Why Be Inconvenienced by Kindness?
Need a Culture Boost?: Building Extraordinary and Adaptive Cultures Course Available Now!
Are you a leader, consultant, coach or trainer? Join Belongify and get certified!
Has someone ever been kind to you, and you haven’t appreciated their gesture or the intent behind it? If your answer to this is “no,” and genuine feelings reflect what the research confirms, any act of kindness, however small, is very much noticed and appreciated by each of us. Someone has taken the time to understand or notice our situation and acted. It could be as simple as letting us enter a busy road after watching car after car pass us by, opening up a door when our hands are full, smiling at us and saying good morning, etc.
If you reference the attached article and more, we know this to be true: Acts of kindness nourish the giver AND receiver. Each of us has this POWER. It’s free, usually takes little effort and it is so beneficial. Imagine what our daily lives would be like if we simply choose to be kind to others. There are hundreds of opportunities everyday to make this happen without any real inconvenience or big investment. Why don’t we?
The research somehow shows that we overthink it. “‘I have found that kindness can be a really hard sell,’ said Tara Cousineau, a clinical psychologist, meditation teacher and author of ‘The Kindness Cure: How The Science of Compassion Can Heal Your Heart and Your World.’ ‘People desire kindness yet often feel inconvenienced by the thought of being kind.’”
We frankly worry too much about how our actions will be interpreted. Yet, if our act of kindness is genuinely about others, why would we stress about just doing it? What’s the big risk, really?
I write mostly about the workplace. It’s apparent that in today’s organizations, we could benefit from more intentional acts of kindness. Take a moment. Do it now. I almost feel foolish writing about this because it’s such a “duh.” Yet, we are missing the abundance and generosity that makes up the energy of so much of our well being. Let’s all just be a little more deliberate and generous in rolling out kindness without any expectations for reciprocity. Just get it done, because you are worth it!!
Think Big, Start Small, Act Now,
- Lorne
One Millennial View: It’s interesting how the article says “kindness can be a really hard sell.” Perhaps because it lacks the salacious, nostalgic, dramatic, particularly funny, alarming or commiserating content we like to buy into. And, it’s unfortunate that some people have a protective shield, which guards against potential misinterpretation of acts of kindness. If someone is kind, and our first instinct is to ask “why?,” then that should be an indication that we have to do some internal reflection. Maybe it’s worth appreciating the confidence it takes to be kind, which in turn, is something cool. Invest in intentional kindness now, and let’s prevent abundance and generosity from being engulfed by cynicism to a point where free, kind deeds are so rare they somehow become expensive.
- Garrett
Edited and published by Garrett Rubis
Search Blog Posts:
Categories
Month
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019