Long-lasting healing means making a point to stay positive even amid life’s highs and lows. Actively choosing positivity can be really tough. Some days are certainly easier than others. But regardless of what is thrown at us, if we make a point to choose to have a glass half full attitude and make each moment count, we are able to exercise some control over the outcome. This is because…
No one can take our happiness away unless we let them.
Choosing positivity means choosing to spread kindness to others. And kindness is contagious. It has a domino effect, spreading from one person to the next once it’s initiated. It’s difficult to have a negative attitude if you’re constantly being kind and being treated kindly by others, right?
How can we make the kindness we receive from others and that which we hope to give really count? How can we make it as far-reaching as possible?
For one, we can offer a compliment to a stranger, making it meaningful despite the fact we don’t have a close connection with the person. We can complement someone while running errands, commenting on their appearance in a new and unique way. For instance, you might come in contact with someone who is very attractive. Then this person laughs and it’s captivating. While everyone might comment on their looks on a regular basis, it’s far less likely that their laugh is noticed, really noticed.
You can tell this person they have a very warm or friendly chuckle rather than just ‘nice.’ Not many people put in the extra effort to complement on what’s largely unnoticed. So, now, it’ll truly stick, and they are likely to carry it with them longer. Hopefully they’ll pay it forward to someone else.
Making kindness count means taking a little extra time to make our words and actions count. In today’s busy world, this is a rare quality. We often forget to even acknowledge the traits of our loved ones we truly appreciate, let alone those of total strangers. Offering kind words to someone we’ve just met can be a completely foreign concept. But it doesn’t have to be.
Here’s the thing. We remember the words of strangers. This may seem backwards because strangers don’t know us and, thus, we might believe we shouldn’t care. But we do. Because total strangers rarely take the time to acknowledge us, it catches us off guard, and we remember their words sometimes far into the future.
When you choose to infuse your life with more kindness, you’ll get an itch to spread it. Be creative. Think of ways in which your efforts will pay off, but always stay genuine. Remember, a little kindness really does go a long way — especially internally. There is healing power in matters of the heart. So, be kind to yourself first.
Break the silence, break the cycle.