A heart without kindness is like an empty shell. Kindness is the quality of being generous, friendly and concerned. Kindness is not just doing the right thing, but going above and beyond expectations.

Kindness is doing your best to make sure that the people around you are happy. It is helping others even when they cannot pay you back. Once the wheels of kindness have been set into motion, it moves around without stopping, eventually coming back to us again. It cannot be diminished by anyone. Kindness is never lost, provided that there are people who keep on resuscitating it. We cannot acquire any benefit from kindness unless we devote something to it. Before expecting anything from others, first we have to do something for them. We are responsible for what we get in return.

Each one of us is capable of kindness, it always lays inert within us, ready to be activated. If people use this capacity for goodness towards others, it will continuously revolve among everyone. We can influence people towards kindness by displaying to them how great kindness is. The only way of doing that is by illustrating kind actions for them.

It is our duty to spread this idea of kindness to everyone. In fact, we can say that, kindness alone is nothing. It depends on us to create it, utilise it, bolster it and finally extract benefits from it. It is auspicious not only to others, but for ourselves as well.

You are always assumed to treat somebody the way you want to be treated. So make sure that if you want respect, you have to give respect first. Solicitude, humanity, fragility, devotion, warmth and care are words that are correlated with kindness.

Being kind often requires strength and courage. Kindness is a relational skill. There are many different ways to practice kindness. One way to be kind is to be active when you see people in need and do something for them. A sense of belonging is created when people are kind to those who need help.

We should open our eyes and see how other people are suffering and what we can do to help them. Sometimes, a smile, kind words, opening a door, or helping old people to carry a heavy load, can all be small steps that make a big difference. Celebrating the achievement of someone you love, giving genuine compliments, thanking someone, telling someone how they are special to you, helping your neighbours, taking a picture of someone and sending them, sharing your food, donating your clothes to needy people and things you don’t use, are all the ways to practice kindness.

Kindness is to be openly happy for the other person, to wholeheartedly celebrate someone else’s achievements. Your response to someone’s successes may determine more about your relationship with them, than how you respond when times are difficult.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 24th, 2022