Kindness is a behaviour which expresses a concern for others, for their well-being and their happiness and which aims to promote the well-being and happiness of others through words and actions.
It doesn't have to take long and it doesn't have to cost much to engage in an act of kindness, to be kind. Why don't more people do it? And do it more often?
Bob KERREY said that, "Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change." He could be right. Stephen FRY suggested that "The more in the World you encounter kindness... the better the World always is. And all the big words - Virtue, Justice, Truth - are dwarfed by the greatness of kindness."
World Kindness Day is held on 13 November. Random acts of kindness or 'RAK' now has its own week. This year RAK Week will be held from 10-16.02.14 (next week). During RAK Week, you are encouraged to go above and beyond to make others feel special. Everyone likes to be made to feel special, don't they? There are a hundred tiny ways that you can make someone feel valued and appreciated. A thousand little acts that can make someone feel thought about and cared for. A million tiny ways that you can make someone feel loved.
Why not try any or all of the following:
♥ Call someone
♥ Send a card or a letter
♥ Visit someone
♥ Take someone to the movies
♥ Make them a cup of tea
♥ Bake them a cake
♥ Give someone a complement (but mean it)
♥ Make someone laugh
♥ Give someone a hug
♥ Smile at someone
Perhaps we should all try to be a little kinder. To make time to demonstrate kindness. And be kind to everyone, even to those people who don't deserve it, or who deserve it the least, as it could be true that they are the people who need it most.
I am very lucky. I am the recipient of much kindness. There are days when I don't know what I have possibly done to deserve such warmth and generosity and affection from my family and especially from my friends. But I certainly am grateful for it. There are days when I am aware that I am taking far more than I am giving; when those two little words 'Thank You' do not even begin to express the level of gratitude that I feel towards those people who show concern, who make me feel cared for, and happy and loved.
I know that not everyone is as fortunate as I am; I have people who are prepared to put my needs and feelings as their priority. Who are prepared to be kind to me. I am hugely thankful for this. But it is important not just to promote the well-being and happiness of others, but to be a bit kinder to yourself, promote your own well being and your own happiness. Yes, be a bit kinder to yourself. So, take a hug, find what it is that makes you happy, truly makes you happy, and do more of that.
