Be Kind Just To Be Kind

 Let's face it, the world is crap. If you do not think so that you do not watch the news enough. The killing of innocent people, terrorism around every corner, fellow human beings going without clean water and food, and people dying from preventable diseases, is all enough to make a person disgusted with society and the way things are handled. However, even with all of this turmoil and hatred that is going around, some people still find it essential to go around performing RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS. It is these people that make the world a better place. We should all strive to take after their examples. What would the world be like if everyone was at least a little kind and selfless? Hard to imagine isn't it?

Being kind to one another is really simple, and yet it is the concept that most people have the hardest time with. How do you know that the person you walked by on the street this morning, without saying hello to, didn't need just a little bit of human interaction. Sometime a friendly “Hi” is enough to make a person's day. Kindness can be contagious you know. Be kind to one person and they are going to be kind to someone else is return. The chain can go on forever. Kind of like the movie “Pay It Forward”. (Author's note: “Pay It Forward” is a wonderful movie about the benefits of just being kind.)

Did you know that being kind has many health benefits? For example, it has been suggested that being kind, to even just one person, improves a person's health and lowers their chances of developing physical and psychological illnesses. It has also been suggested that being kind releases a rush of endorphins, The rush of endorphins is followed by a period of calm and an improved sense of personal well being. This is known as the “helper's high”. Why do drugs when you can get high from helping others?

Being kind to others may help a person overcome their own illnesses such as depression and anxiety. Stress is lowered which may help to beat feelings of sadness and nervousness. By helping others and spreading kindness, one can help to reduce feelings of isolation and improve their emotional resilience. It may also lead to a decrease in the amount of pain that a person feels physically. Those that are severely injured may not notice their own pain while they are helping those around them. Let's say after a bad car accident and such.

Not only are their immediate benefits of being kind, it has been shown that even by just remembering the kind act that was done, many of the physical aspects of that act return. By remembering the kind act that you did for someone else, your body will go through all of the emotions and chemical changes like it is really happening again. Endorphins will be released and physical pain may go away. Plus, the memories lift moods as remembering the event can make a person extremely happy and increase self-worth.

You would think that with all of the benefits of being kind that more people would try to help those around them and yet you do not see too many random acts of kindness. I am not talking about being nice or kind to reap a reward, but being nice and kind just for the sake of being nice and kind. The following people have all performed RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS just for the sake of being nice. It doesn't take much time or effort to help out another person.

  *A girl, age 12, goes around making one person's day better each day. She finds a person that she thinks needs a little kindness in their life, and she sets out to improve their day. This may include talking with a sad-looking stranger, playing a game with a small child, or having a cup of tea with an elderly neighbor.

*A woman in a grocery store forgot her purse at home but didn't realize it until she was in line checking out. The elderly woman behind her offered to pay for her grocery order. The woman refused but just the offer was enough to leave her is shock. A stranger was willing to pay for her groceries...it was unheard of!

*An elderly woman needed some assistance with a heavy box but there was no one around to help her. A man walking by saw that she needed help and rushed over to help her with the box. She was so grateful to him because she never would have been able to do it herself.

*A boy about age 8 was playing in his yard when he heard a scream from across the street. He ran to the house where the scream was and found a lady who had fallen down her stairs. He called 911 and stayed with the lady until help arrived.

*Everyday, for a few hours, an older gentleman will drive up and down back country roads picking up trash and soda bottles. At the end of each day he has about three bags of trash and a bag of recyclable bottles and can.

*A man had an elderly male neighbor who lived alone. The elderly man spent all of his time alone and never ventured too far from his apartment. The situation broke the man's heart and he took it upon himself to start visiting with his elderly neighbor. He began watching TV with him and running errands for him. A friendship was formed from a simple act of helping another person.

*A man and his wife had just found out that the man had cancer and his health deteriorated fast. The man's wife was left to a lot of the chores that her husband usually did, however they began to notice that someone was doing them for the couple. Things like bring the trash cans back to the house from the curb and the shoveling of the sidewalks and driveways. Their neighbor took it upon himself to do these things for the couple.

*Life is mostly froth and bubble; Two things stand like stone:-Kindness in another's trouble, Courage in your own. ~Adam Lindsay Gordon

*Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into a flame by another hman being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light. ~Albert Schweitzer

*Be Kind. It is hardly ever the wrong thing to do. ~Unknown

*Never get tired of doing little things for others. Sometimes, those little things occupy the biggest part of their hearts. ~Unknown

*Give to another human being without the expectation of a return. ~Bill Bradley

* If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ~The Dalai Lama

To perform RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS, you do not have to perform a miracle, although sometimes it happens that way. All you have to do is be kind. Say hello to that person on the street, hold the door open for someone, return a lost wallet, help find a lost dog, or just do anything that helps out someone besides your self. The reward is a “helper's high” Be kind to someone today.