It's amazing the effect random acts of kindness can have on people. A kind word, compassionate appreciation, positive feedback – and yet this is becoming a rarity within the online world.
Certainly by the end of 2019 this was becoming a major problem. Everybody had been tainted by negativity, it had become commonplace to be horrible to each other, and trolls ruled the blogosphere and social media.
However, the onslaught of COVID-19 hopefully will change all of this. What a difference a crisis makes, forcing us to change our ways, and how we think about and consider others within adversity.
This infographic shows the benefits which arise from random acts of kindness:
And here's some code you could paste into your own posts (via the text mode) if you want to share this Infographic with your readers.
Isn't it nice to receive some kindness?
Random acts of kindness can make someone's day. Especially when it comes out of the blue. It could be as simple as a smile to cheer someone up. Or further up the scale such as paying for someone's shopping if they haven't enough money in their purse.
Receiving kindness can have a beneficial effect one people's wellbeing. Research shows kindness benefits the immune system, lowers blood pressure, prolongs life expectancy – in other words, dramatically improves your health.
It is also the key to finding happiness, reducing stress, promoting positive moods and fighting against depression and anxiety. It helps people to believe in themselves, eliminating doubt and strengthening them both physically and emotionally.
And this is made all the better if random acts of kindness are spontaneous, totally unprepared, without any expectation of return. Suddenly the world becomes a better place, which could have a huge impact for some people.
Make yourself feel better through kindness
It's not just the receiver who benefits, random acts of kindness release a myriad of feel-good and beneficial hormones. It is as if the body wishes to reward you for your good deeds.
Serotonin brings on feelings of happiness and satisfaction, as well as calming you and healing wounds. Oxytocin releases nitric oxide which causes your blood vessels to dilate (reducing blood pressure). Dopamine lights up the pleasure and reward centres of your brain, creating a 'helper's high'.
In addition, kindness helps reduce your stress and anxiety, makes you feel good about yourself and boosts your sense of achievement. It improves the prospect of creating more positive relationships, even from complete strangers, as kindness reduces inhibiting distances and other social barriers.
All this can be achieved through writing kind comments. Especially those filled with empathy, encouragement, appreciation and relatable scenarios which are relevant to the original post or update.
Strive to make positivity override negativity
Unfortunately we are all conditioned to respond to evil over good, or wickedness over kindness. This harks back to our caveman days when we needed to be aware of danger in order to survive. Kindness was not a threat to life, so didn't score highly within natural selection.
Living in a total state of tension, alertness and consciousness can be extremely tiring, as well as detrimental to our health. Kindness is a luxury which not all of us can afford, even though hopefully we experienced it early in life.
It takes great effort to focus on positive elements, especially when the news if full of woe, disaster, bad deeds and terrible actions. Even so, whenever a nice, good, kind story appears, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Everybody is smiling, laughing, totally changing the mood.
Spread some more positivity through writing kind comments. Random acts of kindness can have such valuable and favourable affects, the effort is so worth your while. And positivity is infectious, resulting in similar replies. Readers prefer positive discussions as these are much more exciting and pleasurable to read.
Show how being kind can make a huge difference
Mark Twain once said: "Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." It is a universally understood emotion which is uncomplicated and so easy to deliver, and yet is belittled and termed as weak.
Kindness is being friendly, considerate and generous. It considers the feelings of others, while attempting to avoid them harm. It improves their lives through affection, empathy and giving, but not expecting any reward or recognition in return.
Kindness shows impenetrable courtesy and strength in good manners. It builds up the value in the other person by judging them less and sharing influence, encouragement and best practice. It is a symbol of respect which is fundamental to human existence.
You need to believe in the power of kindness as the opposite of conflict, harassment and cruelty. It can be used to enhance a valuable point through persistence, level-headedness and keeping to the facts. Kindness never looses its head, maintains the status quo and can eventually convince someone to change their mind for the better.
Create a world where altruism rules
I have always believed in altruism. It has played a large part in my business, even sometimes to my detriment. I often perform random acts of kindness if I can see it will improve someone else's life or further their endeavours. Especially when it is sometimes so simple for me to perform.
The old adage says "Treat someone as you would be treated yourself". So it stands to reason to be kind to others. It is also important to mean what you say, keep to your promises, and deliver what you said you would do. Such as a project which has taken longer than anticipated is still treated as the original quote.
Altruism can easily be referenced to kind and helpful commenting. You offer positive feedback because it is a nice thing to do. Even though the commenting box is open, not every author is expecting such a delivery. It's good to envisage their response when they read what you have to say.
Even though altruism doesn't expect any return, there is no reason why you shouldn't do so. Continuing the conversation in the same positive vein helps everybody concerned. The blog becomes more popular due to increased interaction, and the commenter gets noticed as someone who is willing to respond with excellent contributions.
When did you last show a random act of kindness?
How often do you write kind or helpful comments? Do you consider how you can add value to enhance the post, or answer the question or solve the problem posed in the post or update?
This is what kind commenting is. It is not finding fault, causing an argument for the sake of it, or merely posting a single-word comment because you can't be bothered do write anything more.
A kind comment generally consists of more thought, careful deliberation of all points of view, and above all, a focus on positivity and support. And it is much more likely to be accepted, pass through the spam moderators, and responded to, than something dumped down just for the sake of it.
Let me know in the comments below any stories you have which relate to random acts of kindness, however good, bad or ugly! We would love to hear from you.
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Thank you, Alice. It makes such a huge difference to be kind and caring to others no matter the negative around us or in comments. We can make a difference in how we respond to others as you’ve so clearly pointed out!
I’ve only had one really awful comment on my site sometime ago that sort of took my breath away a bit. It was shocking after pouring my heart out in surviving MRSA and being on my death bed. Instead of responding in the same manner I responded thoughtfully and nicely. The person never responded back but I realised they were in the throes of recovering and zero trust in the medical system to help. I was full of compassion and could not respond any less. I’d been there and done that and very much related to her anger.
I’ve had some post on my facebook page in regard to Lou Gehrig’s Disease. It was clear the woman commenting over many weeks was in terrible pain due to someone she loved having passed away or someone she loved was living with the devastating effects of ALS. How could I not respond in compassion even though her ever response was negative. I hope somewhere along the line the positive and caring we all showed had a good effect and maybe someday she’ll come back and let us know how she’s doing.
Thank you Cindy for your comment. In your cases it seems the people who commented so negatively were in a lot of pain or in the throes of being ill. It is usually adverse situations which make people horrible. I had an aunt who was disagreeable, but I didn’t realise it was because she was in pain all the time. Sometimes allowances need to be made and you need to respond with compassion. If they bothered to read your replies, I’m sure they would have given them comfort.