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Ever wondered what’s the quickest and easiest way to change the world?

Being kind to the person right next to you.

That’s what changing the world is, right?

Ever wondered how can kindness change the world?

Of course, you have. You’ve always wanted to change the world, and now you can’t put it off any longer.

It seems over-simplified to say that just being kind to one person can change the world. And of course, it can’t. But if all of us started doing this, looking at the our neighbour and seeing them, then the butterfly effect might just end up creating a ripple that can change the world.

How to Change the World Through Kindness?—by being kind to the person you see on the street who might need your help, the person you meet somewhere, the person who looks distressed, putting in positive words for someone who might need them, giving a hug to someone who’s having a bad day, making it a rule not to speak hurtful words ro anyone. All of these things ultimately lead to one thing—a positive effect of yours on some other person.

All of this ends up changing the world. Or their world, at least.

Kindness can change the world, it’s a trend nowadays. Just skip the reel-making part and help someone, anything. Do anything. Go out of your way to make them feel better. The universe listens to good words and sees the good actions.

But don’t do it for the universe. Do it for yourself!

Kindness constitutes the little things, the things that no one talks about but everyone notices. It begins with writing the sweet gratitude-filled notes to someone out of nowhere. It begins with the smiles passed in the way to the office or on the subway. It begins with speaking the kind words even when you know you can also speak the negative words.

It begins with helping someone make their day a little better. It begins with keeping quiet when required and speaking up at the right time. It begins with giving compliments, flowers, presents, hugs. Kindness begins with all these little things and that is how kindness can change the world.

It begins with deleting the hate messages you might’ve written, understanding someone else’s condition and trying to help them make it better, or just, not pointing the flaws out, at the very least.

When I start talking about kindness like this, I almost lose myself in the flow of all the actions I wish were performed with more compassion, understanding and care. Maybe these all are just the little acts of kindness I wanted to see happen.

Is that what kindness is? Giving someone else the love you wanted once upon a time? Kinda.

Now, before we start recounting each and every act through which genuine kindness can change the world to make it a better place, because that will take hours, we should start with this simple list of 11 acts that signify how kindness can change the world.

How Can Kindness Change The World (Or Someone’s World)?

1. Be A Good Listener

Lend someone an ear.

I think it helps. If you’re going through a bad day, and have huge burdens on your chest, just having a good listener who can understand you without judging you, helps. A lot.

On some days, I’m a really good listener, not to sound…you know…narcissistic. But on some days I spend close to hours listening to my friend rant about her problems and her life and her daily routine and all the conversations with the people she met, and all the jokes she knew, and everything. Yeah, really. I just listen, I laugh at the right places, nod along (even when she can’t see me), I encourage her to talk so that she can get it off her chest.

You might think that’s an unproductive way to spend an hour. Yeah, at least if I’m talking about someone who really hates unproductive time spent, a.k.a. me.

But what I realised all along this was that—some people just really need good listeners, you know. Some people are always holding something in their mind, sometimes their day hasn’t gone right, sometimes they just want a friend.

If you can be a friend to someone who’s in desperate need for one, congrats, you just changed their world, or made their day, however you wanna make it sound.

2. Spread The Smile Infection

This goes without speaking. Smiles are contagious. They’re so beautiful in their own form, so, so pretty when they adorn someone’s face. (Yeah, the dentist’s clinic says that they’ll make your smile beautiful, but of course, it’s already pretty.)

So, pass on a smile to someone who looks like they need it. Or, forget it, smile at everyone, not just someone who needs it, smile at everybody you know. Smile at everybody you don’t (excluding the creeps.)

Smile is actually a tool that can show others that this person is loving and caring and they actually are present in the reality instead of wandering away in their minds. It encourages them to open up more, to smile back at you, and to realise that life is so much more than what might be troubling them. Smiles do change the world, you know.

3. Help The Elderly

Help every elderly person like they’re your own parents. This is so beautiful.

Show them the way to somewhere if they’re looking lost, help them if you can. Even if you can’t. Give your seat in the metro or bus for someone older. And for the sake of God, don’t underestimate their willpower or capability just because of their age.

I actually write my first full-length novel 79, about a guy named Romaldo Ennith, who was 79. Surprising, much? It gets better.

As Fate may have it, a young handsome man named (cough, cough) Time enters Romaldo’s life, claiming that Romaldo is going to die in twelve days. Well, this surely gets him worked up. Romaldo, who had been living his life trying not to get too bitter about it; Romaldo, who was missing his dead wife like hell; Romaldo, residing in the rich town which is famous for only two things—having the most unreliable weather department in the world, and having the world’s largest graveyard spanning its area—the same Romaldo. He was going to die in twelve days.

He laughed. This was too funny. Until it wasn’t.

Romaldo’s dead, and time rewinds to give him this second chance, taking him back to the first day with twelve more days left to live. Now it’s up to him to tend to the hurting wounds he had left behind on himself and his family, mostly unknowingly.

Now I’m going to pretend I wasn’t just quite obviously and very shamelessly promoting my book (but anyway, it’s getting out this June), and we’re going to move on to the next part.

4. Play With Kids

I don’t even know why this point is here. I mean, if I were to be honest, I’m not good with kids and I kinda don’t like little kids either. (Sue me).

But before you call me a hypocrite, let me tell you that I still believe that playing with little kids and watching them smile and get lost in their own fairyland, listening to their infectious laughter, it all fills you up with energy too and you feel like yeah, no shit, life is beautiful and it isn’t over.

I was a child once and now I’m all grown up and stressed and burdened, but at least I can still look at all these little kids playing and “frolicking” around without a care in the world.

(Yeah, I used the word frolicking and I still hate the sound of it).

So if you can, after a stressed day of work, play with little kids. You might realise that you needed it all along. It’s a kind of therapy in its own. If a child’s asking for your attention and you give it to them, then this type of kindness can change the world too. It’ll maybe make them more loving and caring if they receive the same from the elders.

5. Write Heartfelt Messages to Your Mentors

Whenever you’ve got time, even if it isn’t much, write a heartfelt thank-you note to your mentors. Your teachers, professors, guides, parents, peers, anyone. It isn’t much, I get that, but sometimes gratitude is all that anyone needs.

You’re feeling down? A genuine thank you from someone you’ve helped in the past will definitely make you feel a little better about yourself.

In addition to benefitting others, doing good deeds and helping someone else also makes you feel really good about yourself. It adds to your worth because you get this kind of self-confidence that yeah, you can do anything that you set your mind to. At least someone else believes in you.

And truth be told, I think that social and selfless work is the most productive work.

6. If You’re Not Making The World A Better Place With Your Words, Stay Quiet

I know, for some people, this might be too much to ask. Some people are just natural. They’re natural at speaking too much and making others feel bad about themslevs or anything they do. (I can speak with experience).

I think we all face those kinds of people who are often given the choices by life to either stay quiet or to speak up and they choose speaking up, because of course, why not. It’s especially infuriating when their words are not making a good impact on the world.

This makes me so angry sometimes. Like, just shut up.

The trick to dealing with these kind of people is to not become one. I’ve got a friend who says just too much for her own good. She’s always complaining and speaking bad things about herself and about others. And I frequently feel like, your world could surely be a better place if you just stayed quiet for one freaking second.

Yeah, this is definitely getting me worked up.

The thing is that we all need to learn that unless what we’re speaking is benefitting someone, making someone feel nice or giving someone a compliment, we should probably just think again before speaking. And if what we’re saying is surely going to make someone’s day worse, it’s best just to not say it at all.

7. Donate.

Donate if you have more than you need. Donate if you don’t, but you see someone who needs it more than you.

That might sound overly righteous and selfless. It’s okay if you don’t agree. But if you’ve been hungry since the morning, and you see someone who’s been starving since yesterday, then you…you probably already know what I’m getting at.

Donate money, old clothes, food. Donate toys to a child. Donate medicines. Donate things you don’t need, things that are extra.

That’s such an amazing thing. Sometimes changing the world is all about donating to the world.

You can’t eliminate world hunger, or poverty, of course, you can’t. But you can choose to help one person (and ultimately more) who might need your help. You can begin with just one and see the chain of your good deeds grow. If you believe that kindness can change the world, then you must also believe that it begins with your deeds.

8. Make Someone Laugh

This is pretty self-explanatory. Seeing the glee on someone else’s face and knowing that you were the reason for it, that’s just so self-enriching and makes you feel special in yourself.

And of course, not to forget, laughter is the best medicine. Make me laugh, if I’m going through some hurdle.

(I actually have this really obnoxious laugh that must sound exactly like cackling).

Okay, probably laughing won’t solve the problem. But you can’t regret a good chortle (uh, I hate the sound of this word too) over some joke or some funny incidence. Of course it’s there to remind us that we’re still alive and there are things worth loving. If kindness can change the world for someone, so can laughter.

Here’s a joke for you. Here’s a whole list of them: I was going to tell you a joke about boxing, but I forgot the punch line. Here’s another. What’s Thanos’ favorite app on his phone? Snapchat.

(*writer laughing for five minutes straight*)

Uh-huh, moving on…

9. Forgive Them

They’ve probably hurt you. Everyone has. We all put our trust into people, we all sometimes get hurt.

It’s best to forgive, not for them, but for ourselves. Being kind to ourselves is about putting our mental peace above others, putting ourselves first when we see that we’ve started losing ourselves.

So whatever they did, I wouldn’t know, but it’s probably a worse burden for you to carry than for them. For your own sake, forgive them. Be kind to yourself.

10. Don’t Discriminate

For God’s sake, to all the privileged oblivious people, don’t discriminate between someone on the basis of gender, race, religion, colour, nationality, status, political views, or any other bias you might’ve developed in your underdeveloped brain.

I’m sorry, this is again getting me worked up.

I just hate stereotypes. And prejudices, and biases and these freaking pre-conceived notions that Oh my God you’re from this country, you must be this. Youre a girl, you must be this blah blah blah. Please. I freaking hate it. Like, if you think there’s something wrong with the place I come from, or the chromosomes in my DNA, or the colour of my skin, or any other so and so bullshit, you’re welcome to go away and never speak to me ever again.

It’s so simple and people forget it.

Racism, sexism, ageism, homphobia, transphobia, and God knows what else. Stop this. If you think kindness can change the world, you first need to let go of any prejudices you might hold in your mind against someone.

11. Speak Up For Others If You Need To

But only if you need to. If you see bullying, harassment, abuse, or any other such form of cruelty, and the person isn’t speaking up, maybe you can. All I ever strive to be is brave enough. Brave enough to call out someone on their real-life crappy behaviour.

And if the person directly or indirectly suffering from it isn’t saying nothing about it, then I don’t know what’s the problem, but they might be scared, or hesitant, or overwhelmed or dominated. So what, you can speak up on behalf on them.

Be a good savior for people.

Kindness Matters in Changing the World

Sometimes being kind is the only things that matters.

Sometimes it feels otherwise.

Sometimes your plans fail, the hurtful things you wanted to say can’t come out of your mouth because you know they’ll hurt the other person. Sometimes you plan to give someone the taste of their medicine, but it can’t happen because you know it isn’t the right thing to do.

All of this might happen if the universe sees a better way, even if you don’t.

Have you ever seen those instances where you have got the bad thing to say to someone but something or the other intercepts you and you don’t get to say it? I have. It’s like the universe is trying to stop you. Trying to tell you to calm down, hold it in.

Sometimes all that the other person needs is a friend.

Sometimes that’s all you have to be, a friend.

So this was how kindness can change the world.

Hey, if you ever need a friend or might think you need one more (*author blushing*), and think I’m funny and enlightened, you can shoot up an email through our contact form, become a part of our blog series My Formlua for Changing the World where—damn right—we look at all the different ways and little methods through which we can someday bring a really positive and nice change in the world.

Everyone’s welcome!

Thanks for reading! See you in the next post!