3 December 2014
The Power of Kindness I hope to someday make the world a better place to live. The root of this will come from the people who make up this world. Today’s society is so fast-paced and overwhelming that it is easy to forget to show appreciation to those who deserve it. By shining light on the lowered heads that may have forgotten just how important they are, I feel I can make the world a happier place. To do so I will start small and perform an act of kindness for the people I believe are the most worthy of it and ask only of them to pay the act of kindness forward. I hope the acts of kindness will create a chain reaction, resulting in a more positive living environment. The act of kindness has been proven to be powerful. A Ripple Kindness Project conducted in 2012 revealed the positive affects kindness has on people both mentally and physically (Kindness 1). With such benefits, why are these acts not being carried out on a daily basis? I hope to create a ripple effect of my own once completing my acts of kindness. There were so many factors to consider when choosing the acts of kindness I wanted to do. I looked at who I thought deserved the act the most, what act I should perform, whether I wanted to stay anonymous or not, when I should execute the act, and how I should do it. Ultimately, I chose to perform an act of kindness to random men and women in downtown Grand Rapids, my fellow coworkers, and an elderly woman in my Public Speaking class. I chose these particular groups of people for a reason. While analyzing the reactions of the men and women who receive the acts of kindness downtown, I will only have a few seconds before they return to their cars and drive away. However, while studying the reactions of my coworkers and the woman from my Public Speaking class, I will have a longer period of time to take note on how the acts affected their behavior. For my first act of kindness I chose to put coins in an expired parking meter in downtown Grand Rapids. I then placed an enveloped on their windshield with a note enclosed that read, “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. No act of kindness, no matter how big or small, is ever wasted. Please pass on an act of kindness!” Before doing this, I had preconceived ideas about how I thought it would turn out. I predicted that the recipients would look around in confusion after noticing the note, return to his or her car, and drive away. I was not expecting too much of a reaction from this act of kindness.
Conveniently I found two cars in a row both parked at expired meters outside of Brian’s Bookstore. I quickly put fifty cents in both meters giving the recipients plenty of time to return to their cars before the meters expired again. I then placed the enveloped with the note enclosed under the windshield of each car and walked into Brain’s Bookstore. The cashier looked at me with a smirk on her face, signaling that she knew what I had just done. I browsed around the bookstore for a few minutes while keeping an eye on the outside window that gave me a perfect view of each car. After a few moments one of the recipients returned to his car. He did not check the meter but headed straight for the driver’s side door. After noticing the envelope he slouched over the hood of his car and proceeded to read the note inside. He took his time reading the note and afterwards did just as I expected: he looked all around in a state of confusion. I am not sure he knew his meter was previously expired. The other person was nowhere to be found. I waited in the bookstore for a half an hour before finally leaving. The only way I would say that this act of kindness was a failure is if the acts did not get passed forward. I did not have high expectations when doing the first act, however, I did leave a little disappointed with the results. I knew what I did was a nice gesture and can only hope it made the recipients day a little brighter. For my second act of kindness I chose to anonymously bring in a box of Tom’s Bakery donuts to work and leave it on the break table for everyone to enjoy. I wrote on the top of the box, “For my amazing coworkers who I am so grateful for, please pass on an act of kindness!” Before implementing this act, I had ideas about how I thought it would go. I assumed the donuts would lift a few of my coworker’s moods, while not phasing others.
I brought the donuts in on a Friday afternoon. Coming from the restaurant industry, I knew it was about to be a long day ahead of everyone. Luckily, no one was on break at the time I brought in the donuts. Not even an hour went by before one of my coworkers, Ben, came into the kitchen and informed a few of the cooks that someone had brought in donuts for everyone and that they were sitting on the break table. I smiled while trying not to seem unnatural. I was not shocked to see all the donuts were gone after just a couple short hours. Throughout the day I noticed a significant change in the majority of my coworker’s moods. Almost everyone seemed more upbeat and joyful than usual.
I was not the only one who noticed the change of behavior after anonymously surprising my coworkers with donuts. A couple weeks after I did my act of kindness I attended a work meeting. One topic of discussion at the meeting was how we all need to show more appreciation towards each other. One of my managers even brought up the time I brought in donuts! Although he did not know who brought them in, he touched on how that simple gesture lifted the mood of the restaurant that day.
My second act of kindness turned out to be a huge success. The act was affordable and required very little effort, yet it impacted so many people. According to Melissa Breyer, “A rush of euphoria, followed by a longer period of calm, after performing a kind act is often referred to as a ‘helper’s high,’ involving physical sensations and the release of the body’s natural painkillers, the endorphins” (Breyer 1). I have no doubt that I felt the effects of helper’s high after performing my second act of kindness. Knowing that I was able to put smiles on my coworker’s faces made me personally happy. For my third and final act of kindness I chose to show my appreciation for Kim, an elderly woman in my Public Speaking class. I anonymously left an envelope on her desk obtaining both a note of appreciation and a $10 gift card to Subway. On the bottom of the note I wrote, “Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. Please pass on an act of kindness!”
I arrived to school earlier than usual on the day I chose to perform my third act. Just as planned, I got to class before Kim. I placed the envelope on top of the desk she ritually sits at and quickly left the room. I did not return to class until two minutes after class had already started to make it seem as though I was running late and could not have possibly been the one to put the envelope on Kim’s desk. While making my way to my desk, I refused the temptation to look over at Kim. I sat a few seats in front her so I was not able to take note of her behavior during class. However, before leaving class I noticed my professor talking to Kim, she must have asked about the envelope. I did not need to hear what was being said because the facial expressions on both Kim and my professors’ face were priceless. Kim seemed so excited to share with my professor what she had found on her desk, and my professor seemed just as excited to hear about it.
Although I was not on the receiving end of the acts, I still felt accomplished with myself for what I had done. Journalist Maia Szalavitz suggests that showing kindness to others can improve your own health (Szalavitz 2). With that said, acts of kindness should be done more often because of the positive affects it creates on both the giving and receiving sides.
Overall, I really enjoyed doing the acts of kindness. Whether the act was as small as putting fifty cents in an expired parking meter, or as big as buying donuts for my coworkers, or buying a $10 gift card to Subway for a classmate, I felt good about myself knowing that I positively impacted others.

Works Cited
"The Benefits of Kindness." Ripple Kindness Project. Ripple Kindness Project. 2012. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
Breyer, Melissa. "Health Benefits of Kindness." Care2. Care2, 2014. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
Szalavitz, Maia. "The Biology of Kindness” Time. Time, 9 May 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.