How do you feel after you just did something nice for someone? Pretty good, right? Did you walk away with just a little smile on your face, or maybe a little extra spring in your step? That’s the way I always feel, and If it makes us feel good, and lifted our spirits, why don’t we do it more often? Sometimes, I think we just get so caught up in the daily grind of our own lives, that we don’t realize that doing something kind for someone else will selfishly brighten up our own day.

              We all have a friend or two in our life that always seems to be on the go, filled with energy and always helping others and involved with good activities. I often think “why can’t I be more like that”.I would love to be that kind of a person. How do they get their energy and find the time? The main thing, I see, is that they are focused more on others than themselves. I’m not saying they are extroverts or have eccentric personalities. They just seem to be feeding their personal energy storehouse by engaging themselves consistently with others.

Kindness is a gift everyone can afford

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I realized, that while I do some charitable things and make myself available for others, I don’t always consciously go out of my way to do something kind during the normal course of my activities.I’m not saying, that I am walking around like Oscar the Grouch, and in fact, people may describe me as a really nice guy. But if I do something kind, it usually happens organically or because someone asked for my help.  I understand now, this needs to be a daily practice. Not just once a day, but as often as possible. It sounds a little intimidating. The thought of inconveniencing myself is strong. I knew I must fight the urge to just put my head down and stay focused on myself and my issues. I had to implement a simple plan.

My first action was to put a daily reminder in my phone to go off at 5 pm, and it says, “Kindness goes a long way”. I chose 5 pm, because it’s just about when I’m wrapping up from work and before I get ready for the gym. I use this as time to hit the pause button and think back on the day to see if I consciously did something nice, and if I didn’t, I still have some time left to get it done!

 Here are a few things that I’ve been doing to up my game:

I’ve made a couple phone calls to family and friends. They were just quick “touch base “calls, just to let them know I was thinking about them. This was big for me, because I hate talking on the phone, seriously hate it. I thought about a text, but it had to be a phone call.

I made a small donation on a gofund me page to a Navy EOD Technician that was seriously injured by an explosive device while he was deployed.

I bought the guy that sits outside of QuickChek, a cup of coffee.

I popped in on a family member with a box of cookies in hand just to say hi for a little bit.

I bought the lady behind me online a lottery ticket.

I actually refused to multitask while on the phone with a friend and truly “listened” to what they were saying.

These are just a few of the small acts that I consciously decided to do. And each of them selfishly made me feel better. They gave me a chance to stop thinking about my own stuff, even if only for a little while. It gave me a sense of gratitude for the blessings that I do have in my life. Gratitude always results in my realization, that whatever situation or problems I am facing, there is always someone else that is facing a challenge bigger than mine. Who knows? That phone call to check in with a friend may have come at a needed time for them. I don’t know what personal challenges they may be dealing with and maybe they just needed a 5-minute distraction from it, or just reassurance that they have a friend out there that was thinking of them.

Acts of kindness don’t take much more than just a little bit of thoughtfulness. Sometimes just giving a person a sincere compliment at the right time could turn their day around. If you brighten someone else’s day, then you increase the chance they will brighten someone else’s.

No Act of Kindness, No Matter How Small is Ever Wasted

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Your kindness could extend to a worker at a store that you go, or when you’re getting gas in your car or someone that you’re interacting with at work or anyplace else you happen to be. Even at a kids game while you are talking to another parent , it’s easy to share a kind word or just being a good listener while they’re talking.

I can tell you, since I have started doing this, I have become acutely aware of when someone does something kind for me, and also when I miss an opportunity to be kind to someone. I have also been smiling a heck of a lot more. So, the next time you are feeling a little down about something going on in your life, step out of your zone of familiarity and do something kind for someone else. You will not be disappointed.