A miniscule act of kindness

Firstly, thank you...I would just like to say I am blown away by the response I have gotten by starting this blog. Of course at first I was apprehensive about starting it and yet with over 200 page views in not much longer than 24 hours, I am speechless. Well okay obviously not completely speechless as I'm sat here typing away but you know what I mean.

In fact the response I have received has really gotten me thinking about how important kindness is. I truly believe that a small act of kindness can go such a long way. Even a tiny, miniscule act of kindness will carry on expanding and create this ripple effect that in hindsight never really ends. Take a smile for example. No doubt every person reading this, which may be a couple more than I originally thought, has managed to fake a smile. Sometimes when you're falling apart on the inside the only thing you have left to do is smile, because smiling is quite possibly the best disguise a person can wear. You can be breaking inside but when you're wearing a smile no one will ask what is wrong, the question that could be the final straw to break you down into pieces. Well anyway, what I'm trying to say is that smiles are contagious. If someone walking past you down the street flashes you a smile, a large percentage of the time you will smile back and the same goes for customer service. If you go into a shop or a café and the person who serves you is extremely friendly and cheerfully smiling (within reason) it can have the capability to make you feel that little bit uplifted. Even if it's just that little act, being noticed and recognised even just for one second can mean more to a lot of people than anyone would ever realise.

A compliment is the same in my opinion. Okay so most of the time people rarely accept compliments. "I like your hair today", "eugh it's a mess". I'm guessing that most of you have experienced similar scenario conversations before. It's strange how compliments are rarely accepted nowadays but I guess that stems from a lack of self esteem when it comes to what others may think about us, we are our own worst critic after all. I find the smallest act can mean so much to me because I'm a particularly sensitive person. For example at work the other day (I work in a coffee shop by the way) a regular customer and I were talking about baking. Riveting conversation I know, however she was telling me about this cake which she makes all of the time. A few days later she came in again and handed me the recipe. She had gone out of her way, with me in mind, wrote the recipe out, remembered to put it in her bag that day just to give it to me. This may seem a strange story to be telling but I was really touched by that small act of kindness. Some people reading will probably be thinking did I really read all of this just to hear that dramatic plot twist, but to me I found it hard to believe that I was important enough in her life for her to go out of her way to do that. I guess it made me realise maybe they don't always just see me as the girl who serves them their coffee.

I don't know why but I am always blown away by the prospect that someone else has thought about me or done something for me. I'm not saying I consider myself a transparent figure in people's lives, of course occasionally everyone feels that way now and then but it's these small acts which bring the colour back. Sometimes life can be so black and white, mundane and monotonous and then someone will perform an act of kindness, no matter how small, just for you and I believe that personal touch can bring you back again. I believe it can give you such a sense of fulfilment and importance. No matter how long that feeling lasts, seconds or days, I think it's appreciating these things that can help lead toward a deeper feeling of true happiness. I feel happier lately because I've adapted to this new perspective of being grateful and just seeing the greatness in every small act. Because in the end it's all the little things that add up to be the biggest.