There is no better feeling in life than making someone else smile. Knowing that you have brought joy into another person’s life is a gift like no other. Simple acts of kindness can change someone’s day, someone’s week, or someone’s year. You may never know the true impacts of your gift of kindness and what it means to those you share it with.
An act of kindness doesn’t have to be a huge gesture. It can be as simple as smiling at someone, holding the door open for someone, saying hello, letting someone ahead of you in line, or being kind even when you are not in a good mood. The small act of saying “thank you”, or “I appreciate your help” can make someone’s day. You never know what someone else is going through. You never actually get to walk in someone else’s shoes. People are often struggling in one way or another. They may be lonely, they may be depressed, they may be stressed, they may be self-conscious. It is difficult to tell what people are going through internally and you may never truly be aware of the internal struggles of others around you. A simple act of kindness can help someone immensely who is having difficult times. It can bring hope where is there is none, love where it is missing, and caring in a world that sometimes can seem unfair.
The Gift of Kindness- Small Actions have Large Impacts
As mentioned above, small gifts of kindness seem like small gestures but can have huge impacts. Not only can you impact the quality of others’ lives and their happiness, but it can also help you feel better about yourself. You can take pride in your kindness and generosity of spirit towards others. Wouldn’t you love to leave a legacy of kindness, be remembered as someone who helped others? I know that for me there would be no better way to be remembered than as a kind and compassionate person. Knowing I have brought a smile to someone’s face or brightened someone’s day has a profound impact on my happiness, it brings me joy to see that I can bring happiness to others.
As children, we are taught to treat others how we want to be treated, which seems simple enough. This principle is the foundation of how we teach our children to interact with the world and the people that surround them. If you want kindness you have to give kindness. When children yell or bully others we tell them to stop and remember the golden rule. We teach them that in life you must be kind to receive kindness.
Somehow in the transition to adult life, many of us have lost this simple and foundational concept. We get caught up in our daily lives, in the stresses and demands of our jobs, our finances, our homes, our responsibilities and can easily forget this golden rule. We can get short with people, frustrated when things do not go our way, and stressed with adult responsibilities. It is easy to vent your anger and frustration on others, blame others for circumstances, and argue to prove a point. Many of us may need to go back to an elementary classroom and re-learn the golden rule, we forget to treat others the way we want to be treated at times. It can be easier to not bother, or act on our own emotions instead of thinking of others, and they too may be having problems and stresses in their own lives.
How to Give the Gift of Kindness
- Start With a Gratitude Journal
Kind acts can be as small as smiling at someone, telling them they are appreciated, or telling them why they are special. It doesn’t take much time and it costs nothing to be kind. Think of how people have been kind to you in your life, think of the small things that make a difference to you, and share them with others.
If you are not in the practice of random acts of kindness I recommend starting a gratitude journal. Write down at least one thing you are grateful for each day (even if it is just that you made it through the day). You will be surprised how much this daily habit of gratitude will change your perspective on life. As you get into practice writing items down each night you will see that it becomes easier and easier to identify things you are grateful for, you start to see more positives in each day and it becomes easier to recall the things that happened to make you grateful. It forces you to take a moment to focus on the good things, the good qualities of others, and notice the little things in life. We all have things to be grateful for in our daily lives, we just need to be able to see them. You can be grateful for the small things each day like waking up, seeing the sunshine, hearing kids laugh, smelling a flower, getting a smile, or receiving a hug. It doesn’t need to be a large thing to cause gratitude. Once you learn to identify the things you are grateful for in your own life it helps you easily show gratitude and share kindness with others. Kindness begins to automatically overflow in life once you become mindful of it and share it with others. Gratitude and the gift of kindness go hand in hand.
If you have children it is a great practice to begin asking them the following questions each night at bedtime:
What did you like best about today?
What would you change about today?
When did you show kindness today?
These simple questions teach children to share their feelings, you learn their perspective on life, they become thankful for positive things and think of kindness as a gift they give to others. It is like starting a gratitude journal at a very young age. They can write those things down each night in their gratitude journal when they get older. Seeing the abundance in their own lives brings immense joy and comfort to a child. Children grow up focusing on the positive in life, become grateful for small things, and value being kind to others. This practice of writing down what I am grateful for each day has truly changed my life and I recommend it to others. I find I now walk through my days looking at the positive moments, and looking for opportunities to share kindness with others. I feel grateful each day as I write in my journal and reflect on the wonders I have been given in life. If you have not written in a gratitude journal before, try it for 2 weeks: write down 3 things you are grateful for each day. At the end of the two weeks, you will hopefully notice a change, it becomes easier to identify what you are thankful for and you begin to focus on the positives of each day. Give it a try! - Think of Others
It is easy to get swept up in our own lives. Days fly by and we often forget to take a minute to look outside of ourselves. Taking a moment to think of others is important, it changes our perspective and makes us take the focus of only our lives and struggles.
When it snows outside, do you stop and think… is there anyone who may struggle to clear the snow? Could I help someone? If you are going to the store, do you know anyone who may need something picked up, or someone who may need a drive? It is taking that moment to stop and think of others that makes all the difference.
Helping others and showing we appreciate them is often not difficult or time-consuming. It just takes thought. When I make jam I take jars to my neighbors, who are wonderful and helpful in so many ways. I let them know we appreciate them and their acts of kindness. This is just a small example of sharing kindness and it is amazing how kindness grows. You get what you give in this life, and if you are a kind person to others you will find that kindness always makes its way back to you twice over. - Be Kind To Yourself
As well as being kind to others it is important to be kind to yourself. We often are more critical and harder on ourselves than we would be to others. Your inner dialog must be as gentle to yourself as you would be to others. Changing the way you treat yourself can have profound impacts on your happiness and the happiness you can genuinely share with others. - Giving What You Can, When You Can
Even if you are not in a situation to give financially to others many acts of kindness are free. A smile, a thank you, volunteering, helping another person costs no money. Your time is just as valuable as money and in many cases more appreciated. If you cannot donate money, donate your time and give kindness instead of money.
If you can donate financially that is great too. There are lots of organizations that need funding and help. Donating a food item to the foodbank with each grocery order is a simple act of monetary kindness. Can you imagine if we all did that? If we all donated one food item each time we got our groceries? Would we solve hunger in our communities? The impact on one person financially is small, but the larger impacts would be huge if we all did it. You could donate to a lunch program, women’s shelter, or provide clothes to the homeless. There are so many people in need, you can always find someone in need of help and ways to help them. - Build a Community of Sharing and Support
Getting to know your neighbors and community is so very important. Having support locally makes huge positive impacts on people’s daily lives. It truly takes a village to raise a child and knowing other families provides a wonderful support system and companionship. It is the best feeling to walk outside your home and wave/smile at your neighbors, say hello to others at the grocery store, or chat with other parents at the park. Feeling like you belong in a community provides stability, friendship, and joy. Making the effort to seek out others and friendships is well worth the effort (even if it is out of your comfort zone). It may take time to find the right people you relate to or feel comfortable with, but there are friends out there for everyone.
Not only can parents find friendship, fun, and emotional support with other families, these friendships can develop into relationships of mutual assistance. You can partner with families and share resources that can make huge impacts on others. I look after friends’ children when they need to run an errand, I hand down my children’s clothing to other families when they become too small, I give toys that my kids outgrow to families I know with younger children as a couple of examples. In return the same thing happens to us, we receive clothing and toys from families in the area as their children outgrow them, sports equipment as their kids get bigger, help with babysitting when we run errands, etc. We have developed a community of giving and sharing. Financially this is extremely helpful, we do not always have to look for new items, babysitters, or help. We receive things/ help that we need at no cost which helps us as a family. We also give our items no longer needed and help others at no cost, helping their family, becomes a giant circle of kindness. We Mom’s are powerful, we can do anything if we set our minds to it. If we all work together and share what we can with each other, amazing things happen. We can support each other, help each other, be kind to each other and gain so much in return. We can all give the gift of kindness to ourselves and others.
