Think back to the last time someone did something kind for you.
You know – something that you weren’t expecting. Something that really helped you. How did this make you feel?
When this happens to me, I usually first feel surprised, then grateful and then often the desire to ‘pay it forward’ – to do something nice for someone else. This is probably what happened at the Starbucks in St Petersburg when nearly 400 people bought the person’s drink in the line behind them.
But being kind has some great benefits as well. As much as we may think we are giving to someone else, we are in fact actually receiving. Here are some examples;
Your own level of happiness increases when you are kind. When you do something nice for someone else for no reason, you feel better about yourself which in turn increases your own level of happiness.
Kindness can improve your health and slow down aging. In some studies it was shown that doing acts of altruism actually reduced stress levels. When we are stress for long periods of time, our telomeres (the end caps of our genes) are shortened and shortened end caps are linked to earlier death.
Authentic kindness is something that cannot be bought. It is something that can only be given from one person to another. This is a virtue that is truly human and links us together.
So being kind really doesn’t cost anything – it actually pays us back with some wonderful benefits.
The question is, if being kind makes other people feel good and ourselves feel better then why are we not all kinder?
Could it be because we think it’s too time consuming to take time for someone else when we already feel our lives are stretched too thin or that someone may reject us and not appreciate our act of kindness and we don’t want to risk putting ourselves ‘out there’ for potential criticism?
The following video clip is a great example of the importance of kindness and the impact and lingering effects it can have when you are not kind:
- See more at: http://www.boomingencore.com/what-is-the-cost-of-kindness/#sthash.0RIi1aGQ.dpuf