Acts of Kindness and Mental Health
We all appreciate them, many of us do them regularly I refer of course to random acts of kindness. It is such a simple thing, takes little effort or time, but the difference it makes can be profound. Holding a door open, giving up your seat on the tube, these things are not hard.
The thing is, this is a doubly good thing. In the first most obvious way, the person receiving the kindness is made to feel better. However, so is the giver of the kindness. Much like Shakesphere says about mercy “The quality of mercy is not strained.It droppeth as the gentle rain from heavenUpon the place beneath. It is twice blest:It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.”
Now, I am not advocating acts of kindness for simply our own purposes, but as a psychotherapist I am often asked by lay people how they can help to enhance their own mental health and those around them. I always say be kind just for the helluv it. You don’t need special training you just need to be in touch with being human. In these chaotic days we could all stand to be a little more human.
