Now that we just celebrated Valentine’s, and here on VP so many sent such kind messages to each other through the SMT event, I wanted to talk more about kindness and how random acts of kindness can, and actually will, have a great impact on everyone around you. In fact, a simple act of kindness can change someone’s life.

This is nothing revolutionary, and we have all probably noticed the benefits ourselves already, but it is still worth highlighting. Being kind is such a simple act that you can perform with minimal effort,so why not give it more attention?

Being kind is not only a nice gesture for someone else, but it is also proven to benefit yourself in a positive way. Some may even argue that kindness is a selfish act, which in a sense is true, because the warm feeling you get from being kind to someone else, is something you’ll want to experience again and again, thus give you the drive to continue the acts of kindness. Studies have shown that by just practicing a few simple acts of kindness on an everyday basis, you can eventually actually retrain your brain to generally think more positively. And, a positive mindset leads to happiness, which so many of us are striving to obtain. In other words, being kind can generate your own happiness, which is a big reason to continue doing so.

There are so many ways we can change the world, and kindness might just be the easiest. No matter where you’re from, what you look like, what you believe, your economic status, age, gender; kindness is free, requires minimal effort and is accessible for everyone. It’s completely up to you how you practice kindness, it can be voluntarily work with helping building a school for children in a country where that privilege is limited, or something small like simply telling one of your colleagues that their outfit looks nice that day. If you start searching for opportunities to perform random acts of kindness, you’ll find them everywhere.

There are so many amazing souls in this world, also here on VP, which is what inspired this article. Complimenting someone’s outfit that they’ve spent over an hour creating, might completely make their day, and opening up for a new person to join your group might change their life forever. So, never hesitate if you have something nice to say to someone!

We can also transfer the kindness over to other parts of our existence, taking care of our environment for example. Recycle that plastic wrap instead of just throwing it in the general waste and turning off the shower while shampooing your hair are both simple things you can do in your everyday life to be kinder to our planet. If each and every one of us does small things like this, together we can make a huge difference.

Have you noticed that when you watch a movie and one of the characters does something really kind, suddenly you feel your whole body warming up and you might even shed a tear? This is because kindness is contagious, and is said to “spread like a virus”, therefore even just observing someone else being kind gives you all the benefits. It is so easy to make a whole community, like your workplace for example, warm up with small kind gestures, because if you start executing more acts of kindness in your everyday life, others will most likely get inspired and follow your example.

One time, me and a friend were taking the morning train to school. We had a geography test that day, so we were testing each other on how volcanoes are formed. Then we came to a question we both just couldn’t seem to remember the answer to, and suddenly the woman, who had been sitting next to us in silence, spoke up and explained the answer since she remembered that from when she was our age. Suddenly, the whole carriage, full of people not feeling too awake this early winter morning, started talking warmly to each other. That simple act of kindness and warm tone spread like fire in dry grass, and I bet everyone in that carriage had a better morning that day compared to the mornings before and after because of it; some may even have taken it with them and done their own little act of kindness later. I certainly did, and this memory has stuck with me for years.

Depending on where you are from, the world may seem like a grey place, so it is up to all of us to try brighten the mood in busy cities with smiling to a stranger or buying socks for a homeless man. Instead of holding grudges and feeding into the greyness, maybe try to speak to people in a kinder way, regardless of how you feel about them, and notice what happens around you. Show people that you see them and that you care, and they will do the same to you.