It’s time we found space in our daily diary for kindness

The most amazing thing about kindness is how contagious it is. Showing people kindness as you move through your day is the simplest way to make your day better, but it also has a much wider impact.

It gathers momentum. It changes things across great distances. The knock on effect can be extraordinary. Feeling peaceful comes most easily from you being a person that brings peace wherever you go. It can defuse tension, allay fears, and it can resolve conflict.

It can literally bring people back from the edge. So why don’t we practice the act of kindness every day? Lots of people choose to be kind to those they know – those that they love. That is normal. That is ordinary.

But what is extraordinary is the power of kindness when it is extended beyond those that you know and love. Choosing to be kind to those that offer you no benefit or advantage. And choosing to do it every day can change your life, too.

The power of being kind every day

It has been said that the greatest test of a person’s character is how they deal with adversity, but actually, a better indicator of character is how a person deals with power. Kindness is all too often the last choice of those in power. But that is where kindness is the most essential characteristic.

To be kind beyond strategy or agenda – being kind to all people and seeing all people as equal and equally deserving to your kindness is the first step to dramatically increase your impact on the world beyond those that you love.

By choosing today to be kind you can change so much for yourself and those you are kind to. Although it’s impossible to track what that choice could do today, what is possible is choosing to ensure that the impact you choose to make is one of positivity, compassion and kindness.

After all: who may be helped? Who may be saved? What might be prevented from happening? What might be created because of the knock-on effect of your choice today to be kind?

Remember when people are kind to you

Everyday strangers across the world do random acts of kindness. Sometimes we know that we have been helped. That someone has gone out of their way to help us. Sometimes we have no idea the acts of kindness that have helped us along our way without us ever knowing.

Some of the greatest acts of kindness are never recognised, rewarded or even known. What could you do today for someone that you don’t know? How could you be on the lookout to be kind in an unusual way?

Today, look for that opportunity to be kind. Maybe also reach out to a loved one that you haven’t spoken to for a while, send a letter or email to a friend, maybe leave an anonymous gift for someone in need of support, in need of hope. Instead of talking with someone negatively on social media, why not try to reach out in a positive and compassionate way.

History celebrates acts of kindness. From religious texts to cultural parables, our world is filled with stories of where one act of kindness changes everything – where it taught one person at a crossroads to go a different way. To come back to their truth.

Kindness starts with being kind to yourself

Like anything, kindness starts at home. Ask yourself this today: how can you be that little bit kinder to yourself? Take a load off. Don’t take it all so seriously. Believe in yourself. Be gentle with yourself as you find your own way. Be kind in every way that you can. Meet the world with a warm smile and a happy glint in your eye.

Teach the world today the extraordinary power of kindness and set yourself up for the most amazing day possible.