A Dose of Kindness

If you know me, you probably know that I sit at the Camembert every morning. Experiencing what it is like in the middle of the busiest paths of the Asia Campus (understandably, it is next to the caffeine hub), I get to encounter a plethora of individuals on a daily basis. Be it students or staff, I would always get someone stopping by to have a chat: either to find out about my day, or to talk about theirs. Either way, we both benefit from a mutual exchange of words or a smile.

Recently, I was having one of those ‘particularly annoying days’, and as I sat there, furiously typing my replies to what seemed like a never ending list of emails, a familiar face happened to walk past and greeted me with his usual ‘Good Morning Angela’. Perhaps it was my flustered greeting reply or the frown on my face; he walked up to me and asked me how things were. My mind was so clogged up that even replying such a simple question was a struggle.

Noticing this, and perhaps having the intuition that I needed to hear it, he decided to share his experience about how he deals with difficult days, unaware of how significant his words would be to my situation.

What really moved me was the fact that this person looked like he was on his way to do something but decided to stop and ask me about my day.

Many of us (myself included), sometimes are caught up with how difficult things seem to be for ourselves, that we often overlook the people around us.

Here was a person, who was obviously busy, yet took the time to be kind to someone else.

I’m sure this will resonate with many of you. Having someone cheer you up without even knowing it by some random act of kindness, or it might have even been you who did the cheering up.

It is important to be aware of how you could positively affect someone even in the smallest of ways. Be it a smile, a hello, or if you noticed someone looking particularly anxious, just a short five-minute conversation to find out if they are okay, can do wonders!

Here are some more solid reasons to greet or flash someone a smile:

• It’s basic manners
• It’s free
• It reduces awkwardness
• It might cheer someone up

Thank you for reading and remember: Be kind to one another!

P.S. If you are wondering what his advice was, the key was to practice separating work from the self and focusing on the bigger picture of what is important in your life. Sounds simple, I know. But, executing this requires a whole lot of mindfulness.