Five Ways of Encouraging Kindness in the World

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Encouraging kindness may seem like a hopeless endeavor right now. Our world is living through a most challenging time, with increasing uncertainty as the COVID-19 public health crisis rages. The economy has taken a catastrophic dive. Social unrest abounds as Americans protest centuries of racism and injustice.

People are fearful, anxious, weary, and angry. Some people face job loss. Some have lost loved ones. Others are exhausted from juggling working from home and childcare.

The world is at a breaking point.

 

Understandably, kindness is not at the forefront of everyone’s mind. And yet, the world is in need of kindness now more than ever. What can we do to encourage kindness in our world? How can we become a kinder people? The change starts with each one of us.

Here are five ways of encouraging kindness in our world.

1.     Practice empathy.

Empathy is understanding that what happens to you matters to me. It is putting ourselves in another person’s shoes and seeking understanding. Empathy is knowing that we do not often know the pain others are suffering or the experience of their lives but we can love and support them in their pain.

Kindness flows naturally from a place of empathy and authenticity. When we seek understanding through compassion, kindness is a natural byproduct.

2.    Embrace an abundance mindset.

Meanness and selfishness are products of a scarcity mindset. Under scarcity thinking, there is never enough. Not enough time. Not enough money. Not enough energy. Not enough. Not enough. Not enough. In scarcity thinking, everything is a competition. If I give to you, it will take from me. Therefore, I must choose between my own good and everyone else. It is the ultimate me-first mentality.

Kindness is born from an abundance mindset. In abundance thinking, there is always enough for every being. We can give to each other because there is enough for us all. Abundance thinking is about community, connection, and care. When we live with an abundance mindset, kindness becomes second nature because to be kind to others nourishes, encourages, and improves humankind.

3.      Assume every person is doing their best.

When you assume that everyone else is doing the best they can, it is really hard to be unkind to people. Whether it’s true does not matter. Whether we would do better, does not matter. What matters is that we give the benefit of the doubt. Look for the good in everyone. Assume each person is doing their best. It will change your perspective on life, and kindness will follow.

4.      Teach our children well.

Growing a kinder world begins with our children. Modeling kindness daily demonstrates to children that it is a way of being and not merely something we do from time to time. Read books to your children about kindness. We can show them what kindness looks like in how we interact with others. Help them understand that being kind is a choice they can and should make every day.

It is important to pause here and note that teaching our children about kindness does not begin and end with showing kindness to others, we must also be careful to model kindness with our children. In other words, how we speak to our kids, how we treat our kids, how we interact with our kids. The tone of voice, words, and sincerity we use with our kids are important.

Children are sponges that soak up everything around them and mirrors that reflect what they see and hear back to the world. If we are kind to others but unkind to our children, the message will be lost.

5.      Be kind.

This may seem obvious, but the single best way of encouraging kindness in the world is to be kind. Kindness is contagious, and when you are the recipient of kindness, it is hard not to have a desire to share that feeling of kindness with others. Responding to meanness, harshness, or selfishness, with kindness can speak volumes.

Kindness does not seek credit, reciprocity, or a deserving recipient. Kindness does not search for those who are “worthy.” It is about choosing community, connection, and care.

Do something kind for someone else and encourage them to pay it forward. Watch the kindness spread.

Encouraging kindness starts with
each one of us.

One postscript to this list is that in cultivating kindness, we should not forget to be kind to ourselves. It is difficult to be kind to others while being unkind to ourselves.

Most of of us have not lived through a pandemic before. Many of us are not the best version of ourselves at this moment. Many of us are tired, stressed, and worried. Few of us could have imagined a few months ago what this year was going to be.

We have and will make mistakes. We all have bad days. We must remember to be kind to ourselves.

Choose kindness. All that is required is a willing heart.

Interested in exploring kindness and other choices with your kids to help grow a better world?

Check out The Book of Possibility. Order your copy on Amazon.