According to research from Emory University, when you are kind to another person, your brain’s pleasure and reward centers light up, as if you were the recipient of the good deed—not the giver. This phenomenon is called the “helper’s high.”
Want to make the world a better place? You can! Here are a few small ‘acts of kindness’ to help you ride that kindness high…
Start with yourself. – Speak kindly to yourself and show yourself some love.
Let your partner sleep in on a weekend.
Cook your parents their favorite meal and eat with them.
Call a friend you haven't talked to in a long time.
Surprise your co-workers with coffee and treats.
Pick up litter in the areas around your neighborhood.
Grant somebody’s wish.
Give your seat on the train or on the bus for another passenger.
Pay the grocery for another person in the checkout line of the grocery.
Give a compliment.
Plant a tree
Give a lottery ticket to a stranger on the street.
Tell a parent they’re doing a good job. (They probably rarely hear that!)
Forgive a debt
Order a pizza and have it delivered to out-of-town friends dealing with a birth, death, moving into a new house, or another major life event
Call your local school’s social worker and offer to anonymously cover the cost of a disadvantaged student’s school breakfast and lunch, or their books for the year.
How have you paid it forward?
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