The Ripple Effects 
of Kindness

How do you feel when you do something nice for someone?
How do you feel when someone does something nice for you?
How do you feel when you witness an act of kindness?

Whether you are the giver, or the receiver, or the observer – Acts of Kindness have a positive effect on your health, helping to improve your immune system and to increase the production of serotonin (the naturally-produced anti-anxiety chemical).

Yes, you feel good when you’re involved in any Act of Kindness, (that’s those endorphins kicking in) but the physical benefits to your whole being are such a bonus.

We know that one of the best ways to feel good about ourselves is to help others feel good about themselves.

It goes further than that – science has proven that those who practise ongoing Acts of Kindness (such as volunteers in the community, those who do charity work, give blood, let people into traffic, give up their place in a queue, say hello to a stranger, write a thank you note, etc.) handle stress better, handle pain better and have a greater sense of calmness and relaxation, even reducing blood pressure.

So why don’t we always Act with Kindness?  There are lots of reasons:

  • Our training can mean we’ve been taught that we are ‘right’, therefore other people must be ‘wrong’ (there are many effective ways of doing things!).
  • Perhaps we react in a negative way because someone has done something to us and we’ve had a “hot button” pushed, an insecurity within us has been revisited.
  • We all see things not as ‘they are’ but as ‘we are’, through our own perspective, our own coloured view.
  • When we react negatively to what we see as someone’s inappropriate behaviour, perhaps we don’t know what they are going through in their life at that moment.

 

The world can do with more Kindness.  None of us is going to change the world overnight – that may be a wonderful ideal, but it’s not going to happen.

Mother Teresa said, “If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will.”  (Google “The Mother Teresa Effect”, it’s a recognised form of human behaviour.)

The best thing each of us can do is to make changes to the way we do things – every day, little by little.  If we practice Acts of Kindness on a regular basis, we will not only feel better about ourselves, we will find we have an improved ongoing sense of well-being and we will be healthier.

Here are some suggestions:

  • Pay for the person’s coffee behind you in the takeaway line.
  • Remember to compliment people on their service, their appearance, their achievements, etc. – and mean it!
  • Take the time to write that thank you note when someone does something special.
  • Find out someone’s favourite ‘thing’ (sports team, dog, car, flower, colour etc.) and surprise them with an appropriate ‘something’ (even better, do it anonymously!)
  • Thank people (especially our kids and those we live with!) when they do something positive (rather than practising the “Ignore and Zap” method, i.e. taking no notice of people until they make a mistake, then “zap” them by berating/reprimanding/scolding/censuring etc.)

 

You get the idea.  Interestingly, we all know that these things work – sometimes we just need to be reminded to put them into practice – every day.

Be kind to one another.  Have a fantastic month.

Love and laughter,