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People automatically assume “secrets” are hidden because they’re bad – maybe a shameful event in your past, or a thought you’d never want to share.
But secrets can also be wholesome, like if you made a large donation to a non-profit, anonymously. Or if you sent a package of goodies to a friend without them knowing.
Who knows why some people decide to keep the good they do secret, but it happens. Here are 10 heart-bursting secrets that will leave you smiling.
10. Bank error in his favor
“My best friend’s mom passed away from cancer four years ago on Easter Sunday. She was like a second mom to me. She was very religious and always dreamed of going to Jerusalem.
When she passed away, my best friend became reckless and would try to drown his feelings and cover up the darkness inside him with the bright lights of clubs and women. This went on for a couple years.
Eventually, my best friend hit beyond rock bottom to where he was living in his car with only a backpack of clothes and his mom’s ashes.
I let him stay with me and he turned his life around. He stopped going to bars. He started caring again. He started saving money. He decided he would spread his mom’s ashes in Jerusalem.
Well, he got into a car accident last month and totaled his car. Not his fault. Someone plowed through a red light. Medical bills and attorneys fees drained his savings. But it’s okay. He told me how there was a bank error and someone deposited $3,000 into his bank account.
He’s all set to be in Jerusalem around Easter and my Hawaii trip was postponed.”
9. Here kitty kitty
“I’ve had my cat for 18 years. I’ve had my husband for three years. He always wanted a cat and never had one.
Their love is strong and true, but obviously, the cat is slightly more attached to/familiar with me.
My husband loves that cat so much and gets a little bit of a thrill out of the idea that the cat loves us equally even though I had a 15-year head start.
What my husband doesn’t know is that I sometimes intentionally annoy the cat so that he will go snuggle with my husband instead, because it is so dang cute how giddy my husband gets about it.”
8. Best decision ever
“My daughter isn’t biologically mine. My ex became pregnant via an affair. One of many, I came to find. After the paternity test confirmed it, I almost left, but I had a thought.
This baby girl did not ask for this situation. She is innocent in all this and down a father since the dude split and disappeared. I knew her mother was not able to cope with motherhood, as she was only barely coping with childless adulthood some of the time.
I stepped in. I’ve always wanted to be a father and I’m all about helping children at a disadvantage because of my own crappy childhood. If I can spare any child from that, I would, so I did.
She carries my name. Looks like me oddly enough (her bio dad looks like a younger me), and is now 3 with a 1st-grade education. She speaks very well. She has a very good imagination. She is as happy as a clam and unabused.
I teach her mother how to actually be a mother, and I take my daughter for extra time, all the time.
It’s the best, most fulfilling decision I have ever made. I may not be her father, but I’m darn sure her daddy.”
7. Angels from above
“When I was 17 years old, my BFF and I decided to take the snowmobiles out for a ride in the blizzard. We thought it would be amazing to hit some fresh forming powder and drifts. The visibility was low so we stuck to the main roads.
We ended up on a desolate road with two homes and acres and acres of farmland. As we got close to the homes we noticed some lights and went over to see what was going on.
It turned out that the old couple living there had ventured out to the store to get food in case they got snowed in. They made the long drive and everything went fine (they had to have hit several drifts that were 1-4 feet tall). Things only went wrong when they slowed down to turn into the drive. They didn’t dare leave their car out because they feared a snow plow would hit it. My friend and I in full snow gear, helmets and face masks dug the car out and shoveled the driveway and made sure they got the car in the garage.
I thought that was the end of the story.
I didn’t even mention anything to my parents. Lo and behold, the next day at church this couple was there. Our church gives time for the congregation to get up and talk about their beliefs/faith-building stories. Sure enough, the old man gets up and starts telling about their trip to the store last night. He talked about getting stuck and worrying he would never get his car unstuck and that it would be destroyed by a snow plow.
He then said two angels appeared, barely spoke, unstuck his car and disappeared as quickly as they arrived. He said that he had been pleading with the Lord for some help but figured it would never arrive because no one ever travels the road. My mom looked at me and knew it was me. She didn’t say anything, I didn’t say anything.”
6. A Christmas Miracle
“My little sister was extremely sick with pneumonia in the ICU one Christmas when she was 6. This happened often around this time of year for her because of her asthma, but this time it was worse. She was so sick and tired, she lost track of the days in the hospital even though Christmas was approaching fast. People dressed as elves would come in and bring gifts and my sister would say, ‘Am I going to make it back in time for Christmas?’
She was so worried and already so upset after being poked and prodded by doctors, draining fluid from her lungs and trying to get her better. Christmas came and we decided not to tell her she missed it. We promised her. We weren’t going to ruin her Christmas!
On the 27th, while my dad worked and mom was at the hospital, I got a list from my mom and went to the store to get her gifts. I spent all night wrapping them.The next day, they released my sister from the hospital and we told her it was Christmas Eve! I even promised her she could sleep in my bed that night, under all the Christmas lights I hung up, so she could wake me up as soon as it was Christmas morning.
I can’t even tell you how happy she was to wake up the next day and she couldn’t stop saying how much of a Christmas miracle it was! She’s 13 and still remarks how amazing it was she made it back before Christmas, after being so horribly sick and stuck in ICU.”
5. Random treats for lucky kids
“When I was a kid, I used to always twist the quarter machines on the way into stores just in case. Got lucky a couple of times and got a few free toys. Now that I’m grown, if I’m leaving a store with them, I like to drop change into them if I have it and leave them half twisted.”
4. Helping the family
“My Aunt was gonna be short for her rent. I paid the landlord and told him to say that she paid it earlier in the month. She was so happy about it. I made steaks for supper and paid extra on other bills so she’d be ahead of them.”
3. Helping out the homeless
“I used to have to regularly travel abroad for work to this one specific town. I would stay near the main square so it got to be I would recognize the homeless people around my area.
It was a difficult time in my life, so I was drinking a little more than was healthy (nothing during the daytime or that would interfere with work, just at night to go to bed), so most nights I would go out to pick something up.
Some homeless people asked for money, some were straight up and asked for a can or two. I always felt bad doing the whole ‘pat my pockets and shrug’ routine to them as I exited the shop, knowing I was just blowing my money away on drinks for myself. In that moment, was I so different than these guys?
I finally got up the courage to acknowledge/talk to one of them, he asked for a can or two of drinks, and I asked what kind he wanted (high percentage, of course).In the store, I bought stuff for me, and I also bought this guy two cans, but there was a catch. In the bag were a few other things I bought him, a few sandwiches, some milk, and some sports drink.
So that was my routine. For over a year, I would be in this town once a month or so, and I would go around and get this man a few cans and also made sure he had something to eat. I learned that he had a shelter he could sleep in at night, I learned his name, I would shake his hand every time I saw him, chat for a bit, and wish him well.A few times, he had some sores on his foot so I bought bandages, antiseptic cream, stuff like that.
It’s not a big deal, but I always kept it a secret. Even when my girlfriend came with me on one of my trips, I just told her I was going to go for a walk at night to clear my head, and I went and visited this man and bought him a few drinks and some food, never told her about it. I’ve never told anyone – I think that would ruin it for me – it’s not about me or getting a slap on the back, it was just about treating this guy like a fellow man, even for a few minutes.
Maybe I was doing something wrong, maybe that’s not the right way to help someone, I don’t know. All I figured was this guy had more reason to drink than I did, his life looked rough. If he wanted to get messed up, he was going to find a way to get messed up anyway, and this way I figured at least he’d get some nutrition, and someone who would shake his hand, call him by name and chat and look him in the eye. I haven’t been back to that town for years. I don’t know if he remembers me. I think of him often. I hope he’s doing ok.”
2. Everyone is loved on Valentine’s day
“Back in college, I liked to do special things for my friends in my dorm for Valentine’s Day. One year, I taped chocolate boxes to their doors, and the next year I taped bags of heart-shaped cookies. My friends would find out that it was me one way or another, but it was still nice to do something nice for the people I care about. The next year, after the majority of my dorm friends, had graduated, I still wanted to do something nice for the people in my dorm.
I created about 150 little paper envelopes, to cover everyone that would be getting a special surprise. At around 2 a.m. I set out to taping these envelopes to all the doors on my floor (2 people per room) as well as all the RA’s on all the other floors. I then filled every tiny envelope with a few heart-shaped Reese’s and Snickers candies. It probably took about 2 hours to completely finish. I know a few chocolates really aren’t that big of a gift, but I wanted everybody to feel some love on Valentine’s Day.
The next day, some of the RA’s posted about it on Facebook. They were saying that we had the best residents. It made me feel really warm and fuzzy inside, but I never let any of them know that I was the one that did it.”
1. A trip of a lifetime
“Without revealing too much information, my previous job had a major perk: a lottery system in which the winners got to accompany a group to various locations in the world for a hybrid vacation/work trip. I won the lottery one year and was selected to go to Istanbul. I heard a coworker talking to her spouse on the phone about how bummed she was she did not get it (she was selected as my backup, but did not know who she was backing up).
She had hoped to visit a long-lost family member. She is a quiet, sweet, helpful person. She’s very behind the scenes and rather underappreciated.
I gave up my spot due to a ‘prior commitment.’ She got to go instead. I had a great time looking at her pictures.”
No matter the situation, giving up or granting something to people can make you feel good.
Kindness is not a word, it’s an act.
Keep paying it forward you wholesome secret keepers!
