I’ve been thinking a lot about kindness lately. What does it mean to be kind? Am I kind? How often do I show kindness to others? As I think about these questions, my mind starts to kicking up dirt, and out of curiosity I Googled kindness just to see what came up. Along side Wikipedia’s definition of kindness and numerous quotes, I found an article on the health benefits of kindness on a website called, “Pathways to Family Wellness.” Hmmm. I’m intrigued. So I read on. Here’s an excerpt from the article.
“Being kind has a profound impact in the lives of others but you may not know how much of a positive health benefit it delivers to you as well.
Interesting. I knew that it felt good to help others, but I didn’t realize there were actual health benefits. Bonus. Another one for my recent post, “Selfishly be someone else’s miracle.”I continued mining through the returned results from my search, and stumbled up on the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation website. Aaah, sweet inspiration. Just reading the stories people have posted about acts of generosity and compassion began to fire up my tenderness tapas. The thing is, random acts of kindness don’t have to be award-winning gestures of selflessness. Merely being there for another human being in any form IS kindness. And, sometimes kindness simply means NOT harming another. Not cutting someone off in traffic. Not voicing your frustration to the customer service representative. Not winning an argument.
“It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our daily lives. If we find we cannot help others, the least we can do is to resist from harming them.” The Dalai Lama
Kindness is always an option. How will you show kindness today?Namaste.
- Your Charmed Yogi
Photo Source: Sara on Pinterest
7 thoughts on “Kindness is always possible”
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mmmm…kindness. I like to consider myself kind…but sometimes people do things & then i think…wow…i need to be kinder!
Before i left for my trip to Boston, i was happily eating snacks at my gate patiently awaiting for my plane to arrive. My child finally decided she WAS hungry, so we walked over to Starbucks to find her something unhealthy, but yummy. As i was checking out, i noticed that i had lost my check card…ooops! “Maybe i should have taken money out of the ATM” i thought…i began to lose it. “How can i go out of town with no money? How will i catch my cab & feed my child when i get to Boston, banks will be closed and it will be late.” These are all the things i am crying to my husband on the phone…probably loudly…and i probably said a few cuss words that i am sure were heard by some folks near by.
After getting off the phone, and trying not to cry…a lady walked up to me tossed $60 in my purse and said “please do not reject this money, i have been in your shoes, you have a child, and you need this way more than i do right now” I could not muster any words out of my mouth…but a tearful thank you. Of course, my pride & ego wanted to give her the money back…but when i looked at my hungry child…i thought maybe i do need it.
This was my experience with kindness recently. All i keep thinking is that i need to pay it forward. Well…now that i am broke it will be hard to hand over $$…but there are many more ways to be kind other than giving money. It really opened my eyes…i kept thinking to myself “see..there really ARE kind people all over the place, we just don’t see it”
Great read and a good reminder to be kind
Thank you!
A therapist once told me that anonymous random acts of kindness can even do so much as cure depression and other disorders that can take over someone’s life. I totally believe it…
What an awesome story, Chica. And you’re right, there are a million ways to pay it forward that don’t cost anything.
Kindness (also represented by generosity!) is definitely positive for one’s own well-being not just others! In fact I just wrote something on 10 ways to be happier, and one of them is on giving: http://www.golocalprov.com/health/10-ways-to-be-happier/
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