Genuine acts of kindness – no matter whether they are small or large – are a positive pathway to reach beyond our own ego. It feels good to be the giver, receiver, or witness to a no-strings-attached act of kindness.
Kindness is action. It is a key pathway to compassion and empathy, which foster emotional intelligence, support positive relationships, and have a positive impact on wellbeing. Cultivating kindness takes practice: this exercise is an invitation to continuously build and sustain the kindness muscle in three important relationship domains for living a good life.
Kindness to self
Self-compassion is the process of turning kindness inward. We give ourselves the same kindness and care we’d offer a good friend – encouragement, rather than judgement. We honour and accept our humanness.
Kindness to significant others
Having honoured our own humanity, we extend kind acts to those we see every day – our family and closest friends. Boosting the two-way flow of kindness in society leads to a host of benefits, including feelings of increased wellbeing, calm, strength, energy, feelings of self-worth, and reduced anxiety. KINDNESS TO COMMUNITY We can extend kindness into truly random kind acts with strangers, an organisation, and beyond our human kin to kindness towards nature – animals and the environment. Who knows what positive pay-it-forward actions this might lead to as the kindness community grows.
Introduce more kindness into your life
• Below are kindness cards that you can use as prompts to follow for a week, with each day intentionally and deliberately practicing three acts of kindness: one to self, one to a loved one, one to community. We’ve included some blank cards for you to add your own kindness ideas. Cut up the pages into individual cards and keep them in a place you’ll see every day.
• Before you begin, check in with yourself: How are you feeling emotionally and physically, on a scale of one to 10? Note your condition in a journal.
• Do the three acts of kindness each day for seven days in a row and observe how you’re feeling at the end of each day. Write it down.
• At the end of the week, check back in with yourself as to your wellbeing: How are you feeling emotionally and physically on a scale of one to 10? What, if anything, has changed for you? Has choosing to be kind altered your mood?
Note anything significant in your journal.
Let’s create a kindness ripple that becomes an upward spiral: a force for good that reaches beyond ourselves into greater good for humanity and the Earth.
