Spreading kindness has become a lost art in today’s society. I’m sure there’s been several moments today where life was just a bit too much to handle. It’s something we all experience, so we understand the feeling.
I think we can all agree that it’s the small things in life’s moments that make a difference. That random stranger that holds the door open for you, the friend that never hugs you and finally does, or someone asking you how your day’s going — and actually sitting to listen.
Small acts of kindness can change someone’s mood, it can give them motivation to get through the rest of the day, and will give them a sense of purpose to one day pay it forward. Still, kindness is becoming more and more rare as people become more concerned with themselves and their own well-being.
Kindness is Contagious
It doesn’t matter if you’re performing an act of kindness or see someone performing an act of kindness, you likely get a nice warm feeling in your heart. You see the reaction that results from it and naturally want to give someone that same feeling ourselves. It makes you want to repeat those kind acts over and over again.
That feeling you get from an act of kindness is something you start to look forward to. When an opportunity presents itself to be kind, you won’t hesitate to take it because it’s a moment you’ve been prepared for.
The problem is, too few people practice kindness and there’s no real opportunity for it to reciprocate. We’re left with a selfish and ungrateful society that only seems to care for themselves. This can be for many different reasons, whether they lack a sense of purpose themselves, simply don’t care, fear of confrontation and attention, or they procrastinate until it’s too late.
If we can learn to seek those moments to spread kindness instead of avoiding them, we’d be surprised at the difference it would make.
Methods For Spreading Kindness
There are so many ways to start spreading kindness throughout your circles of friends, family, neighborhood, work environment, or wherever you find yourself throughout the day. Kindness can be done anywhere at any time — and better yet, you don’t need to be in any certain type of mood. Even if you’re feeling down, spreading kindness can help give you that sense of purpose again.
Here are a few ways to spread kindness with little to no effort on your end:
- Listen to understand, don’t just listen to reply
- Offer help when you feel someone needs it
- Don’t just say hello to your friends, share a hug too!
- If you haven’t connected with a friend or family member in a while, reconnect with them and let them know you’re thinking about them.
Spreading kindness doesn’t have to take a lot out of you and doesn’t always have to be returned in order to be effective. If you find yourself constantly being kind to others with no return, it doesn’t mean you should stop being kind — nothing should stop anyone from being kind.
If you haven’t told someone you love them recently, or held a door open for them, do it next time you get the opportunity — it could change the course of their day for the better.