Being kind or showing empathy might seem so easy but is very complex. Showing kindness is not supposed to be a very complex thing. It gets complex when we start defining what an act of kindness is. When we help someone put with their work, that's kindness, or when we help someone through a challenging situation, it is also an act of kindness. Observe the world around us; it is filled with competition, rage, brutality and greed. Kindness and peace are the only things that can help save the world and its people.
Being helpful and empathetic towards others isn't the only kind thing we can do. We should reciprocate that kindness to ourselves as well. Many people, in the process of being kind to others, forget about themselves. When we stop criticizing ourselves and live the way we want to without a troubled mind, we do a kind thing to ourselves.
Being kind to oneself and others helps us in various ways. It makes us feel good about ourselves. For example, when you see your friend going through a crisis and you help them out with it. By the end of it, the smile on their face makes you feel happy and good.
Being kind helps in reducing stress. When you are going through a stressful situation and try to take a breather to help out your parents with some housework, it helps them and helps you in taking a break and feeling better about yourself.
Being kind is proven to be an excellent psychological coping mechanism. While going through a troubled situation, being kind towards yourself by doing self-care or being considerate towards others around you helps your mind cope up.
The term kindness can be mistaken as a term called altruism in psychology. It is a moral practice to do selfless deeds for others without asking for anything in return. Being a highly generous person also means being a highly empathetic individual. Most psychologists have this trait. Altruism has led to building self-confidence in people, leads to the growth of positive energy in people and overall helps with better health of an individual. Being altruistic or kind can have many hindrances to them as well.
Our selfishness or ego takes over many times. Sometimes, our ego is so strong that it prevents us from doing a kind act, thinking about the logic of it. This is a great hindrance towards kindness.
Time also plays a significant role in this. Many times, we merely don't have the time to think about doing something kind for others and ourselves, and it leads to terrible repercussions.
Another thing that is a weapon against kindness is competition and greed. This can be about anything, whether money or getting the first prize or winning. Such greedy things lead to people doing selfish things towards others. Later, they understand the repercussions it had on them as a person.
Kindness is a crucial source that our world lacks. It is filled with people trying to win the race but rarely filled with people enjoying the course of the race with each other. Being kind and choosing peace over conflicts are the only hope we have left. When people start understanding the power of kindness, it will change their perspective over life and the people that surround them. It will help in the making of a better human being. Our first step in understanding the concept of kindness should come from ourselves. Learn to be kind to yourself first and then help others and make them believe in this concept for the betterment of the world.
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