If you’re having a bad day (like those days where you get up “on the wrong side of the bed” / you just can’t get going), go out of your way to do something kind for someone. It’s a kind of brain hack because your brain has trouble with the cognitive dissonance of “I feel terrible” and “I did this nice thing”, so you will feel better after.
Of course, you can also just do the nice thing whenever you see an opportunity. My general philosophy is that there are so many problems I can’t do anything about, I try to never let a problem I can do something about go by. Even if it’s just something small.
Always go above and beyond to be nice to service workers. Even if they aren’t helpful. Even if they are rude. I promise they had a worse day than you did. You can still ask for whatever you need, but do it politely. Don’t raise your voice. If they are helpful, thank them, and if you can, say something nice about them to a manager.
If I see someone wearing something I like, be it piercings, hair colour, earrings, etc., I will complement them. The smile on their face is worth it.
Whenever you have to interact with someone in fast food or retail say “thank you” afterwards.
Remember that every person you meet has their own life going on with their own stress and drama. It makes it easier to be kind to the ones who are not being kind to you. And doing this will help a lot of them to also be kinder to others. It’s a positive feedback loop.
Not sure whether this fits here but I think first about this one Discord bot you can use to receive someone’s vent and then helping them out with the problems they vent about.
Should take only minutes to help one soul (you can help as much as you’d like with it though).
For me recently, I had the realization that I had the possibility of being very gentle with someone who doesn’t know something (even the smallest thing!). As a kid I’ve had a few traumas related to being shamed/pointed at for not knowing something and the fear of asking stuff is still present today. So I do my best to ease that for other people
When a stranger does something trivial that ticks you off just let it go
Someone brought this up in another current thread: consider your end goal. What result do you want from an interaction, and how can you act in a way most likely to make that happen?
So often we react in an emotional way, and act like punishing someone else because they behaved inappropriately is the only just response. And i’m not saying you should ignore bad behavior or that no one should experience consequences for their actions. This advice is literally just to consider your options, to determine what course of action will most likely get what you desire rather than what feels good in the moment.
Do small, but good things, that nobody else sees. Pick up trash, fix something, let someone in front of you in traffic, smile and thank your cashier, hold a door for people, give a $5 bill of to an old person panhandling, etc. You will know you are doing positive stuff without credit, and you YOURSELF will recognize that you are a good person, and that will change how you want interact with everyone else. Eventually others will recognize it, too.
try to leave everything slightly better than you found it
Put a toy inside of yourself.
I have my own personal thoughts on this, so take this how you will.
Think about times where you have been angry at how people miss handled situations with you and try not to put others in the same boat if you ever find yourself in a flipped position.
Putting yourself in another person’s shoes also helps. If somebody is doing something that you don’t agree with but you might do if you were in the same situation as them, then you should probably cut them some slack or at least respond proportionately.
A really big one was a lot of people is stress and having trouble dealing with their own problems. A lot of the time people will act much harsher and disregard others when they have tunnel vision from their own issues. Being aware of your own current mindset can be helpful for realizing that you might need to take a step back and breathe before committing an action or saying something that you might not mean later.
It all basically comes down to the Golden rule and being aware that other people exist and have their own problems and perspectives.
Realize that we’re only alive because of the sun. If it could, it would laugh at us for fighting each other.
While searching for the laughing Teletubbies sun for response, I found something else, which makes me giggle and needed to be shared:
I’m telling you, this works. Each day, pause to think of three things for which you are grateful. It can be big or small. Examples that I’ve used: that I got to spend the evening with a close friend who has a typically busy schedule, that I slept especially well the night before, that the book I was reading turned out to be a good one, etc.
Sometimes it’s something profound about how someone positively mentored me when I was younger. Or small stuff like knowing that there’s a piece of cheesecake waiting for me in the fridge. The point is to do it every day. It’s kinda awkward getting going, but then it becomes second nature and they come to mind effortlessly. I am convinced that it’s made me a calmer, nicer, more understanding person.
I tell folks, “Be safe.”
Doesn’t sound like much, but a lot of folks I say that too change their attitude to me if it’s poor. They see I care about them enough to want them to be safe.
Also asking everyone at drive thru before I take my order. “How are you doin’ today?” Bonus points when they reply and ask how I am. I’ll say “I’m alive n kickin’.” Which if they say “that’s good.” Or something I reply “that’s what they tell me, but I think they’re lying.”
I have gotten so many laughs out of it. Folks just not excepting me to say it.
And just being nice to anyone. Giving em the goddamn time of day.
I used to know an old man who would respond to “how are you” with an enthusiastic “fantastic!” and then an apologetic “but I hope to get better.”
I have run into old guys like that. Dudes are usually chill. Love interaction like that.
Im not sure if this will make you kinder but I find many many people skip very easy oportunities to make a small improvement in the world. These things are miniscule but they are things everyone can do all the time. Grab a cart from the lot if you pass one by that is not in a choral as you go to the store. Pick up litter that you pass by and toss or recycle it. I live in a condo complex and if my neighbor have packages that are easy enough to carry I bring them up and put it near their door and they actually now do the same for me. Not only a great convenience for us both but a great little human interaction for us both that makes us closer neighbors. Hold a door for someone, offer a seat on a train. Just keep in mind if you have an oportunity to do something that is scarcly and inconvenience for you but makes the world a better place. I would add smile when you see people. Be nice whenever you can and even return rudeness or such with strangers with kindness. You don’t have to deal with their stuff every day so its easier to be pleasant and move on.
