Fortune Cookie Friday: Feel Good With Kindness

Well, hello there. How kind of you to drop by and read my post.

I have noticed many articles popping up about women objecting to men holding doors open for them. To be honest, I had a difficult time understanding the reasoning behind their objection, like there was some ulterior motive. It seems counter-intuitive.

As a child, my mother taught me to be polite to others and show kindness. When it came to doors, we learned to hold the door open for others, especially the elderly. It was sort of a general rule that the first person in our group that approached the door held it for everyone else. If many people were coming, or the weather was inclement, we would hold the door open for the next person from the inside.

Being kind doesn’t stop at opening doors. That’s just the beginning. Kindness is the act of being compassionate, considerate and empathetic towards other people and living beings. It’s valued in many societies and religions.

In the bible, kindness is a Fruit of the Spirit, one of the nine attributes of a person living in accordance with the Holy Spirit. The other fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All these work together—we don’t pick and choose—to help us live a Christ-like life.

Real kindness comes from within. It’s given without the expectation of something in return. Everyone is capable of kindness. We don’t need to be wealthy, highly educated, fashionable, or cool. We just need to be kind. This means being kind to everyone, even those we don’t know or like.

There is even a World Kindness Day every year on November 13. We can celebrate it by performing random acts of kindness for other people. But why wait until then? Why not be kind every day?

Kindness is very powerful. So powerful, it can make you feel good in an addictive sort of way. Studies have shown that when we think of something that makes us happy we are more likely to perform an act of kindness. They also showed that performing the act of kindness made us feel good. There is a positive feedback loop between kindness and happiness. Do good, feel good. Feel good, do good.

Imagine how wonderful the world would be if everyone showed a little kindness each day. All the warmth from our hearts could spread to others. They would feel good and want to do the same. I can only imagine that people who object to kind actions just don’t want to be happy.

I have no suggestions on how to tame these shrews except continue to be kind. Maybe one day their hearts will soften, and they will recognize kindness for what it really is, a virtue.