The True Meaning Of Kindness

How To Be Happy Through Small Acts Of Kindness

A 3-page Article On Kindness

1. The quality of being warm-hearted and considerate and humane and sympathetic
2. Tendency to be kind and forgiving
3. A kind act

TheFreeDictionary:

In a study of 37 cultures around the world, 16000 subjects were asked about their most desired traits in a mate. For both sexes, the first preference was kindness.
Ref: http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/kindness

Wikipedia:

Kindness is the act or the state of being kind and marked by charitable behaviour, marked by mild disposition, pleasantness, tenderness and concern for others. It is a recognized value in many cultures and religions.
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindness

The real meaning of kindness: to expand happiness

However, I had a 'problem' with that glib statement of my friend's. Everyone wants to be happy, because that is our natural urge - to expand our happiness. So why isn't everyone happy? Likewise, there is a common understanding that love is supreme. Then why do so many people have difficulty loving?

How can you love your neighbour when in reality you think s/he's just not the kind of person you could love, let alone like? In fact, s/he may irritate you no end. Many would feel that this directive is all very well and nice, but in reality for many it's just not that easy.

Beware of practising pseudo-love

The trouble is that they also assume that they must try to display those qualities, even though they don't really experience them. So they make a mood of it all; they pretend. That is a kind of false spirituality.

The good qualities we are supposed to have are the results of being spiritually mature, or enlightened. They are not the means to such a state. Not realising this distinction has probably caused many a seeker to feel disheartened and unworthy after years of trying to be a better person.

Does a fancy office make you a CEO?

Such a person might observe that a CEO has a carpeted office with a large desk, a laptop computer, a pot plant here and there, a multi-function telephone, and a personal assistant just outside his office.

So he starts his own new business venture and acquires all those things (possibly with a bank loan) and then sees himself as the CEO he has aspired to be. But, in truth, he is a wannabe CEO, not the real thing. He hasn't a clue how to run his business effectively.

This analogy applies to desirable human qualities too, such as a loving nature, patience, compassion and more.

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Table of Contents for this Kindness theme

The True Meaning Of Kindness: To Expand Happiness
A Kindness Lesson That Can Change Lives
Try A Little Kindness To Expand Happiness
What Visitors To This Site Have Said About Kindness

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