Kindness: for self, for each other & the environment
by Swapnal Shahil, IIT Guwahati
Kindness is the act of being kind or polite towards others. It is an essential human trait since it defines a person’s character in terms of how they live and how they treat others. Whether it is person, animal or nature everyone respects kind people as they always feel loved and better. A person’s kindness quality may be described as when the other person is in distress and an issue has been plaguing his life, and when a nice person steps in to assist him, which demonstrates the person’s character and the compassion that he has given to the other person. Many acts of kindness can be seen in our daily lives like helping or assisting others and showing compassion to them. A clear example we always see in the morning is some people clearing our locality helping for clear sanitation and healthy atmosphere around us.
Although, kindness is encouraged by every major religion and is recognized as a value in many cultures, sometimes it is really hard to be kind. We all know it. In fact, at some point in our life, it feels easier to be unkind especially when we are not at a great time in our life. It feels like the whole world is against us but underneath we are all vulnerable and as Plato once said: “ be kind with everyone, as everyone is fighting hard their own battle”.
“The simplest acts of kindness are far more powerful than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.” — M.K. Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi dedicated himself to the service of the Indian people by gaining freedom, improving living conditions and civil rights in his entire life. He was the most popular man in all of India, he won the respect and admiration of his people by devoting all his efforts to their needs. He spread the meaning of kindness by his service and charity to a cause which is something we should all make time to do whenever possible.
One fascinating characteristic of kindness is that it appears to be contagious. Simply put, when we do an act of kindness ourselves, it is likely to encourage others to act in the same way. When we are kind, we make our world a better place to live, because seeing someone else helping another person produced some good feelings, which then prompted them to reach out and do something nice thing for themselves.
Kindness has many benefits, including greater happiness and a healthy heart. It slows down the aging process and improves relationships and connections, which indirectly improves our health. People believe that kindness is special to those of religious faith because of their moral vows. Kindness does not require us to be of religious or even spiritual faith. Demonstration of kindness is seen in man’s best friend, the dog. Cats are also kind and valued for their emotional bond. Planting trees and cleaning our locality is also one kind of showing affection and kindness to the nature and people around us. Kindness expands the frame of reference in our life and is a symbol of respect for the recipient’s assessment. It influences those who give more than those who receive and is correlated with greater mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
We must constantly have a helpful nature to be a kind person, and in doing so, we will be able to develop a caring character among others. Kindness can also be shown in other ways, such as praying for others. For example, if he or she is having difficulties, we should pray for them in order to help them solve their issues. A kind-hearted person is someone who helps others from the bottom of their heart and eliminates all of their problems. The sole idea of kindness is that people should always help each other under all circumstances and be honest and kind to each other.
