by Helen Tay

Created on: March 10, 2009   Last Updated: March 16, 2009

All of us benefit when someone is kind to us and when we are kind to another. The act of kindness varies from a kind word, a lending hand and an act of service. When we are kind, we feel good from within and this is reflected in our moods and our willingness.

When we are aware that being kind is something within our capacity to do so, we can then set out to be kind to one another. Children have learned to be kind by holding each other's hands when in a new environment and sharing their food and drinks.

When we start off by being kind to others, we benefited from this act of kindness as there is an unspoken understanding between the people who helped another. I have benefited from a kind act from my friend and she is now my best friend through the years as I love her for her kindness. I was a teenager and we were in school and I was not feeling well. She helped carry my school bad which was heavy and carried her own as well. It was this very kind act of hers that made me trust her from that moment onwards and through the teenage years and our adult years. I have never forgotten the kind deed and I guess I never will in this lifetime.

There are so many ways we can be kind to another person and when we are in a position to help another, let us do so without expecting anything in return. This way, we have truly done a good deed and we can feel good about ourselves which by itself is good for us as we have our own self-worth.

As there are many ways to enact an act of kindness, I will attempt to list a few of them down as this will let us know that these are the acts of kindness we can start with.

Healthy acts of kindness

1. Smile and cheer someone up if the other person is in need of companionship.

2. Lend a helping hand and this can be in terms of helping with house hold chores, doing the laundry, getting the groceries and this act of kindness needs physical strength.

3. Lend a listening ear when someone needs to release the emotions in them as they could be grieving for someone they loved. I believe that there are many people to share in happy occasions like weddings and birth of a child. It is time like when someone has lost a loved one is when the support is needed and I would want to be there for the person in their grief.

4. Giving up our seat on public transport to someone who needs it more than us like the elderly, the expectant mother and mothers with young children

5 Giving food or necessities to families who need them for their survival and if necessary, personal coaching so that they are able to stand on their own and with their personal dignity intact.

6. Make someone feel good and this can be in a form of encouragement, help the person in getting clarity when they are confused.

7. Cook a meal for someone when they least expect it. Kind acts of service will always be appreciated and it is what memories are made of.

8. Teaching someone a new craft or a new technique which can enrich another person's life.

9. Be kind with our words and actions.

10. Sharing a good joke to make another person laugh and forget their cares can be an act of kindness.

There are lots and lots of ways we can be kind and how we can do that is that we be aware of what is happening around us and act from the heart. Children are best taught to be kind when they are young and to treat everyone with respect and kindness. Our world stands to gain when everyone is conscious of being kind.

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