Every situation has a silver lining – discover a mindset that heals and enlightens.
October 2, 2021 · 7 min read
Treat everyone with politeness and kindness, not because they are nice, but because you are. - Roy T. Bennett
Courage and kindness are one of the purest traits that a person can have. Being courageous and kind is born not from empathy, but from pure heart and willing to be an example for other people to make this world a better place.
Remember that every stick has two ends – if you approach life and everyone else with anger, sadness, you will be surrounded with like-minded people.
On the other hand, if you spread happiness and kindness, everyone will fall in love with you and you’ll be surrounded by similar people. You will always find solutions to your problems and achieve whatever you desire.
What are the benefits of being kind?
- An act of kindness inspires others to follow the same route.
- It has a positive impact on psychological well-being and personal growth.
- May stimulate production of serotonin – the happiness hormone.
- May decrease blood pressure.
- Could result in an increase of lifespan.
- Increases your self-worth and self-esteem.
What does exactly mean to have courage and be kind?
Have courage and be kind saying essentially means not being afraid of being generous, friendly, sympathetic, helpful to other people.
Have you ever heard saying “To have a big heart?” In other words, being big-hearted means being generous and kind to other people.
Everyone should try to adopt these character traits and spread positivity around themselves. Always keep in mind that people with big hearts always are highly respected and loved.
10 signs of courage and kindness
Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind. - Henry James
- Volunteering
- Thanking other people
- Complimenting
- Reminding your loved ones how much you appreciate them
- Giving your seat for an elder
- Participating in fundraisers
- Willing to help to others
- Leaving positive feedback
- Showing empathy to those who need
- Surprising your loved ones with good deeds
11 Tips to have courage and be kind
1. Start from yourself
You can’t be courageous and kind if you won’t accept yourself. You can’t spread positivity and happiness if you are unhappy with yourself in the first place.
However, you can solve this quite easily, but you must set your mind to work in your favor.
Forgive and accept yourself. A lot of us are carrying grief and worries on our shoulders. We blame ourselves for not being good enough and that we fail to fulfill our goals and dreams.
You know what? It’s okay to fail as long as you try your best and always seek to improve as a person. The fact is, that we all fall on our knees from time to time. Nevertheless, only the mentally strongest people are tough enough to forgive themselves and keep on moving.
Learn from your and others’ mistakes and learn to accept yourself. Living in a grief is poisonous for your self-development.
Find courage and be kind to yourself. Showing kindness to yourself is one of the first steps in becoming a happier person. Here’s how you can do it:
- Enjoy a hot bath/shower
- Have a SPA/massage session
- Have a good night’s sleep (7-8 hours)
- Remind yourself of your good traits
- Practice gratitude journal
- Have self-respect
2. Show kindness because you want to
Expecting something in return is a bad habit to have. Such outlook can eventually worsen the relationships and people will notice that you are doing deeds not because you care for them, but because you expect at least the same size of return that you give.
Start by showing kindness to people that you really care for. Doing kind deeds to your loved ones might be easier than doing them to strangers. It’s also a form of courage to care for others instead of being ego-centric all the time.
Together we can change the world, just one random act of kindness at a time. - Ron Hall
To put it simply, you have to enjoy seeing your results of kindness for other people. If you’ll always feel like it’s a burden, waste of time, or you don’t enjoy doing it, that will never bring good outcomes and your acts of kindness will be very temporary.
Therefore, find a way how to be kind and enjoy it. Here are some examples:
- Be a mentor for someone. Teaching others are usually a great way to connect with other person and you’ll feel a sense of satisfaction when the other person succeeds. Whether it’s riding a bike, learning how to drive a car, learning math or local language concepts – it’s fun and engaging for both people. It’s not only very useful, but also entertaining!
- If you are into animals, you can definitely offer your time for local animal shelter. It’s an amazing form of showing your compassion and empathy to those who can’t take care of themselves. Additionally, volunteering is not only rewarding for your satisfaction, but also it may be associated with health benefits.
3. Judge less
It takes some effort and courage to start judging less. It’s not a surprise that people are used to judge other people, have a grudge on them, and have a disdainful look. Almost everyone is thriving to be superior to others.
Alternatively, we should let our feelings go and let live others’ how they want to. If they are looking to improve their lives and are ready to learn, you should assist them with your experiences and show them the right way.
Ultimately, we should look after ourselves only. Gossiping about others is not the ideal kindness form.
4. Initiate an act of kindness
This is a perfect tip for possessing courage and kindness. Let me give you an example.
Imagine this: it’s a birthday of one of your friends and you already know who will be invited. Consequently, you create a group chat of all guests and offer your idea how to surprise the host. Everyone agrees, you take care of organizing part and execute the idea on the birthday day. This is one of the prime and simple examples of courage and kindness.
Thus, you have an idea how initiating an act of kindness goes. Why such an act is so great? Well, there are few reasons:
- You make someone feel great
- You increase your confidence and self-esteem
- You feel a sense of fulfillment and happiness
- You nurture your responsibility and time managements skills
5. Practice active listening
Have you ever been listening to someone and your mind just went blank? Yes, I’ve been there too.
Being engaged in listening can be sometimes not an easy task, especially if it’s not interesting to you. Some people have a higher tolerance on this, some have smaller.
However, when you want to show an act of kindness, you have not only to listen, but also to ask questions and relate the story with yourself. In this way, you show your interest and compassion to others.
Just imagine how different the world could be if we all spoke to everyone with respect and kindness. - Holly Branson
Imagine if your friend would feel one day sluggish and sad. You’d definitely want to listen to his or her problems and confirm that everything will be okay. It’s a bonus if you can relate a similar story. However, in such scenarios usually people just want to speak and be heard.
Therefore, make sure to adapt your active listening strategy according to the situation. Know when to speak and ask questions, and when to show empathy and compassion.
6. Share with others
Kindness can be expressed through sharing. It can be knowledge, materialistic things, emotions, feelings… Being kind means being transparent and willing to share experiences and possessions. Of course, that doesn’t mean to share your house with someone that you don’t know or to lend a car to a stranger.
You can share knowledge about your financial experiences, how to cope with problems in relationships, or you can simply share your presence and compassion. Share your anecdotes, stories, and time in general.
Kindness can be shown in so many ways and there’s almost not a single wrong one as long as your intentions are good and mean no harm.
7. Complete a favor
The most straightforward way to have courage and be kind is to complete a favor for someone. If, for example, your parents ask you to mow lawn or bring goods from the shop, it will result as a kind action.
Completing a favor usually requires only your time.
However, in some scenarios people might be using you. For an instance, I know some people that are seeking for new connections just for the sake of benefits.
For example, those people might be inviting other people for dinner. Let’s say these guests are odontologists. Now, the hosts might bring a topic about teeth and how they’re aching. Obviously, they’re looking to exploit their guests and use their services for free or to get a big discount.
Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things. - Terry Pratchett
Another example is when I was in one evening meeting with a lot of people that didn’t know each other. There was a guy that produced handmade jewelry for a living. The jewelry guy didn’t know the host. It didn’t take long for a host to approach this person and ask him to make jewelry for her. Unfortunately, this was an act of exploit.
Therefore, it’s important to distinguish when people care for you only for the sake of your skills. If people don’t take time to get to know you, establish relationships, and if their communication sounds cold, it means that they are trying to use you. These people don’t deserve your kindness.
8. Strike a connection
Personally, I have some people on my mind that I haven’t talked to for half a year, two years or more. What I occasionally do is message them and ask them how they’re doing. From there, we escalate our conversation and usually end up meeting for a coffee and have a great time talking.
What I’m trying to say is that don’t be afraid to talk to people that you care for. Getting in touch with people with whom you once had great relationships is an act of kindness and courage.
Probably, they will be willing to refresh the relationship and you’ll have a great time sharing your recent experiences and stories.
Certainly, this might not work for every person that you care for, but it’s worth a try.
9. Stop the negative thoughts
Negative thoughts are toxic to your mind. It’s poison to your happiness and joy.
Learning to be kind associates with growth mindset. Therefore, if you want to stop negative thoughts, you should highly consider adopting growth mindset.
A warm smile is the universal language of kindness. - William Arthur Ward
Here are some tips how to adopt it:
- Accept yourself
- Strive for knowledge
- Challenge your negative beliefs
- Always have long-term and short-term goals
- Stay optimistic and positive
10. Use your power wisely
Power comes with great responsibility. It happens too often that people who acquire power change their personality drastically. They become harsh and cold.
Don’t let this happen to you. Always be yourself and stick to your core positive beliefs. Throwing a negative reply to your bystanders can ruin the overall mood for everyone. The negativity will flow in the room for the rest of the day.
Instead, be self-conscious and what influence you can make on other people. If you are an employer, setting a good mood by throwing a joke or motivating, complimenting your employees can make everyone uplifted and productivity will go up.
11. Learn from others
If you are just getting started, you can learn a lot of good examples from other people how to have courage and be kind. Very simple acts, such as helping in winter to push a vehicle for other person, feeding the birds outside, can bring a lot of positivity and happiness within us.
Have a quick 2 minutes of listening to Simon Sinek and his perception on kindness, which is very down to earth and easily understandable:
Final Words From Delightful Mindset
Being kind can require significant courage in some cases.
Here are the key takeaways from this article:
- Kindness is born from generosity.
- When listening to other people, know when to emphasize and when to talk and ask questions. In other words, be a good listener.
- Differentiate those who look to take advantage of you and those who really deserve act of kindness.
- Be kind and forgiving to yourself.
- Kindness can improve your self-confidence, both mental and physical health, and make you happier in general.
- Have courage and be kind enough to refresh the relationships.
- Stay positive and use courage to initiate kind actions.