When you are kind, YOU feel good.
Let’s talk about times that we show kindness and how it makes us feel. Have you ever pulled a child off the angel tree at your local Walmart or Church? How did it feel when you were out shopping for your ‘angel’? How did you feel when you thought about how much they would enjoy their new treasures?
What about preparing a meal for your neighbor who just came home with their new baby. Did you try a little harder on your meal prep? Did you think back to when you were just bringing home your children? When you stopped by their house to bring your meal, did you enjoy those smiles. How did you feel as you walked or drove away? Content? Happy?
When is the last time you bought that perfect gift for your spouse? When was the last time you did something truly awesome for them? Did you wash their car? Buy them the perfect gift? Maybe you picked them up a drink at a candy bar at the gas station on the way home from work?
How did you feel when you were serving others? I bet it felt good! My mom has a weird way of describing this feeling… so I ask: did you get a big warm fuzzy feeling on the inside?
When you are kind to others, THEY feel good.
How do you feel when someone does something for you? Do you think those on the receiving side of your kindness feel good when you share kindness with them? That child you bought Christmas presents for… How do you think that made them feel? That family you prepared a meal for… do you think you made them smile? Do you think they appreciated not having to worry about shopping, cooking, etc. that evening?
How happy was your husband when you bought him that new watch? How happy was your spouse when you washed their car? What about that time you brought home that cool new game for your child?
Let’s talk about the ripple effect,
Now… what do you think happened with each of those situations? Do you think they kept that feeling of happiness and contentment to themselves or do you think they shared it?
Often, when someone does something nice for us, it causes us to want to give that feeling away. Do we only do something nice to the person who did for us, or do we pay it forward and show kindness to others we encounter? Just like a ripple in a pond, I feel with each one act of kindness, there is a multiplying effect further reaching than we could imagine.
What if we were all kind?!?
Close your eyes with me and imagine… well, wait til you are done reading – then close your eyes and imagine…. if we were all kind, every single one of us putting only kindness out into this world. Kindness ripples could stretch anywhere. Affecting anyone and everyone in their path. So I ask you this – what would it look like if your entire household, your entire street, your entire community, showed kindness to everyone… for one day, for one week, for one year, forever?
It’s a beautiful vision.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Brianna Grace Cooley is military child focused on tackling suicide prevention through mentoring children of all ages to discover their purpose through community service, leadership, and showing kindness. As a leader with Every Warrior Network, Brianna serves as Director of the Lil’ Warriors Kindness Krewe where she mentors children and provides parents and teachers with tools and daily challenges to promote kindness and service. As the Barksdale AFB #GivingTuesdayMilitary ambassador and team lead Brianna lead the effort to send over 7,000 holiday cards to airman at BMT for Christmas 2019 and collected over 1,500 food items for our local backpack ministry for elementary aged students facing food insecurity, ultimately achieving 10,000 acts of kindness. Brianna is an honors student, a cheerleader, and a tennis player. She serves in leadership with Student Council, S2S, FCA, and JROTC at school and is an active member of Team RWB. A huge part of Brianna’s life is developing initiatives to address problems she has discovered in her communities. To date she has created 4 initiatives, earned 5 Presidential Volunteer Service Awards (Gold), was recently recognized as a Top 5 Air Force Military Child of the Year finalist, and has appeared on several podcasts, local televisions segments, and panels.
