The Happiness of Consideration
Joseph was walking down the street, absorbed in an imaginary argument he was having with his partner. It was an extension of a clash that had happened that morning between the two of them, and Joseph was nursing his anger by carrying on the argument in his head.
At the bus stop, a few paces ahead of him, an elderly woman was trying to juggle a large sack of groceries so she could retrieve bus tokens from her purse.
Just as Joseph reached the bus stop, the old woman’s bag slid from her arms, sending bananas and cakes and canned goods to the pavement. Her little cry of dismay woke Joseph from his dream, and seeing what was happening, he stopped to scoop the woman’s groceries back into her bag and to assure her that no damage had been done. He could see that she felt flustered and embarrassed, and so he stood with her for a little while, holding her groceries while she found her bus tokens, listening to her story, carrying her bag up the steps of the bus for her when it arrived.
When he stepped back onto the pavement, Joseph was wearing a soft smile. He remembered the morning’s argument, but somehow it didn’t seem to matter so much any more. It was a little thing, really, and he could see his partner’s point, as well as his own. They would work it out.
As Joseph discovered, when you are considerate of somebody else’s feelings or circumstances and offer to lift their load, you reap as many benefits as you bestow. College students who were given the assignment to perform and record an act of kindness every day scored higher on positivity ratings at the end of the two-week trial than a control group who simply kept a journal. Acts of kindness and consideration not only give you an immediate burst of good feeling, the psychologists conducting the study found, they also produce a lingering sense of calm and centeredness.
So do yourself a favor. Go out there and be considerate today. It’s one of those happiness practices that’s genuinely a win-win deal.
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