  Spiritual
This week: The Benefits of Kindness Edited by: Kit  
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A smile can make a difference. It can brighten someone's day and cause that person to smile at someone else. That's the way kindness works. It can be contagious. It can inspire. It can give hope.
This week's Spiritual Newsletter is about random acts of kindness.
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I can be quite a skeptical, sarcastic and distrustful person. I don't make friends easily and there was a time when I didn't even like people very much (apart from a select few). It's not something I am proud of, but I was raised to expect the worst so that I wouldn't be disappointed and might actually end up pleasantly surprised.
Growing up, nothing much happened to convince me that the whole expecting the worst thing didn't work, because life can be rather difficult and complicated. Whenever I watched the news or opened a newspaper, my faith in humanity didn't exactly improve, either. People can be horrible. People can be destructive. History reveals many an unpleasant pattern and I'm certain we'll repeat ourselves in the future.
I think I'm not the only person who's become wary of others. You know where you stand with yourself, but you never know how other people are going to respond to you. With so many stories in the media about people doing terrible things, parents are uncertain of allowing their children to play outside, and close-knit communities are far and few between. Some people don't even greet their neighbours, and if someone smiles at them when at the bus stop, they wonder if the person's after something.
And yet... people are people. We all like it when someone's nice to us. A simple act of kindness can turn a gloomy day that bit brighter. That's why I like the "random act of kindness" idea. Doing something for someone when they least expect it can have a very positive impact... and it's not just the other person who benefits, the person who does the good deed is left with that pleasant glow of having done something nice. Kindness can even be contagious. If someone seems down and you manage to make them smile, the odds are that they'll smile at the next person. If you do something nice for someone, just because, the other person will remember this and they might feel inspired to do something nice for someone else.
Random acts of kindness don't have to be anything big. They don't have to take a lot of effort and they don't have to cost money. If you're doing a big grocery shop and there's someone behind you only needing to pay for a couple of items, it's easy enough to let them go first. It only takes an extra minute or two in the queue, but the other person will no doubt appreciate the gesture. If you're on public transport, and an elderly person or pregnant lady is left standing because it's so crowded, it's easy to give up your seat if you're capable of doing so.
Good deeds can take any shape or form, from complimenting someone on their efforts, to letting someone know you care. It can be as simple as cooking your partner their favourite meal, or leaving them a sweet note, or offering a smile to the person in class or at work who often looks a bit lonely or stressed.
We don't always know what other people are going through. That small act of kindness might be the only kindness they've experienced all day, or all week, or perhaps even longer. That compliment might mean the world to someone with low self-esteem, or that stressed employee who thought they weren't appreciated.
There are people out there who do bad things, it's true, but the majority of people are decent. It's easy to lose faith in others but I have found that when I'm nice to people, they'll often be nice in return. Whilst the idea behind kindness is to not expect anything in return, I have learned that it's better to be positive than negative, and that lesson is definitely a worthwhile reward!
kittiara
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Even when things are crashing in around me, my nature is to share smiles and kind words.
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The Spiritual Newsletter Team welcomes any and all questions, suggestions, thoughts and feedback, so please don't hesitate to write in! 
peach  - Hi Kittiara, another fantastic newsletter. This is my favorite newsletter. Enjoyed your essay on art, creativity, and some of the different forms that art is expressed. Thanks very much for including one of my poems in the newsletter.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I am really glad you enjoy the newsletter . And thank you for writing something wonderful to share with others!
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salliemoffitt - This is another great newsletter, kittiara. Sometimes when I am having a difficult time writing, I will visit the art museum. Viewing other artists' creative output gives me inspiration, and I return to my writing fresh and inspired.
Thanks for writing this, Sallie
Thanks so much, Sallie! That's a really good idea . I really should visit a museum more often.There aren't any nearby, but it will be worth the trip.
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Christine Cassello - I am sure you must not be the first person to compare all of the arts to each other but yours is the first such piece I have read and I really appreciate the way you did that. I had never stopped to consider what part each instrument of a band played to the whole piece and each brush stroke to the painting and how that all relates to using words to "PAINT A PICTURE."
Thank you so much  . I am glad you enjoyed the newsletter. Some of my friends are musicians, and whilst I'm definitely not talented in that field, the similarities are certainly there .
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geniusrobot - Wooowww... What an article!!! I love it... It shows that the writer is very talented and deep! And I appreciate that a lot!! Keep it up! Good luck for everything!
Thank you so much for your kind words! I wish you the best of luck as well!
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monty31802 - Great Newsletter, like your comparisons to writing. Music, painting which causes sound and imagery to what one reads.
Thank you so very much .
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Zeke  - There is a special gift that all artists share, whether it is visual, audio or written. While many of us write, unless we have that gift, we may never become true artists.
Zeke
That is true, Zeke. I think it takes a mixture of talent, practice and perseverance to succeed. I do think that if a person doesn't have a talent in a certain field they may try it, but they're not likely to pursue it for long. It wouldn't feel natural. Then again, some might, and practice and perserverance might just overcome the odds .
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Wishing you a week filled with inspiration,
The Spiritual Newsletter Team:
Sophy  , northernwrites, kittiara
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Spiritual: May 26, 2010 Issue [#3764]
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