This Magic Monday, we look at the science of kindness – what it is and how it affects our desire to pay it forward.
In your day-to-day, you’ve likely come across one of these scenarios:
- You’re returning your cart at the local grocer, and the cart return area is a mess.
- You go to toss something in the garbage only to discover it’s full.
- You reach for a clean mug out of the cupboard and instead find the sink full of dirty ones.
In each situation, you may struggle for few seconds with the choice: Do you take the extra time to right the situation? Or do you, like many others before you, pretend you can’t see the problem and walk away?
We’ve all been there! In the grand scheme of things, we may ask ourselves if taking the time to clean a mug, empty the trash or straighten the grocery carts even makes a difference? It’s just “a drop in the bucket,” as the idiom goes. But after a while, several drops together will fill that same bucket.
There’s even more to it, though – scientifically.
This short video describes the Science of Kindness – what happens physically and chemically in our bodies when we perform or receive small acts of kindness – and how it affects our desire to pay that kindness forward.
The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation created the video and additional content on their website, including a daily kindness calendar if you’re looking for inspiration. The foundation has a mission to “make kindness the norm,” and I can’t help but want to identify with that sentiment.
We could all use a little extra kindness. What’s one small thing you can do to help fill the bucket of a coworker or friend this week? We promise it’s worth it for both of you.
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”
– Vincent Van Gogh