Imagine, someone residing on our property without paying the rent, is that ever going to happen? Are we that generous? Similarly, kindness is simply the rent that we must pay for occupying space on this planet. But are we paying this rent in its true sense? Or is it the other way around. The usual scenario that one witnesses today is people being mean to each other. The ‘random acts of kindness’ are visible once in a blue moon. It is possible that you are having a bad day, or maybe a series of bad days where things aren’t working in your favour or every act of yours is going wrong, but that shouldn’t let you be mean to others. Usually what happens is that when we go through tough times, we let it out on those who are economically inferior to us, maybe a waiter, maybe the maid working in our house, or a bus driver or anybody else for that matter. And we somehow forget the saying “Treat others the way you want to be treated”.
What if everybody does a ‘random act of kindness’ daily? Imagine how much of a better place the world would be. Your one act of kindness may change someone’s day for the better. This act could be anything such as a kind word, a smile, an honest compliment, helping those in need and so on. Kindness is to willingly celebrate the other person’s success and be happy for others. Mere words cannot explain how important it is to be kind to others in this often unkind world. And moreover, kindness is said to be the language which even the deaf can hear and the blind can see. Kindness is contagious.
A key theory explains to us that- seeing someone else showing an emotion, automatically activates the same area of our brain as if we had experienced the same emotion for ourself. So why not spread this contagious kindness and smiles while we take this as far as we can. “The capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance” says Pablo Casals. We often hear people these days saying: ‘I really don’t care’, ‘as if I care’, ‘if you don’t care, you will never get hurt’ and so on…
With the world getting modernized, everyone is becoming selfish and mean. We have forgotten that caring goes beyond taking care of only our family members and friends. We don’t care for others because we think: What is my benefit in doing so? Why should I be bothered with what other person is going through? Or what difference does it make in my life by spending time in caring for others? I would like to clarify this misconception with a scientific piece of evidence. Psychologists have pointed out growing evidence on the fact that caring or providing support to others can actually lead to reducing stress, inculcating a sense of satisfaction and a feeling of inner happiness.
And this does not end here, caregiving provides us with a special opportunity to gain intangible benefits which last for a lifetime. When we care for others, they lean on us for emotional support in times of need and this helps in creating deeper bonds and forming better relationships. Thus, not only the one who receives care but also the caregiver is benefitted. Let us all agree to the fact that at some point or other in our lives, we are most likely going to need some type of care or support and this cycle repeats itself. So, we should treat people in a way we wish to be treated.
Remember that we can all thrive in this life together only if we are a little more caring towards others. And let us ensure that in the process of modernization, we don’t become mean and lose all our emotions. Let us not allow the cruelness or selfishness of others rob us of the inner happiness. I want to conclude by asking everyone to be kind and caring towards others, as the major qualities lacking in the lives of modern men are care and kindness.