Small Acts of Kindness Can Make a Big Difference

What you do matters

You may not think those little acts of kindness — when you smile at a stranger, help someone carry a heavy bag, or let someone in front of you in a queue — matter. But actually, these small behaviors have the power to produce big positive results.

How small acts of kindness activate positive change

Rarely are we privileged to witness the outcome of our positive acts. So we don’t always imagine they are significant. These are just a few ways your kind actions might help someone:

•Increase joy

•Inspire growth

•Facilitate acceptance

•Reduce a burden

Some of your behaviors alter the way people you meet experience life. They have a ripple effect, spreading like water rings after a splash when a stone hits the surface and plunges deeper.

A wink or a smile, a kind word of support when someone doubts themselves, and a hug for a friend when they are down can give them courage and inner strength. They are caring gestures that say, “I see you” and “you matter.”

Other kind acts, like helping a frail person cross the road and opening a door for someone whose arms are full of packages, lessen their physical burdens. They make life easier and have a knock-on effect. The recipient's mood improves, and they are more likely to be kind to someone else later. So your kindness spreads and changes more than one person’s day for the better.

What being kind teaches you

Your acts of kindness not only impact others; they also influence you. When you are compassionate, if only in a small way, feel-good chemicals flood your system, and your mindset changes.

Those little kind acts you carry out teach you what you do matters. They let you know you can make a difference, which is essential.

We face many challenges today: Climate change, threats of war, and mass extinction of wildlife, to name but a few. It’s easy to think you are helpless when such problems are enormous. But you can make small changes to procure supportive results. Your actions accumulate and influence how other people behave and feel.

“Once you begin to acknowledge random acts of kindness-both the ones you have received and the ones you have given — you can no longer believe that what you do does not matter.”

Dawna Markova

Small ways to be kind

You might not instigate colossal changes. But there are many ways to improve the lives of people in your surroundings and the environment.

•Notice when people need help. Can you carry someone’s bags for them? Open a door? Pick up milk for them when you shop? Post their letters? Offer them a lift?

•Can you see litter on the ground you could pick up? Too much plastic packaging on goods when you shop? Could you point excess waste out to a shop manager? Take your custom elsewhere when a company refuses to be environment-friendly.

•Might you offer someone emotional support? Stop to talk to a homeless person? Visit a lonely neighbor?

You can make a difference

Understand your small, kind actions impact your friends, family, and strangers alike. They can help your surroundings and people you’ll never meet too. When you recognize the significance of what you do, your enthusiasm to help will grow, and you might inspire others to follow suit.

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Bridget Webber writes articles for magazines and websites; she often ghostwrites for professionals who can’t spare the time to pen compositions. She’s written poetry eBooks and is featured in several leading publications.