Kindness Archives - Page 3 of 4

The Character Traits of Kindness

“Use your voice for kindness, your ears for empathy, your hands for helping others, your mind for truth, and your heart for compassionate love.” – David Scott

What are the Character Traits of Kindness? This was something a friend asked me recently when I was talking about being kind to those around us. “Tell me what does it look like?” was in effect the question posed. How does kindness manifest itself and what are the underlying characteristics of a kind person?

Kindness is not only about what you do but how you do it. It can accompany every type of action from praise to criticism. When an action comes from a place of empathy, you experience kindness.

Why Kindness Matters

I firmly believe that kindness matters! It can seem all too often, especially when we engage with Social Media that kindness seems to be missing in today’s society. People are more connected to their devices than to what is happening around them.

They seem self-absorbed and also willing to say things to others online that they would probably never consider, or be allowed, to say to them face to face. Kindness is often the last thing they think about.

Belonging Or Lost and Alone?

It’s fairly common for us to want to have a sense of belonging. When we feel we belong, we are accepted as a member of the group.

A sense of belonging is a normal human need just as our need for food and shelter is. When you feel like you belong, it can help you to feel your life has value and as a result you cope with emotional challenges better.

Sometimes though, we can lose our sense of belonging.

Random Acts of Kindness

You may well have been on the receiving end of random acts of kindness without necessarily realising it! Cast your mind back and consider whether there has ever been an instance where someone has helped you out of a tough situation when they could see you were having difficulty? Maybe you have had a situation where a friend simply paid you a compliment out of the blue.

A random act of kindness can be a good deed, caring word, selfless act or small gift. Even a smile can brighten someone’s day.

Something like this can really make a difference to the person on the receiving end of the fandom act of kindness but also on you. You may not be aware that this type of experience can also have a positive impact on your health and overall well-being?

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of doing random acts of kindness.

Small Acts = Big Impacts

In my last article I commented that we could bring kindness back into our world and this article will explore how small acts of kindness can do just that!

Can you remember how you felt when having had a really hard day a stranger smiled at you? Or the time you helped your neighbour with something simple and how she still thanks you for it? Each of these small acts of kindness can make a huge impact on someone’s life.

Small actions often lead to giant ripples. One small action can completely change the life of someone who then performs a kindness for someone else. The cycle or ripples caused continue and grow long past the initial small act of kindness.