Kindness: A Rare Quality in Modern Days
Kindness is a quality that is hardly found in these modern days. People tend to overlook the needs and desires of others since they are so busy gratifying their own needs and desires. Kindness is the act of being pleasant and considerate to people around you. Kindness can be achieved by supporting someone both emotionally or financially, being polite and boosting someone's morale. According to Peterson and Seligman (2004), kindness is described as the pervasive tendency to be nice to other people, to be compassionate and concerned about their welfare, to do favors for them, to perform good deeds, and to take care of them. Kerr O'Donovan and Pepping (2014) define kindness as a combination of emotional, behavioral, and motivational components that benefit others or make them happy. Different authors have described kindness differently. However, they all echo the same thought. As human beings, we should be friendly, polite, and helpful towards others and creatures as well. As we exhibit these forms of kindness, we must do it with no aim of gaining anything in return since kindness is a selfless act.
Challenges in Showing Kindness
As part of the "popular" girls group in the school, it's difficult to show acts of kindness. All my life I am used to dictating, ask, and it's given to me. My day began just like any other days, my small brother taking all his time in the bathroom and I yelling and insulting him. Then it rang to me; today is the day I am supposed to try and be kind. Therefore, I stopped yelling and told him to take all the time he needs as I prepared breakfast for the family. As everyone gathered in the dining table for breakfast, they all gave me a surprised suspicious look. I did not mind since I expected that from them, I finished serving them breakfast and went to prepare for school. On my way to school, I smiled at the old lady who sits alone in her front yard watching people go by, and I gave a piece of my sandwich that I was eating to a street dog instead of throwing stones on it as I always do. In school it was difficult, nobody likes me since I am "popular." However, I helped James from the engineering class to climb stairs since he had a broken leg. He thanked me while others stared at me with shock and loathed. Others started whispering how I am such a pretender, but every act I did was out of compassion. In the afternoon when I went back home, I took out all my old clothes and shoes so I could donate them to a shelter home. My mother was very excited and delighted with what I was doing. I have never seen my parents that happy. In the evening I helped my brother with his assignment, read him bedtime stories, and tucked him to bed. In return, he gave me a thank you kiss, it felt genuine and kind.
The Impact of Kindness
As I retired to bed, I pondered about my day and how my small acts of kindness had put a smile on everybody around me. I felt very proud of myself, it was difficult trying to change into this kind and compassionate person, but I loved how it felt seeing my own family happy with my small deeds and reciprocating my actions with love and kindness. Before, I always felt like I needed to be mean to people to recognize my presence and to love me, but then I was only destroying my relationship with the people around me. What I learned from the day, the small contributions of kindness from my side made a difference not only to me but also to others. At the end of the day, I resolved to approach every single day of my life with kindness. It will not be easy, but it's something I will strive to do.
Conclusion
One should try being kind to those around them and see how things change for good. Being compassionate to others, helping them, and spreading smiles, does not only do good to the beneficiaries but also offers a deep sense of gratification to the one who performs the act. The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate that performing kind acts holds both empirical and applied interest in the fields of education and psychology. Lecturers encouraging students to reflect upon and perform intentional acts of kindness develops perspective-taking, increased social membership, and a structured way of helping kindness within the school context. Encouraging students to execute kind actions can also be reflected as a positive psychology intervention (PPI).
References
Kerr, S. L., O'Donovan, A., & Pepping, C. A. (2014). Can gratitude and kindness interventions enhance wellbeing in a clinical sample? Journal of Happiness Studies, 16, 17-36.
Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. New York: Oxford Press.
