A Few Kind Words

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

— Proverbs 12:25 

Ruth’s grown son made his annual call to ask what she needed for her birthday. Socks, robe, help with her utility bill? “No,” she said feebly. “This year, all I want is a cup of coffee and a few kind words.”

According to Proverbs, kind words are life-changing medicine for the lonely or brokenhearted.

Kind words can make us feel more connected and significantly reduce the emotional distance that often causes depression. Kind words can also trigger the release of serotonin in our brains. Serotonin plays an important part in learning, memory, mood, sleep, health and digestion. With a heightened sense of well-being, our self-worth increases and so does our energy level.

But according to Proverbs 11:17, kindness also offers as many benefits for the giver as it does for the receiver.

Harvard researchers have found that those who dispense kindness are 42% more likely to describe themselves as happy. The results suggest a direct correlation between kindness and happiness. The more we give to others, the happier we are.

In other words, smiling, offering compliments, actively listening, leaving a really good tip, sponsoring a child, letting someone have the better parking space, holding the door open for someone, paying for the lunch of the person behind you in the drive thru line or holding your tongue when you’re angry are not only the best gifts you can give others, they’re the best gifts you can give yourself.

Kindness changes us all.

Today’s One Thing

Purposefully consider a person who needs a moment of your time. Then gift that person with a cup of coffee and a few kind words.

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