By Jaime Collins
“Can I help you?” said a man biking in the opposite direction. It was a hot and sunny afternoon far from home on the Military Ridge Trail, and I was a little more than half way through an agonizingly long training run, completely out of water, and visibly hurting from my dehydrated state.
I needed help. I was beginning to cramp up with a long way to go yet, desperate, and yet also afraid to ask for help. “Let me share my water with you,” said the stranger when I told him my predicament.
He was the only one out there and had just thrown me a lifeline when I needed it most. It started with his paying attention to the suffering of a fellow human. And by doing something so incredibly simple as sharing his water, he rescued me.
What would I have ever done without him? I hate to think of my options. Me, venture way off the trail to find a farmhouse, and ask for water? A sweaty mess of a trans woman banging on some door in the middle of nowhere?
That little gift cost him nothing but meant so much to me. I’ll never forget that kindness.
There is little we can do in life that is so simple yet so powerful as just being kind. Everyone has their struggles. Absolutely everyone. One little moment of kindness is a way of telling them there’s still love in the world. What you do for someone may cost nothing, but it can mean everything.
And that’s why Southwest Wisconsin Rainbow Alliance (SWRA) launched a new project this summer to help foster kindness around our communities. Everyone – absolutely everyone – is invited to participate.
Through Rainbow Acts of Kindness, we intend to raise awareness that one simple act can change a person’s entire day. That same simple act also sends ripples of kindness outward to others. Don’t believe me? Read on… it’s real, and there’s science behind it!
Acts of kindness can be done for others almost anywhere at any time and are potentially unlimited in type and impact. Even the smallest acts of kindness can make a big impact.
In a world with so much divisiveness, so much violence, and so much over-the-top nasty rhetoric, it often feels like no one is listening and no one cares. It can feel like human life has lost its value and intrinsic worth. We need this more today than ever. And because the world is in this state, every kind act also offers way more potential for good than ever before.
Our guts tell us this is so. Yet, there’s also a boat load of science (maybe several boat loads) demonstrating the real life benefits of being kind. Benefits not only the person one is being kind to… benefits also to the one BEING kind.
In fact, research shows kindness and generosity are not only contagious but also surprisingly healthy. And this healthy virus is easy to spread! Witnessing acts of kindness, say researchers, produces a neurotransmitter called oxytocin, commonly known as the “love hormone.” Increasing this hormone helps lower blood pressure and improves heart health. It even increases one’s self-esteem and sense of optimism.
A study published by the National Academy of Sciences from researchers from both the University of California and Harvard offers evidence that kind and cooperative behavior is, indeed, contagious and that it spreads easily from person to person. That’s because when people are on the receiving end of someone’s kindness, they are likely to “pay it forward” by helping someone else. That, in turn, results in the multiplying of kind actions that impact many more people yet. It truly does take just a handful of people to make a big difference.
Similar to anti-depressant medications, performing a kindness also naturally stimulates the production of serotonin in the brain, the hormone that stabilizes one’s mood, feelings of well-being, and overall happiness. This hormone and its effects don’t stop there either. It impacts your entire body by aiding sleep, eating, and digestion as well as healing wounds and even maintaining bone health.
In another study from the University of California – Berkley, half of the study participants reported feeling stronger and more energetic after helping others. Many also reported feeling calmer and less depressed with a greater sense of self-worth.
If you’re looking for acts of kindness you can do for others, the possibilities are endless. They include everything from the smallest of deeds to far more involved ways of helping others. One can lend a hand where ever it’s needed: a neighbor or elderly person living nearby. Someone in your social network. A co-worker or customer or vendor where you work.
You could volunteer to help at a not-for-profit organization. Even a smidge of time can make a big difference for others. Contribute to a food bank. Give to a charity. Speak up and actively serve as an ally for the LGBTQIA+ community or another oppressed group.
Even being kind to yourself counts in a major way. Self-help and self-compassion both keep you healthy and strong as well as physically and emotionally capable of helping others.
This project goes straight to the heart of who we are as an organization. We created the Southwest Wisconsin Rainbow Alliance to foster an environment where everyone is valued and respected. Where everyone feels like they belong. But doing that takes everyone, and our Rainbow Acts of Kindness project is something anyone and everyone can be part of.
Being kind and paying it forward is the easiest way any of us can help change the world. Join in. And post something on your social media channels with the hashtag #rainbowactsofkinddness.
Let’s make some kindness ripples ripple outward. And then turn those ripples into waves.