Acts of kindness

You may remember the story of Luke Cameron, who set himself the task of committing at least one act of kindness every day, for a year.  He succeeded and became a media celebrity as a result.  You can read about him on our blog (9 January 2015) or visit his website,  http://thegooddeeddiary.com/.

Luke's endeavours inspired me to have a go, and so I spent 2016 aiming to complete an act of kindness every day.  I kept a log, which I won't bore you with, but I pretty much succeeded.  (Some days I forgot to fill in my log and by the time I got round to updating it, I'd forgotten what I'd done, but I'm pretty sure I did something every day).   The funniest act of kindness was trying to explain to a traveller in Munich airport, using only basic German that he was about to exit the Gents' toilets with a four foot tail of toilet paper streaming from the back of his jeans!  Some of the time it was something really small, like paying a stranger a compliment.  Sometimes it didn't really seem that big a deal, like putting my change into a charity box.  The best ones; the most fulfilling were ones that felt like genuine gifts to people.  It wasn't their financial value, it was what it did for the other person that made the difference.  (I think the highest value act I committed was probably worth about £600, but opened up a whole new world for the recipient).

And research is emerging that being kind actually has health benefits for the giver.  Think about what you have to do to be kind.  You have to put yourself in the shoes of the other person and imagine what life is like for them right now, what they might need/like and how you can help.  In short, it moves your perspective to the present and from 'self' to 'other'.  It's difficult to remember the things you are not happy about while you are focused on taking care of someone else.

Thought for the day:  Look for ways of committing acts of kindness through the day.  Go and look at Luke's blog for some great ideas.  My advice for being kind and also promoting you own well-being:

• Do it with joy in your heart, because you want to, not because you should.
• Acts of service beat financial donations every time.
• Be mindful and present when being kind.  Actively choose to do it and be aware when you do it.
• Be unconditional (Don't do it to expect something in return).
• Do it proactively (Don't wait to be asked).