“I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow human being let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” – Stephen Grellet
In “The Healing Power of Doing Good”
I’ve started putting together my own happiness project –which I’ll tell you more about in a future post–based on Gretchen’s suggestion from “The Happiness Project”. Research shows that people can increase their level of happiness by helping and being kind to others, and it’s definitely one of the elements that’s going into my happiness project.
Below you’ll find more information, based on scientific research, on how being kind to others has a strong positive impact on your happiness, as well as some ideas to get you started down the path toward altruism.
Why Good Things Happen to Good People
Stephen G. Post, Ph.D., a professor of bioethics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has the following to say about helping others:
“All the great spiritual traditions and the field of positive psychology are emphatic on this point — that the best way to get rid of bitterness, anger, rage, jealousy [and so on] is to do unto others in a positive way.”
He adds that there are studies that show that when people act with generosity and compassion, there’s a positive effect on their health and well-being. (Source).
Post, who co-authored the book “Why Good Things Happen to Good People: How to Live a Longer, Healthier, Happier Life by the Simple Act of Giving”
Our Brains Are Hard-Wired for Altruism
A study was conducted a couple of years ago in which students from the University of British Columbia were given an amount of money ranging between $5.00 and $20.00 and were told how to spend it. Those who spent it on others, whether giving the money to a charity or buying a gift for someone else, were subjetively happier at the end of the day than students who spent the money on themselves.
In another study, researchers scanned the brains of volunteers as they were asked to think about a scenario involving either donating a sum of money to charity or keeping it for themselves. The results showed that when the volunteers placed the interests of others before their own, the generosity activated a primitive part of the brain that usually lights up in response to food or sex.
Altruism, these two experiments suggest, is not a superior moral faculty that suppresses basic selfish urges, but rather is basic to the brain, hard-wired and pleasurable.(Source).
Take the Challenge – Perform Five Acts of Kindness One Day a Week
Ben Dean, Ph.D., writes in an article entitled “Kindness and the Case for Altruism”, that he took a challenge posed by Sonja Lyubomirsky, one of the leaders in the field of positive psychology and the author of The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want
Dean reports that the practice not only increases his level of happiness, but it also changes the way he spends the entire day because he’s constantly on the lookout for ways to be kind.
Consider taking Sonja’s challenge: start performing five acts of kindness one day a week.
30 Random Acts of Kindness
Here are 30 ideas to help get you started:
1. Plant flowers in a public, neglected corner.
2. Pick up a piece of trash you notice as you walk along the street.
3. The next time an employee at a store does his or her job enthusiastically and with care, make sure that you let their supervisor know; we’re often quick to complain if someone doesn’t do their job well but fail to offer recognition when someone goes out of their way to do a good job.
4. Leave the exact change for a chocolate bar, or other treat, in the change slot of a vending machine.
5. Pay the toll for the car behind you.
6. Put money in someone else’s parking meter if their time is about to expire.
7. Forgive someone a debt that they owe you if it becomes obvious that they can’t pay it. Ask only that they do the same for someone else in the future when their circumstances change.
8. Let someone who appears to be in a hurry cut ahead of you in line at the grocery store.
9. Give someone an honest compliment.
10. Leave a great book at a café for someone else to find once you’re finished reading it.
11. Offer a couple of hours of babysitting to busy parents.
12. Give another driver your parking spot (yes, I know, this one’s really hard, save it for a day when you want to be extra kind 
).
13. Leave an extra big tip for your waiter. Write a note on the back of the bill thanking them for their service.
14. Drop off a big box of doughnuts at the fire or police station.
15. Get all of Dr. Seuss’s books and leave them in the children’s section at the hospital.
16. When drivers try to merge into your lane, let them in, wave, and smile.
17. Send a letter to your favorite teacher-whether from grade school, high school, or college-thanking them for helping you become the person you are now.
18. Leave a bouquet of flowers on your neighbor’s front steps anonymously.
19. If someone new moves to your neighborhood, stop by and welcome them.
20. Leave a dollar bill on the ground for someone else to find.
21. Keep an extra umbrella in your car and give it to the next person you see stuck in a downpour.
22. Donate your frequent flier miles to someone who has family far away that they can’t afford to visit (I don’t actually know if this is allowed, but if it isn’t, it should be).
23. Hold the door open for someone carrying packages.
24. Give up your seat on the subway or train to someone who looks tired.
25. Buy a homeless person lunch.
26. The next time a friend looks frazzled and overwhelmed ask them: “What can I do to help?”
27. The next time someone admires something of yours, if you can afford it, give it away.
28. If a friend is going on vacation offer to feed their pets and water their plants.
29. Sometimes people just need a sympathetic ear: listen to someone who feels like they’re not being heard.
30. Look for specific ways in which others need help and do what you can to help them.
Please add your own suggestions for random acts of kindness in the comments section. In addition, you can find more ideas for random acts of kindness in the following three books:
- Random Acts of Kindness
- More Random Acts of Kindness
- The Giving Heart: Unlocking the Transformative Power of Generosity in Your Life
Editor’s Note: This post contains affiliate links.
photo credit: brightroyalty
Related Posts:
- Happiness Tips From the Dalai Lama
- Five Joyous Tips for Being Happy
- 12 Superb Ways to Be Happier
- Be Happy Now – Set Goals Without Postponing Joy
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