot in a studio, I would create something amazing. Thank you to all the teachers out there who believe in their students. It makes all the difference to some of us.

7. Always stand up to bullies.

I was bullied a lot as a kid, there were 3 boys in the neighborhood who were always really mean to me.

Well there was a new kid who had just moved in, like half the size of the neighbor boys, and he already had a target on his back because he was very flamboyant.

Well one day the boys were picking on me, and this kid, it was the first time anyone ever stood up for me and man he got pissed! He got his ass kicked, I felt terrible, but he was super happy about it afterwards.

I wish I remembered his last name, I hope he has an amazing life.

6. Chocolate milk can be a game-changer.

At work I was complaining about heartburn once. I was still pretty new to the job. Didnt really have any work friends. Felt like an outsider. My life outside of work was pretty shit as well.

The bartender on shift overheard me and ran to a nearby coffee shop to get me a chocolate milk. It definitely made the heartburn go away but it was such a needlessly kind act.

I dont think ill ever forget it. 2 years later we’re still friends and she is definitely one of the kindest people I’ve ever met.

5. $5 in gas made the difference.

I literally coasted into a gas station out of gas on my motorcycle, then realized I didn’t have my wallet.

Some lady saw me patting all my pockets and that I was upset and offered to fill up my tank. I only let her put $5 in, which on a bike is a lot. But it meant so much to me

4. Helping out a kid.

I was around 6 years old and went out to ride my bike. My parents were behind me walking and I was going ahead and coming back to them every 5-10 minutes but I forgot to turn around and realized I am lost so I started crying after some unsuccessful attempts to find them .

One kind man probably in his 60s stopped and asked me multiple question about what happened and who were my parents . It turned out that he knew my grandpa . He contacted him, got my parents numbers and called them.

They decided where to meet and after 20 minutes we were there . I was so happy and relived and thanked the old man.

He lives in the block of flats as my grandpa and I sometimes help him by carrying the groceries or fixing something in his house . I would never forget this act , because things could have gone wrong for me .

3. Love is healing.

As a boy, I developed rheumatic fever and had to stay home for months to work through it and recover.

When the lady next door found out how sick I was, she made a big pot of homemade chicken soup. It was delicious and full of healthy, fresh ingredients.

To this day, Mom believes that it was this woman’s kindness and “love” she put into her soup-making that helped me recover faster.

2. They did just because.

I was at a concert and a couple behind me gave me a VIP pass to get a picture with the artist because their friend couldn’t come

Never will forget it.

1. The right place at the right time.

I fainted walking up steps on my way to calculus at university. A stranger caught me and put me down on the landing.

If it wasn’t for him I would have gotten very hurt.

Aren’t these stories pretty inspirational? Who knows, maybe we will all go out today and perform acts of kindness for others.

After all, whether it’s buying a tank of gas or reviewing a kid’s homemade album, it’s worth it.

Which story was your favorite? Don’t forget to let us know in the comments!