Brenda Herchmer is the owner of Grassroots Enterprises, a community development consulting company.Kindness Has Its Own Rewards
I’m the first to admit I’m a big fan of retail therapy. On the other hand, I don’t consider shopping for groceries to be fun at all. For me grocery shopping is definitely a chore.
However, as I was buying groceries today, it seemed the clerk at my checkout was even less of a fan.
She just looked so miserable I felt compelled to find something positive to say.
Glancing at her I smiled and said, “You’re definitely a good packer”.
Honestly, it’s not as inane as it sounds. After all, she really was a good packer. I had noticed that she was scanning the pile and carefully selecting like-minded goods for each bag.
Well, the comment was no sooner out of my mouth then her face lit up with a warm and broad smile. From there we went on to have a short but most interesting conversation about working intuitively and multi-tasking.
As I walked out of the store it seemed to me that she was happier. I felt better too even though I had managed to spend over two hundred dollars on what primarily amounted to fruit, vegetables and assorted rice cakes.
Bottom line is that I felt good about having passed on a very small act of kindness. And, that was even before she pulled a coupon out of the drawer below her cash register that ended up saving me over five dollars.
Turns out, my dear and loving mother, who has always served as an exemplary role model for practicing acts of kindness, was right.
Being kind brings its own rewards.
The researchers agree.
Surveys show that participating in regular, small acts of kindness is beneficial to your health, longevity and well being.
Being kind makes you feel good, useful, and alive. It somehow validates our humanness. We also know that being kind triggers a number of beneficial physical and psychological responses. The most obvious response is the ‘feel-good’ sensation which has been officially titled the ‘helper’s high’.
When you do something good, your body rewards you by releasing endorphins. These morphine-like substances create the feel-good experience.
Being kind even has the capacity to reduce or even block pain signals to the brain. People suffering from physical or psychological pain actually experience relief when they carry out an act of kindness. Experts say this is because when you practice kindness you are focused on someone else and forget about yourself and your pain.
The person who receives a kind act also experiences the feel-good response. Who doesn’t like it when someone smiles, thanks, compliments, or helps you in some way? It bonds us and somehow seems to create a good feeling about one’s self and people in general.
All of this is well and good except that it also occurred to me as I’m writing this that there’s one person who definitely needs much more kindness than I’ve been providing. That would be me!
I’m not treating myself kindly.
I work too hard, albeit at work that I love, need to exercise more than I do, get more sleep, and have more fun.
Chances are we all need to take a little time out to be kind to ourselves. It doesn’t have to be an extravagant kindness. It could simply be an hour spent reading, listening to good music, a walk around the block, sleeping in for an extra hour or having a beautiful meal – hopefully prepared by someone else. It is these kindnesses that nurture our spirit and our soul.
So, much as I could probably do more to fine tune this blog, I think I’ll just let it go, grab myself a good book and run myself a bubble bath.
Posted on 11-29-22
Comments:
In my opinion, this blog highlights the importance of being kind and the positive effects it can have not only on others but also on ourselves. The author’s experience with the grocery clerk and the research cited both demonstrate how small acts of kindness can lead to feelings of happiness and well-being, and can even have physical benefits such as reducing pain. The blog also emphasizes the importance of being kind to ourselves and taking time for self-care, which is crucial for maintaining physical and mental health. Overall, this blog encourages readers to make kindness a priority in their lives and to practice it not only towards others but also towards themselves.
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