Sebastian Yew
Nov 6 · 3 min read

One random act of Kindess

Think of the meanest, nastiest, grossest and whatever negative ‘est’ adjective you can come up with.

Now think of someone or some people you know that best represent those words.

Kindness exists inside every one of us.

Yes, even in them.

It’s in our DNA, we are wired to be kind and to love. Unfortunately, the ripple effect that one simple kind deed has, is also true for the opposite.

This is why, over time, we’ve learned to be kind only to our loved ones and those who are kind to us. Most of the time these people overlap which really only makes the situation worse as our ‘circle of kindness’ is always getting smaller.

On the other hand, this vicious cycle continues. These people that receive unkind treatment then continue to be unkind.

This has a lot to do with our ego. In fact, that’s where the real challenge lies. The real challenge is whether we are able to put our ego down.

When you think about kindness, things like giving in to others and always being tolerant towards ‘bad’ behaviour probably pops into your head.

And there’s a real fine line between being a pushover and being kind.

This is where knowing your worth is important. And for this, you have to put your ego down and think about what pushes you over the top and what you believe to be reasonable.

Put your ego down.


After all, people only treat you as good as you treat yourself.

Kindness is not about suffering in place of some one else.

Why be kind

  • To make the world a better place in your own small way
  • To go to heaven
  • For the sake of it
  • And countless reasons more

We’ve all heard the popular ‘be kind, you don’t know how much better you can make someone else’s day’ story.

Screw that. It’ll make YOUR day better.

When we do kind things, as mentioned earlier, there is this magical ripple of kindness that continues on and on..

And with enough of these kind acts, the world will surely become a slightly easier place to live in.

Next, each time you do something kind or have kind thoughts, you’re actually sharpening this ‘tool’ of kindness. Subconsciously, you’re becoming a kinder person.

In the long-run, this will come in handy. Especially for the problems you face in your personal life and career. This is assuming that it’s happiness and excelling at your job that are your goals (which is the case for most of us). This is because there will come a time where the importance of who you are as a person will outweigh your intellect or even your effort.

But just do it. For the sake of it.

Put aside all these ‘selfish’ thoughts and just give it a shot. And this is the best reason to do so, before you know it, you won’t be able to tell the difference.

How to be kind

I think the biggest thing is to be aware. Stop using your phone, look up at those around you. There are so many opportunities for us to be kind, right there just waiting for us.

Remember that there is kindess within all of us. If you still don’t believe this, try it for yourself.

When you’re walking around in a crowded place and put your phone down. You look up to see everyone’s head looking down at their phone. And you start to realise that you give way to others, almost naturally.

When you see an opportunity to be kind, something takes over and you instinctively do the kind thing.

It’s almost as if kindness is happening to you as opposed to you going out of your way to make it happen.

HUGE disclaimer

I’m not the kindest guy. Those who know me, can vouch for this. I’m judgmental and a hater. I get angry like everyone else and angsty sometimes.

I wouldn’t say that I’ve always been this way. But growing up sucks and it makes people cynical.

And this makes it all the more important for us to be aware of this.

So remember to be kind to yourself. And with one random act of kindness at a time, watch the magic happen.

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