The Ripples of Kindness

There is so much sadness and cruelty in the world at the moment. There always is. It’s just the news of it is a little more available these days. Sometimes I wonder how it is even possible that certain political leaders get away with what they do, even when the masses disagree. It brings tears to my eyes and I sometimes feel a bit helpless, despite doing what I can on a personal level.

The lovely thing is that the opposite of cruelty, kindness, is always flowing too. It just doesn’t get sensationalised in the news, like killing and other atrocities do.

Imagine if the main news was about how a community came together to save their local general store from closing, or other things like that. There are lots of good news sites around and I follow some of them. But as long as some humans remain disconnected from their hearts, there will always be darkness too. Power and ego run deep.

I’ll share a couple of stories about kindness in a moment as I hope to always leave you feeling better after reading my newsletters.

The ripples of kindness can change an individual’s life and enough of them can change the world.

We just need to be brave enough to share it, even with strangers.

It can be something simple like commenting to a stranger that you like their style. I’ve done that and the change in that person’s day was immediately obvious. It doesn’t actually take much to be kind. It just takes remembering to go a little bit further than normal with it.

Lately I’ve been looked after by the local rural fire service. I shared more about this in one of my vlogs. I contacted them to see if I could get their help. Although they don’t usually do burn offs for individuals, they decided to use my place as a training ground. Each time they leave after making my place safer against bushfires, by burning off in a safe way, I find myself feeling incredibly grateful. They won’t take any money, being a government organisation. So I turned up with a huge array of cakes for morning tea to their headquarters to show a little thanks. It was a simple exchange of kindness.

One of my favourite memories of kindness is when my bicycle was parked out the front of my place. My walking wasn’t good at the time but I could still ride and loved to. Then I got a flat tyre and had no way to walk my bike or transport it to the nearest bike store about 2kms away. My hands can’t grasp a lot of things so fixing itself myself was also out of the question. I left it locked out the front for a couple of days wondering how to get it back on the road. Then one day I came out and it had been fixed! I think it was a local tradesman who was doing some work nearby but when I asked him, he denied it. I still think it was him. Either way, that kindness cracked my heart open and I jumped straight on and went for a ride, wearing a huge smile!

Some acts of kindness we offer can seem like no big deal to us but they can be huge for the person receiving them. I remember once giving an elderly woman a lift home from a nearby town when I noticed her with shopping bags at a bus stop. I ended up accepting her offer for a cup of tea. Three hours later I left her place, both of us smiling from a much improved day.

None of us really know how others struggle individually and what problems distract them. But the seeds of kindness can ripple far beyond what we may think possible.

The world may be a mess in many ways at the moment. But there is still kindness to be found, even more so if it us who are creating and sharing it.

Be kind. Be happy.

Bronnie.

PS. In addition to the many random things I deal with in my work and the requests for my time, I’m currently working on a free (and large!) collection of video prompts to support your courage for a life of no regrets. I look very forward to sharing them with you. I’m completely absorbed now in the creative process. They are not only beautiful, but also life-changing. Stay tuned!

---