Today, when I told my father that I can’t stop thinking about the mistakes I’ve made, he said, “Hey, learn from the past, and then get the heck out of there! You can't start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.” MMT

Today, I found out that my mentor's tumors are shrinking. Less than 3 months ago she was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer. Before today, I didn't realize how she could keep smiling in her situation, but her doctors tell me “her beautiful spirit is what’s keeping her alive.” Her strength MMT.

Today, I was walking my 6-year-old son to school when we passed a homeless woman holding a sign that said, “Please help me! I’m hungry.” My son let go of my hand, opened his lunchbox, pulled out half of his ham sandwich and handed it to the woman. With the most sincere smile on her face, the woman said, “Oh my goodness, thank you!” and then immediately took a big bite of the sandwich. MMT

Today, eight of my female students, who are all on the soccer team, showed up in class today with dramatically shorter haircuts. After they found out that their soccer coach had been diagnosed with breast cancer, they all went together yesterday afternoon and each of them donated 16 inches of hair to a cancer charity for wigs. MMT

Today, we live in a shady neighborhood, and this afternoon my bike got stolen off of our porch. Less than an hour later one of the neighborhood kids, who I’ve always thought was a troublemaker, brought it back and rang on my doorbell to give it to me. He said, “Some passerby was bragging about stealing your bike down at the corner store. I recognized it as yours, and told him I was either calling the cops or bringing the bike it back to you. He chose the latter.” MMT

Today, a 60 year old cancer patient of mine came into my office with his 40 year old son and his 16 year old grandson. All three of them had mohawks. Last week when I saw them, they all had normal haircuts. My patient said, “I always wanted a mohawk, but was too conservative to do it. But when you told me I would likely lose all my hair soon, I figured it was time.” And then he pointed to his son and grandson, and said, “These two insisted we were all in this together as a family.” MMT

Today, I work at a college where one of our commuter students lost her house in a fire. She has three children, including a 3-year-old boy. I offered to donate my 4-year-old son’s clothes that no longer fit. After bagging up the clothes and explaining that the clothes were going to be given to a little boy whose house burned down, my son went and got two of his toy Matchbox cars. He put them in the bag and said, “Now he’ll have some toys to play with too.” MMT

Today, I saw an older man sitting on a bench in Bryant Park wearing the same exact brand and style coat and boots I donated to a local charity for the needy this past holiday season. I’m not 100% sure they were the items I donated, but when I walked by the man I said, “Nice boots!” And he replied, “Thanks. A special someone gave them to me for Christmas.” MMT

Today, at the animal shelter where I volunteer, a little boy and his mom, who had adopted a kitten last week, came into our lobby carrying big bags full of food, toys, blankets, and other supplies we desperately need. The boy’s mom said, “Today is his birthday. Instead of birthday presents, he asked his dad and me to help donate to the shelter.” MMT

Today, on my way into a blood bank to donate blood, a little girl and her mom were standing outside. The little girl approached me and said, “Thank you sir. One year ago today I had leukemia. And it is great people like you, who donate blood, who saved my life.” MMT

Today, I missed the last bus home by a matter of seconds. I was actually chasing the bus down the street, but I couldn’t get the driver’s attention. It was dark and cold outside, and I was exhausted. I literally fell to my knees in tears. Because I’m barely making ends meet, and a taxi fare to my house is nearly $70. But a few seconds later a woman named Jayden stopped her car on the side of the road, rolled down her window, and said, “I don’t usually do this, but do you need a ride? I’ve been in your shoes before and I know it sucks.” She gave me a ride all the way to my apartment, and we had a great conversation on the way that left us both smiling as I got out of her car. MMT

Today, I was serving a lady and her blind daughter. I didn't really pay too much attention to the blind girl’s condition. I simply chatted with her, took her order, and served her like I would anyone else. I really didn’t think anything of it. But when I went to collect their final bill, the lady had left me a 400% tip and wrote on the receipt, “Thank you for treating my daughter with respect and making her laugh. You made my day.” MMT

Today, I was clearing out a few really old boxes I had stored in my basement. In one of them I found an old POW-MIA bracelet I wore back in 1971 at an anti-war rally. The bracelet listed the full name of a missing U.S. soldier from the Vietnam War, Thomas Nelson Moe. One of my old high school teachers handed out these bracelets to all of her students, and everyone in the group I went to the rally with had a bracelet with a different POW-MIA’s name on it. When I found the bracelet today, curiosity got the best of me and I Googled ‘Thomas Nelson Moe.’ To my surprise, I found his name on a safely returned POW list, and several inspiring articles and interviews about his life thereafter. He returned home safely in 1973. MMT

Today, I celebrated my 80th birthday. When I was 32 I was diagnosed with cancer and told I had about a year left to live. As a last ditch effort I underwent chemotherapy treatment. Chemotherapy was still in its infancy back then. I’ve been cancer free ever since. MMT

Today, my bicycle tire popped on my way home from work. I was walking it along the side of the road when a car pulled over a few yards in front of me. A lady got out and said, “Hey, I own a bicycle shop downtown called New Spokes Bicycles. I have a spare tire in my trunk. Let me help you out, free of charge.” She then took a small toolbox and a new tire out of her trunk, changed my tire, gave me her business card, and drove away. MMT

Today, my son is confined to a wheelchair and can’t participate in a lot of things because of it. This past weekend we went to an orchard to buy apples and they were offering wagon rides for a small price. He wanted to go but we couldn’t get his chair in the wagon. A couple of men working at the orchard picked him up, chair and all and took him on a 20 minute trip around the apple farm. When they returned they unloaded him AND refused to take the wagon ride fee. My son had the biggest smile on his face. MMT

Today, I have a 70 year old man enrolled in my Physics class at the university where I teach (he’s a really good student). Today he wore a t-shirt that said “Live fast! Die Young!” He saw me looking at his shirt, smiled and said, “Hey, I started a little late, but not too late. I’m here, and I’m glad I started.” MMT

Today, the tow truck driver that showed up to help me when my car broke down on the freeway is the same guy I medically assisted two weeks ago (I’m a paramedic) after he was in a car accident. The guy, Devon, recognized me and gave me a free tow. Coincidences like this MMT.

Today, I found a copy of a book that had been stolen from me when I was a kid in a secondhand bookshop. I opened it and saw, on the first page, in familiar hand writing, my own name. It had been a gift from my (now late) grandfather. Next to my name my grandfather wrote, “I hope you rediscover this book someday when you’re older, and it makes you think about the important things in life.” MMT

Today, my direct supervisor got a promotion, and instead of accepting the full dollar an hour raise that went with it, she requested to split the total raise 50/50 with me, since I was her hardest worker and hadn’t gotten a raise in the past year due to budget cuts. MMT

Today, I was awakened by two police officers knocking on my door at 7AM. I was more than a little concerned, but it turned out that someone had found my wallet that I lost over a month ago while hiking on some mountain trails on the other side of town. After not being able to track me down themselves (I’m unlisted in the white pages, etc.), they called the local police to make sure I was alright. Knowing a stranger cares and getting my wallet back (after being handled by several different people), and then realizing the $80 in cash I had in the wallet was untouched MMT.

Today, I live in Mexico in a town near Cabo. It’s a pretty safe place, but I’ve been ripped off more than once by the locals, because I’m a foreigner and my Spanish isn’t perfect. Today I took a taxi home from the airport, and halfway there the taxi driver asked, “Don’t I owe you money?” He had driven me home from downtown Cabo a couple weeks ago and didn’t have change for the larger bill I gave him. So today he deducted what he owed me from the cab fare. I wouldn’t even have recognized him if he didn’t say something. His honesty MMT.

Today, I have a disorder which frequently makes me faint for a few seconds, making it hard for me to be independent and hold down a steady job. I used to be really depressed about it, but my family and friends turned my illness into a game, seeing who could make me laugh the hardest when I returned to consciousness. They have also turned catching me into a sport. Believe it or not, I have haven’t hit the floor once in the past two years. Someone has always been there to catch me. MMT

Today, two years after my son had his leg amputated after a severe car wreck, he rejoined the cross country team at school and ran his first race with his new prosthetic leg. MMT