A marker of kindness is acting in a way which benefits someone without expecting anything in return.

As if receiving a gift from the universe, being the recipient of kindness alleviates the burdens of our day. For a brief moment in time, the pressures of life seem to be relieved. We feel lighter amidst acts of kindness from others, and typically do not plan on kindness coming our way when we first get out of bed to start the day.

Kind people tap into something that is unmistakably real about the human existence. When all else disappears, we still have kindness. Kindness is worth the same in any facet, and elicits the same feelings notwithstanding what the specifics of a situation are. It marks our day with a feeling of authenticity – both when we are the recipients, as well as the provisioners of kindness. Think about the most memorable time in which you acted kindly towards another. Did you feel like a provider of something true? Did you feel as if you stripped the noise of life and connected with another person at a deeper level of authenticity?

This article is about allowing others to be kind toward you. Displaying kindness toward others is a lesson you’ve hopefully learned by now. Be kind to others. However, we often act humble in being the recipients of kindness and do not want others to go out of their way. Allowing others to be kind is an act of kindness in itself. It provides the person with a sense of deeper purpose, and gives them an opportunity to connect with another individual on a basis of altruistic human interaction.

Your Humility May Serve to Rob

Do not grow to expect kindness from others, but do not aim to block kind interactions either. Being overly humble in the face of kindness, and going so far as to reject it, is an attempt to rob someone of being kind. You are robbing them of a purpose which carries with it real weight. You rob them of meaning, joy, and motivation to continue forward through life. It takes effort to act kindly toward others. A person who expresses an act of kindness is showing you a glimpse of their most personal values. Accept their offerings and reward others’ kindness by being open to it. It is the only thing that you should do as the recipient.

Do not be either overjoyed or cold in the face of others’ kindness, but be merely open and aim to take it all in. Allow them to search for their meaning through their display of kindness. Allow them to add another name to the list of people they’ve acted well toward. By simply being open to their efforts, you serve to provide them with whatever being kind means to them. Some people attach their whole existence to being kind, and some may just want to brighten up their day. Allow them to reach their goal by being open to their behavior, and consider that things may go deeper than what they seem to look like on the surface. Others’ moments of kindness may not be about you at all, and may be an attempt at coping with life’s more difficult moments on their part. Be kind by allowing others to be kind.

Life’s Lessons Are Contained in Moments of Authenticity

A true act of kindness is an authentic moment. It is looking into someone’s eyes and relishing in the fact that you both exist, breathe, love, and experience life on this planet. Be in tune when moments of kindness are authentic, and learn from their authenticity. Kind moments may sometimes go against what we believe to be logical behavior. You may already be late for work when you take time to display an act of kindness, and your acts of kindness may seem to be taking more away than they provide you with. However, authentic moments are tagged with lessons of importance. Life is an illogical, and sometimes mystical domain. Moments of pure elation, meaning, understanding, and connection are difficult to put labels on. Acts of kindness allow you to learn about these allegorical traits of life. Acts of kindness educate you on why you should hold the door, be hospitable to guests of your home, and bring warmth to others’ existence.

Learn from kindness by being open in your reception of it. The reception of kind behavior will motivate you to act kindly in your own regard. You’ll learn real reason for being kind, something which cannot be thoroughly described via text on a digital white canvas. Understand kindness from both ends of its spectrum; reception and provision.

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