There is power in kindness
“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” ~Mark Twain
In a fast-paced world, full of distractions, how often do we have the privilege of showing kindness to people and all living things around us in our immediate vicinity, let alone outside of our circle?
Some people think, to be kind it requires time, a great deal of energy/effort and parting with money. Some fear kindness to be a form of weakness.
Well, they couldn’t be more wrong…
Kindness my dear friends is a different kind of superpower! To be kind can be an effortless pursuit. As human beings by nature, we are wired to be generous and kind.
I can prove that it is an innate need built within each of us and, why without practicing it, we often feel empty and hollow!
Here is an example I’m sure many of you can resonate with;
When you walk by a homeless person and your mind, full of logic is telling you to walk on, don’t acknowledge, don’t give, it’s probably provided you with multiple excuses which seem rational within a split few seconds, what do you do?
Often we listen and obey…
Now think about how it made you feel deep within…
Did you at the very least feel a tinge of remorse?
If so, then that is your Intuition, that feeling in your heart, telling you that you are going against your human nature/what we were built for, to give.
This example demonstrates that the real loser tends to be the person who was presented with the opportunity to show kindness, but missed out.
It could have been as simple as a smile, a moment of your time, being true, a few spare coins, anything.
To be genuinely kind requires a great depth of humility. To have humility, one must first seek to understand, oneself and then others. The door always swings inwards.
Kindness often starts with an authentic and hearty smile. One that exposes those white teeth, not the forced kind. A smile is so powerful, that even words cannot precede it. A smile has been known to be a universally accepted language. Go to any part of the world, try it and see what happens!
Indeed, one of the most effortless ways to show kindness.
This poem below sums it up beautifully
“It costs nothing but creates much. It enriches those who receive without impoverishing those who give it. It happens in a flash and the memory of it lasts forever. None are so rich they can get along without it. And none so poor but are richer for its benefits. It creates happiness in the home, fosters goodwill in a business, and is the countersign of friends. It is rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and nature’s best antidote for troubling times. Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no earthly good to anybody, until, it is given away. If someone is too tired to give you one, leave one of yours, for nobody needs a smile so much as those who have none to give.”
~Author: Unknown
Being kind does not only benefit the recipient but more so the benefactor.
A lot of us question what life’s purpose is, my simple answer;
To live in service to others through acts of kindness, is to live a soulful life of fulfilment.
Dale Carnegie in his bestselling book, on human relations titled ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ which sold more than 15 million copies worldwide, is packed with solid advice that has guided thousands of famous people including one of the world’s richest men alive today Warren Buffet.
This book has helped many to achieve high levels of success in their business and personal lives. The book is relevant as ever before and, serves up much needed reminders in this complex and competitive modern age.
What Carnegie offers is nothing that’s revolutionary. The core principles he walks us through are what we already know to be ingredients for a successful life.
We know them to be true because they outline how we would want to be treated ourselves.
There are thirty principles and all of the principles can ultimately be summarised under the umbrella of demonstrating one simple act which starts with “Kindness”
“No man becomes rich unless he enriches others.” ~Dale Carnegie
If you haven’t read this book yet, it’s one that I would highly recommend you have in your book collection!
Identifying kindness as super strength and not a weakness allows us to, encourage it in promoting peace, care, love, and humbleness.
It promotes happiness and positive emotions in both the giver and the receiver. It’s a “win, win” situation.
Kindness induces satisfaction, gratitude, and creates friendly social environments. The kind of high level satisfaction or self-actualization we seek through our daily grind of working 9–5, acquiring the best car, a big house, adding extra zeroes to our bank balance.
We often find at the end of acquiring all these material things, they were all but empty pursuits in seeking the kind of satisfaction we are greatly in need of and can easily get through demonstrating kindness.
Visualize how the world would change if we all seek out opportunities to be kind. An end to unnecessary wars or conflicts, reduction in levels of poverty, improvements in health, wealth creation, in relationships, and finally in our environment.
Through carrying out acts of kindness it helps to fireproof our psychology, calibrate our physicality, bulletproof our emotionality, and develop our spirituality.
Kindness has been known to reduce mental health issues such as, anxiety and depression as well as physical problems like cardiovascular diseases and several other diseases.
It releases feel-good hormones such as serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins the happy hormones which promote positive feelings like pleasure, happiness, and even love.
Hormones and neurotransmitters are involved in lots of essential processes, like heart rate and digestion, but also your mood and feelings.
We know that if we feel good internally, this has a positive drive on our external outputs.
We shouldn’t wait for the opportunity to come to us, we need to seek it out!
I call them “opportunities” because, that’s what they are, a chance to do something so selfless under the guise of thinking we are doing the other person a service when in reality the service is to ourselves.
It doesn’t diminish your self-worth, your wealth, or your health as mentioned above; if anything it elevates all three.
The key is to remember, everyone is going through something, and are in great need of some kindness even if they don’t verbally ask for it.
We don’t need to quantify kindness, give of it without measure and discrimination.
And lastly remember this; if you offer a helping hand to someone and expect something in return, you’re doing business not kindness.
Seek first to understand and be kind always.
