You always choose kindness over negativity or indifference may not be our default reaction, but we can cultivate it over time through consistent action.  

It is fair to wonder why we should have to always choose kindness, rather than it being our natural state. However, our perennially busy and fast-paced lives may have rendered us indifferent to the suffering and problems of those around us. Furthermore, our inherent negativity bias may persuade us to react strongly to unfavorable or unpleasant outcomes, instead of assessing the situation in a more objective light.

At some point in our lives, most of us have been denied a more compassionate approach by someone or have disregarded the option to extend kindness towards others. Some of us have also been bullied online or received a harsh response to a genuine query, and at times we’ve regretted our indifferent or judgmental behavior towards others. 

Therefore, always choosing kindness can bring about a much-needed shift in the way we judge. Being kind can teach us to look carefully and objectively at the way we react to external stimuli and assess the circumstances before we react in a rude or harsh manner. With the wide-ranging benefits of kindness so well known, why do we need to be reminded to always choose kindness – why don’t we 'just be kind' all the time?

7 Ways to Always Choose Kindness

1. Create a kindness plan

It is possible to choose kindness in the way of small gestures and little things that can spread happiness and brighten someone’s day. Jot down one act of kindness for each day of the month – for others and yourself. 

Some examples of random acts of kindness can include:

• Buying a few extra items at the supermarket for donations – many supermarkets now have designated areas where you can leave produce. Alternatively, look into ways of donating to food banks.
• Complimenting a stranger in a good-natured manner.
• Befriending an elderly person to help them combat loneliness or inviting a senior for a chat over a cuppa.
• Supporting a local business by buying their products or eating at local restaurants and promoting them via your social media channels.

2. Practise compassionate listening

Offering someone our undivided attention in the form of mindful listening can be a simple, effective, and free way to choose kindness too. Remember it is essential to keep all technological distractions and our inner judgmental voice at bay while we do so.  

3. Donate or raise funds for charity

A survey conducted by Harvard Business School pointed out that individuals who were more generous financially and made sizeable charitable donations measured the highest overall happiness levels. The study thus revealed that prosocial spending, or utilizing one’s financial resources to help others resulted in improved emotional well-being. 

Raising funds for animal welfare, organizing a fundraiser for the care of cancer patients at your local hospital, helping a neighbor who may be facing a crisis by organizing a charity drive, etc. are some of the ways you could bring about a positive change by choosing kindness.

4. Choose to be kind online

While the advent of social media has made us more aware and conscious, unfortunately, it also has given rise to rampant cyberbullying, and hostile behavior based on one’s appearance, ethnicity, gender stereotypes, personal beliefs, etc. We can choose kindness online by encouraging positive messages, spreading cheer and love instead of hate, and ignoring negative or hateful content. Even when we disagree with someone, it is possible to do so in an objective and respectable manner.

5. Choose kindness for the planet

While gardening offers several mental health benefits as a hobby, it can contribute towards greener and cleaner living spaces as well. Finding small ways to reduce our carbon footprint and adopting more sustainable practices like picking up litter, packing a waste-free lunch, carrying your own tote to grocery shop, etc, can go a long way to improve the world around us.

6. Practise kindness at work

It is important to remember that your employees and coworkers have their own challenges, hidden from plain sight. Leading with compassion can improve morale, boost productivity, and ensure higher employee retention, according to research. 

Leaders in the service industry – and the hospitality sector in particular – quite possibly realize the importance of choosing “habitual kindness”, in attempts to deliver experiences that customers will remember forever. Indeed, consumer decisions are often based on how well their expectations were met and the collective experience, so if you find yourself being loyal to a particular brand or service provider, it is probably because their leadership drives down kindness as their core value.

7. Choose to be kind to yourself

Choosing kindness towards yourself becomes more crucial than ever during adverse times, or when you are feeling low. After all, it’s harder to practice kindness towards others when you’re stressed or overwhelmed. Befriending yourself gently through self-compassion and self-care is the first step towards choosing kindness.

Psychologist Kristen Neff suggests establishing helpful self-compassion breaks when you find that you’re stressed or being too harsh on yourself. Place a hand over your heart and practice saying to yourself: “May I regard myself in a gentler, fair light.”, or “May I bring kindness to this moment, even when I’m stressed.” These self-compassion statements will help you center your attention back to choosing kindness for yourself.

Benefits of choosing kindness

There are luckily some strong and significant benefits to choosing kindness, which I will cover here. I hope that these benefits will help you realize how important it is to always choose kindness, whenever we get the chance.

1. Choosing kindness will result in more personal happiness

Choosing kindness will increase your happiness, and it has been proven by plenty of studies.

For example, this study involved around a hundred participants who were given 5 dollars every day for five days. They were asked to either spend it on themselves or others. But the condition was – they had to spend it on the same thing every day. What would you have done?

Different participants spent the money in different ways. The result showed that the participants who spent it on others instead of themselves experienced more happiness.

There are many more ways to spread happiness, ranging from giving someone a compliment to just providing a listening ear to a friend in need. Funnily enough, all these things have been studied before and the results have shown that spreading happiness like this increases your own happiness as well. This phenomenon is often referred to as the "helper's high", and it's one of the strongest reasons why choosing kindness is the best thing to do.

This benefit should give you enough reason to always choose kindness, but there are more benefits so let's continue!

2. Your kindness can inspire others to be kind

According to a group of studies done by Standford University, kindness is actually contagious, and when someone else witnesses an act of kindness they are more likely to get inspired and also do something kind. 

That's the second big benefit of always choosing kindness: your acts of kindness can inspire others to be kind as well. This way, the positive energy of your act of kindness will not end when the kindness is returned. It will live on as your act of kindness spreads from person to person.

There are many studies that show how being around happy people positively influences your own happiness as well. So by inspiring those around you to be more kind as well, you'll set yourself up for more future happiness!

3. Your kindness can make the world a better and happier place

The last benefit of choosing kindness is a big one.

I recently wrote an article that focused on how to make the world a better place. Many of the things discussed in this article are all about being a kind person. Choosing kindness is one of the best ways to make the world a better place.

Even though you don’t have the power to single-handedly turn this world into a happy place where we all get along, you do have the power to inspire others.

And your power to inspire others is the key to making the world a better place. Your small acts of kindness are able to inspire others, who will then spread those actions to their friends and family. This snowball will continue to grow, and can eventually have a big impact on the world.

Conclusion 

Choosing kindness is always a good choice. It can make a difference in the lives of others and is vital for your present and future happiness.

Choosing to be kind doesn’t require grand gestures. The little things you do add up to make a big impact.

So, always choose kindness. 

I hope this article has helped you realize just how powerful it is to choose kindness. The real difficulty here is to recognize the situations when we can choose the way we act. By being more self-aware about these situations, we can choose kindness every time and turn the world around us into a more positive place.

Watch the video below to learn more about Always Choose Kindness.