Be kind: Five random acts of kindness, and what did I learn

Sheharyar Munir
Sep 7, 2018 · 5 min read

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”

Kindness is a virtue and is a key to success in this life. I think showing compassion and being kind is one of the most important things to learn in this life because a life with compassion is always better. So the question arises, what is kindness? For me, Kindness is loving people more than they deserve. Kindness is becoming a sunshine for others when there is darkness in their lives. Kindness is sacrificing yourself for the good of others. Kindness is love. Kindness is everything.

Kindness is a virtue

Recently, I had a chance to learn about kindness and how it affects us at every level. I learned about Nelson Mandela and his kindness, and how he described kindness as the best way to lead people as his motto was that We are all bound together, and we achieve by sharing with others and caring for those around us.

I believe that in the end, it is the kindness and the accommodation that are all the catalysts for the real change. — Nelson Mandela

Mandela was an influential leader and will be remembered for years to come because of his leadership. He believed that a leader should always be kind, and for him, kindness was to respect others freedom. This shows us the importance of kindness and compassion that even a person like Mandela who was jailed for 27 years, showed compassion towards the jailors and he converted his enemies into friends by using the weapon of kindness. It is highly recommended that to establish good relationships, you show kindness towards other people so that they will be kind with you, and as a result, there will be a mutual respect, and hence a healthy relationship will be formed.

So, to apply all the concepts, I tried to do 5 random acts of kindness to see if what I learned is real or not, and any guess what the result was?

You guessed it right. Obviously, it was the result you would expect.

I will write down my acts of kindness, and then write down my experiences and learnings. I will also encourage you to try to do 5 random acts of kindness in a 24 hours timeline, and see the results for yourself.

So, without further ado, let’s jump onto it.

My Five Random acts of Kindness:

  1. Helped a stranger by putting plastic bottles that were spread out on the road, back into his bag.
  2. Went to HEC office with my friend for attesting of his documents.
  3. It didn’t work out so the next day, went to his home and helped him out with online form filling and applying with all the documents online.
  4. Greeted every security guard with a smile at my university, and shook hands with every guard to show respect and kindness.
  5. Spent hours and made a perfect resume for my cousin because he has been a big brother to me and I thought that I should give something back to him, and I did.

Learning and Experience

Genuinely speaking, it was a really good experience. We all do kind things to others every day, but what we don’t notice is that how it affects us. While doing this activity, I had a thought all the time that how it is affecting me and how it is going to change me as a person.

I learned that by doing kind acts for others, you are actually making yourself happy. Obviously, the other person is happy too, but the real kindness is when you feel happy yourself. And that’s where I think is that Kindness is for ourselves. When I helped the stranger, he was happy, but I was happy more than him. Each time I picked up the bottle and put it in the bag, I felt proud of myself that I was doing something for others. It made me happy and it drove me to collect bottles even faster. And when all the bottles were in the bag, that boy stood up, thanked me and I was shy on receiving it because I should have been the one who should have thanked him because of him, I got this beautiful feeling of kindness and got to know what is its true value.

Kindness is everything

This activity made me realize that if we start doing kind things for others, and then gauging them what were the outcomes, it will help us make ourselves better. I will encourage everyone to try to do this activity yourself and then see what you did you learn.

I also learned that kindness and its rules are applicable everywhere, and if you’re in a working environment, I have a good news for you. Yes, you can do kind acts in your work environment too. If you’re working in a job or in a team environment, kindness can prove vital for you. You can make your team members look good. This is a form of kindness, as you are making them look good in front of your boss. It will lead to better team harmony and overall future collaboration will be good.

You can be kind to your colleagues by helping them whenever possible, by sharing information and resources with them. This will make them interested in you that you’re helping them in their difficult times. There are many things to do to show kindness at your workplace. Some of them I have told, some of them you’ve to think yourself.

In the end, I would like to say that always try to be kind to others. This world is really dark and nasty place, and one thing you can do to make it better is to show kindness and compassion to each and every person in this world. I hope this blog will make you do kind things for others.

Never forget these words:

One small act of kindness is a one giant leap for humanity.

Aesop is right here :D

Be simple, be kind. The world will be yours. That’s all from me for now. Adios.

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