“Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” — Princess Diana, 20th-century Princess of Wales, humanitarian, and member of the British royal family
If we were to create a word cloud for the word ‘kindness,’ it would likely include words like caring, helpful, warm-hearted, gentle, considerate, thoughtful, friendly, benevolent, and gracious.
A neighbor offering to give you a ride when your car is in the shop. A friend surprising you with a delivery of your favorite meal. A stranger bringing a burst of hope into your day with an inspirational story. A family member calling just to remind you how much they care about you. These are just a few of the many manifestations of kindness.
Benefits of Kindness
Kindness not only feels good, it also offers tremendous boons for our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.
- According to Mayo Clinic, practicing kindness can increase self-esteem, empathy, and compassion. It can also improve mood and increase one’s lifespan.
- Practicing kindness has physiological benefits such as decreasing high blood pressure and lowering the stress hormone cortisol.
- Being kind can also improve your mental and emotional health by decreasing loneliness, enhancing your sense of connection with others, and improving your relationships.
Exploring kindness from a variety of angles can help you tap into kindness’ positivity and celebrate the charm, comfort, peace, and happiness that kindness can bring.
Exploring the Role of Kindness in Your Life
Begin by remembering kindnesses you’ve received in the past. Perhaps someone offered to give you a ride, or helped you lift something heavy, or spoke an encouraging word that changed your trajectory.
Maybe someone invited you over for a meal when you were feeling lonely or offered to help you out when you were ill. Or can you think of a time someone took time to explain something to you, teach you something new, or to truly listen to what was on your mind when you were going through a hard time?
As you recall the kindnesses you’ve received in the past, it may help to think about them in categories such as kindnesses you’ve received from family members, from friends and neighbors, and from strangers.
After all, it can almost seem like an angel has appeared when someone we’ve never seen before appears at just the right moment and generously, intuitively offers to help in just the way we need it most, even if it’s just holding open the door for us when our hands are full.
Notice how good it feels to immerse yourself in these wonderful memories of caring, supportive, loving people and to feel surrounded by the warmth of their benevolence!
Connecting Gratitude and Kindness
Next, turn your attention to kindnesses you’ve received more recently, perhaps in the last month, the past couple of weeks, or even earlier today. Gather them up in your mind like a beautiful bouquet or enjoy listing them one by one.
Then, choose three or four of these moments or occasions to revisit in greater detail, returning to them as if in slow motion in the movie camera of your mind. Recall the kind words you heard or the kind touch you felt, perhaps a warm hug or a hand on your shoulder. Remember the kindness of someone helping you clean or decorate, or perhaps reaching out and asking, “How can I best support you?”
Isn’t it amazing to see how much you have to be grateful for when you pause to turn your attention to all the kindnesses you have received? Consider how these gestures of kindness have restored your faith and hope, or offset your stress.
Take your appreciation a step further if you like and journal your gratitude for these kindnesses and/or to write a note, letter, text, or email of gratitude—or simply pick up the phone and speak your gratitude from your heart. Adding gratitude to kindness can double the positive impacts!
Putting the Benefits of Kindness into Motion
As we mentioned at the start, practicing kindness can actually improve your health, helping with everything from reducing stress levels and lowering high blood pressure to reducing loneliness, improving relationships, and boosting your self-esteem.
Brainstorm some kindnesses you would like to express to family members, friends, and strangers. Let’s start first with family members because, let’s face it, sometimes we take them for granted. Come up with at least two ideas for how you could express kindness this week to each of your family members.
Then, move on to your closest friends and brainstorm a list of kind acts or words that would bring them a huge smile. Finally, have some fun coming up with some random acts of kindness that you would love to surprise perfect strangers with when the opportunity arises. Make some notes for yourself to remind and inspire you to follow through with your splendid plans!
In a world where we can often find ourselves in the midst of confusing and difficult situations, remember: within you exists a wellspring of kindness that you can tap into at any moment of any day to send waves of positivity and radiance out into your family, your community, and into the world at large.
Each time you choose thoughtful, caring words and actions, you increase the kindness quotient of the collective community, and it doesn’t get much better than that!
