: having or showing a gentle nature and a desire to help others : wanting and liking to do good things and to bring happiness to others

I’ve been thinking a lot about kindness lately and I think I have a lot to say.  So it’s Be Kind Week on mycrunchylife.  I just want to share some thoughts with you, hopefully provide some inspiration, make a commitment and do a fun giveaway, all in the name of kindness.

I think I’ve always been a nice person but I don’t think I’ve necessarily been a kind person.  In my book, this is differentiated by action.  So for example, I’ve always been nice in that I think I make people feel comfortable; I’m seldom rude or cold but I also seldom go out of my way to help another.  I’ve been feeling kindness lacking in my life so I’m hoping to spark a change by writing about it.

Here’s why I think being matters:
It’s infectious.  Be kind to someone and chances are they’ll appreciate it and be kind someone else.  Maybe not in the same way, but that act is infectious.  Whether it’s peer pressure or leading through example, being kind and doing something nice influences others.

It makes you feel good.  No one ever said that kindness needed to be altruistic.  Doing something nice for someone else is like getting a hug without invading personal space.  It just feels good.  And there’s proof (clinical studies and all!) from a researcher at Stanford that students that performed five weekly acts of kindness were happier than a control group who didn’t and the ones who were happiest of all were those that performed five acts of kindness a day.  So it feels good and is good for you!

The world is a better place because of it.  You know this.  We have billions of people in the world we all just want to feel connected to someone.  Acts of kindness help us feel not so alone.  There are days when you can give and there are days when you’ll need to receive.

Hell, it’s the right thing to do.  I don’t know what to say about this but it is.

So let’s talk about being kind and then do something about it.  Tomorrow I’d like to write about children and how to teach the idea of “be kind.”