The power of kindness

2 mins to read

Jono Fisher, founder of the Wake Up Project, reminds us that when we reach out to others, our stress can be replaced with gratitude and fulfilment.

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By Jono Fisher, founder of the Wake Up Project.

On a Sunday afternoon in June, I was privileged to speak to 10,000 people at the Dalai Lama’s public talk in Sydney. During my talk, I invited the audience to use a Kindness Card to perform one act of anonymous kindness. With a little nervousness, I gave out my own personal email address and invited the audience to email me their kindness stories. Over the next month, I received hundreds of stories.

One woman, named Jane, decided to take kindness into her workplace. Not in a big grandiose way, but in a small, run-of-the-mill way. This is what happened...

“Today I left a bunch of flowers on a colleague's desk along with a kindness card. To be honest, I have never really felt a connection with this lady. However, I thought to myself “maybe that is just the person who needs these flowers the most.” The look on her face as she saw the flowers was amazing! As she shyly looked around the office, I felt a beautiful warm glow inside. Later that day I heard her excitedly telling colleagues about the flowers and the kindness card. I also noticed how lovely she was with others and how she started to help others in the office. I only wish I could afford to buy a bunch of flowers for someone every day!”

Then there was Lisa who was the recipient of an act of kindness.

“I was standing in line waiting to order coffee. When it was my turn to order, the lady behind the counter said my coffee was already paid for, and handed me a Kindness Card. I turned around to thank the lady before me but she was already gone. I felt like crying – it restored my faith in humanity that there are still people that care. I definitely will pass on the favour and make somebody else happy for a while.”

I share these stories, not because they are grand or spectacular, but because they are small, ordinary and within reach of all of us. They also remind us that one kind act can allow us to come alive with joy, purpose and gratitude.

I believe genuine stress relief is deeply connected to whether we are looking out for others or just living life for ourselves. Personally, when I’m feeling self-absorbed, my stress levels are high. On the other hand, when I’m reminded to reach out to others, my stress is replaced with gratitude and fulfilment.

My invitation is to experiment with kindness as a means of reducing your stress. It could be buying a coffee for the next person in line or putting chocolates on a colleague’s desk. You’ll feel great, and so will the recipient. Most importantly, you will stop worrying so much about yourself and realise that life is less about what you can get and more about touching the lives of others.

My vision is that we take kindness seriously. Not in a heavy way, but in a playful, committed way. I hope you can join us in helping to make the world a little kinder – and reducing your stress along the way!

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Jono Fisher is the founder of the Wake Up Project. Wake Up is a community of 20,000+ people celebrating kindness & wisdom. They have helped produce events for the likes of the Dalai Lama, Dr. Brene Brown and Dr. James Doty from Stanford University. They have also posted out over 120,000 free Kindness Cards that encourage anonymous acts of kindness. Order your FREE kindness cards at www.wakeupproject.com.au