The Happiness of Kindness
Today, as I asked myself why I was happy, I realized it was the happiness of kindness coloring my world.
Like petals strewn by an April breeze, kindness dappled my path today and touched me with its gentle beauty. I watched its dance, from heart to heart, in the form of helpful gestures, in words of comfort and acknowledgment and support. I saw how it softened faces, created smiles of appreciation and relief.
In its essence, the happiness of kindness springs from the way it connects us and reminds us we’re not invisible or alone. It tells us that we see one another’s needs. It brings us the joy of lightening someone’s load. It blesses both the one who gives and the one who receives its deeds.
The happiness of kindness has a purity to it, a freedom from selfish interests or ulterior motives. It ennobles us somehow, making us larger.
And for all its gentleness and ease, the happiness of kindness has a real strength to it, a power. It breaks down artificial barriers between people. It sings of our universal humanness, of the things that unite us regardless of our differences. It soothes and lifts us and touches us with the warmth of gratitude and hope.
“Wherever there is a human being,” wrote the Roman philosopher Seneca, “there is an opportunity for a kindness.” Isn’t that wonderful? The happiness that derives from kindness is always just one person away—the one in the next room, the one you’ll next talk with or see. Take advantage of that. See what happens.
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