Right from the creation of the world, kindness existed and will still be till the end of time. As long as God is, kindness will be.
Kindness is simply seeing a fellow human as a human like me and treating them like humans. Going further it's an act of showing compassion, empathy, and being considerate of others. It also has to do with showing respect both to the old and young, loving, caring and sharing even the little I have with others.
Kindness is significant to me because I believe it's the foundation of meaningful relationships and interaction.
I remember years ago when I helped one naval trainee by giving him my phone to call his mother. That sparked a relationship between I and his family to the extent that it was at our house that the elder brother stayed when he came for his passing out. Each call I have with the mom will end in her praying for me and that always melts my heart.
Kindness involves both positive actions and a positive attitude. Imagine when you compliment someone's good looks or action, how elated and happy makes them feel and the result is a word of thanks, which is gratefulness.
The significance of kindness is such that it causes a ripple effect. When you act kindly towards someone the impact doesn't just end with the person, it extends to others who witnessed or heard about it.
I believe that any act of kindness towards someone will one way or the other find it's way back to you.
The Effect Of My Experience With Kindness
There are countless times that I have experienced acts of kindness from friends, family members, neighbors, colleagues, clients even from strangers, and each time I feel great relief, grateful, happy,
This particular experience is such that I won't forget in a hurry. Sometime last year we had power outage caused by our spoilt transformer and it lasted for months. So I usually take my phone and torch to a charging center especially on weekends when I don't go to the office. One Sunday afternoon I heard a knock on my door and opening it I saw my next door neighbor with the neighborhood electrician. After we exchanged greetings he said he wanted to confirm if I was home because he brought the electrician to connect wire and fix socket at my frontage so I can have where to charge my gadgets whenever they put on their generator. I was just surprised, emotional and so grateful because I wasn't expecting that act of kindness from him.
Some Ways Of Showing Kindness
There are several ways and manners I can demonstrate kindness towards others in my daily life
Helping school kids and other kids cross the road into safety.
Sending a thank you message to clients for choosing to do business with us, including a happy new month, happy new week messages to them.
Giving someone directions to a place they are looking for, and if the place happens to be around my location, then I will take the person down there.
Complimenting someone's looks, whether a known person or a stranger. I do this a lot and for some of the strangers their faces usually show surprises, then a smile and that makes me feel real good, lol.
Calling up a old friend I haven't seen in a while to ask how they're doing.
Visiting the sick at the hospital, share some encouraging words with them and pray for them too. If possible gift them fruits and other things.
Helping a neighbor, friend or family member buy something from the grocery store or market.
They are just countless and these kind gestures we do usually do not take anything away from us rather it makes us human.
The Importance Of Kindness In Shaping My Values, Beliefs, And Interactions With Others.
The importance of kindness is so much that without it the world would be a much colder and less enjoyable place to be. Hatred, anger and vile, will be on the increase the more.
Kindness makes me feel human and equally see the humanity in others so I can treat them with respect and love.
Everyone deserves respect and that's one of the things kindness tends to address. It encourages respect for others, even when they make mistakesWith kindness I'm able to develop empathy and compassion for others, which are essential values for any individual.
Not only that, I'm also able to value others, their opinions and perspectives, even if they're different from my own. It's just kind of live and let live so peace will reign.
I've learnt that the easiest way to maintain positive interactions with others is through being kind and this can ultimately build trust and understanding between the individuals involved.
I love it when I see others succeed and I don't fail to celebrate them because I know one day I will succeed and be celebrated too and this is what kindness taught me.
Furthermore, kindness can lead to more positive interactions, which can create a ripple effect of goodness and positivity.
A perfect example is the story of my relationship with the trainees's family.
Is the world lacking in kindness?
I wouldn't say that there is an absolute lack of kindness in the world, it's just that as it should be, or would I say not really enough.
The craze to make money is much now that some people no longer show kindness to themselves not to mention others and that's why they will sell their body parts, commit murder and engage in all kinds of activities which the society frown at.
I would say technological advancement, the invent of social media platforms, etc also played a role in the fall on the level of kindness that we see in the society today. For instance some people are quick to pick up their phones and capture photos or make videos or even go live on Facebook in an accident location just for content purposes instead of assisting in helping the accident victims.
Should I even talk about drivers who will vehemently refuse to make a little space for other drivers to enter in line, or even for pedestrians to pass whenever there's traffic. If you try complaining they will abuse life out of you.
It is saddening to see that some people no longer lend a helping hand to others in need without asking for something in return. You made a wrong drive and enter a ditch the young boys around will jump out to help move the car out and after that demand money from you. Some even negotiate price first before moving it.
The World Can Be Better When We Show Kindness
I know how demoralizing and discouraging it can be when someone do not appreciate a kind gesture, but hey, that's not the reason for me to stop being kind. I am not doing it because of them but for the sake of mankind.
If we all can go out of our ways to be a little more kind through our words, actions and treatments toward others, I believe we will have a better world than we have today.
It doesn't take anything to be kind, same energy and resources used for wicked and unkind acts if channeled towards acts of kindness, we will surely feel the wave of kindness all round us.
It's not going to be easy but collectively and with determination, we can. And this change we seek begins with me and you.
This song Try A Little Kindness originally released in 1969 by Glen Campbell sumarizes what kindness means, enjoy it
Thank you for reading and let kindness revolve around you.
This post is for the Kindness - Dreemport collaboration.
Images Are Mine
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
