Kindness Matters

 

                              Kindness Matters

The author wants to express the real meaning of Kindness and how Kindness can keep you healthy and happy and it does not matter how small the act of Kindness is. 

 

Kindness is something that you do for others, without expecting anything in return. If you are reading this blog right now, it means that you are one of the many who have embraced kindness. Kindness comes in different forms. Every small act of kindness brings happiness, brings a smile , brings peace, brings contentment, brings satisfaction, brings joy, brings relief, to the person you do the kindness to and also to yourself.

 

Think about the different types of kindness that people have shown you throughout your life, right from your childhood till date. When you are a baby, how your parents have taken care of you, how they have gone through sleepless nights when you were sick, how they have kept awake worrying about your safety; praying until you have come home, what have they gone through to put a meal on the table, give you clothes to wear, a roof above your head, forgiving all your mischief or bad behaviors or sometimes overlooked your mischief. These are acts of kindness just so that you are in the comfort zone. Parents did not show this kindness with an intention of getting something back from you.  Do not misjudge this to be your parents’ duties upon you just because they gave birth to you.  If you think that way, it is your wrong interpretation of your parents’ kindness. Parents kindness upon their children is a big blessing. They never stop caring and showing their kindness even when you are grown up and have a family of your own.  

 

Then your siblings who are your first childhood friends or your cousin sisters and brothers whom you have grown up with, show kindness by sharing their toys, allowing you to be the first in everything.  Losing so that you could win.  Allowing you to have the first bite and sometimes be that guide and protective figure who is always by your side. 

 

Then your school mates and friends, your schoolteachers and college professors, your colleagues, your neighbors, your spouse, your in-laws, and extended family members. These are people who you know and associate with and it’s very easy to be kind to someone whom you know already. 

 

How about showing an act of kindness to someone whom you do not know or not met. For example, give up your seat in the bus or train to a stranger who is standing for a long time. Smile at someone who is all alone. Maybe you are the first person giving out a smile to that person. Pick up something that has fallen off from a passerby’s bag and help them out. Pay for an elderly couple’s meal. Visiting the sick and the elderly.  Help a needy to cross the road. Give a lift to someone who is in need - drive them to their home. Help someone get a job, help the homeless, the food banks etc. the list can go on and on.

 

Kindness to animals also counts.  Animals are creatures who also have feelings, they have unconditional love to give and can be lifelong companions for however long they live, but they cannot talk like human beings. Being kind to them is giving them hope to live longer, whether they are pets at home or whether they are in a shelter waiting for a new home or whether they are in the streets waiting for a meal. An old myth in India says that all human beings have to cross the rainbow bridge once they die and when they cross that rainbow bridge, they have the animals who associated with them waiting for them to welcome them and if the animals do not welcome them then they are not allowed to cross that bridge.

 

Do the maximum kindness each day without expecting anything in return.  The more kind you are the healthier you keep. The science behind it, is when you are kind and do good deeds to others without any expectations in return, you have that peace within you that someone else is better off because of you, that someone else smiled because of you, that someone else has some stress relief because of you and that they do not have the tension of repaying you in any way because of the good deed you did for them. This gives you happiness and contentment. Because of this happiness your brain releases, good hormones, called endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine these good hormones, promote good health throughout your body through the cells of your body. Because of these good hormones, there is no place for sickness.  The stress hormones i.e. the Cortisol has no permission to be released by your brains in your body, because of the good hormones being released by your brains.  You are more healthy than sick. See what kindness can do to you in return without expecting anything in return from the other person.

 

At the end of the day, count the number of kind acts you have done and how many lives have you touched each day.

 

Health is wealth.  Spread kindness to all around you as much as you can in whatever way you can.  Kindness is best accepted when you pay forward instead of repaying the person who did the kindness act toward you. If you think about repaying you are insulting that person’s kindness towards you and if you expect anything in return for the kindness you showed, then its not kindness in the first place.

During the Holy Week of lent let us remember that God’s kindness to the whole world is that He loved us first even before we were conceived in our mother’s womb and continues to love us unconditionally. As a Christian writer here is an Easter Blessing to all:  May the love and sacrifice of our risen Lord Jesus Christ bring kindness to each heart and bring you closer to Him.

Let us share just one act of kindness you have shown today in the comments below. Remember kindness is something you do to others without expecting anything in return. 

Happy Easter to all 

Joy D'Penha

Certified Freelance Writer

Certified Life Coach

Certified Executive Coach