Benefits of being kindhearted

CEBU, Philippines - While nowadays it seems like being cold towards others is the right thing to do, the benefits one gains from being kindhearted are not gone. Some people think that one needs to be ‘tough’ these days. Often, being kind is viewed as a weakness. 

It may be true that people do not really ‘need’ others to make them feel complete. But as human beings, it’s not only the basic needs of food, shelter and clothing that are important in people’s lives. They need one another to make their experience of life beautiful and meaningful.

And so a person longs for the company of others in order to enrich his life experience. To attract others, he has to be kindhearted – to have an understanding of what it is that others want, of what makes them happy. With such understanding, he begins to sincerely feel for others and do what he can to contribute to their wellbeing.

In return, although without expecting it, a kindhearted person gets certain benefits:

More friends.

People like people whom they trust to care for them. If anything bad happens, they want to be around someone who’s willing to help. People like to be around someone who understands them, their feelings about things and their dreams in life. In other words, they like to be with someone who is being kind to them.

A kindhearted person draws others to himself. He will make a lot of friends. And with more friends, his self-esteem will grow.

The ability to help others.

A kindhearted person is one who is ready and willing to help. And by helping others often, his ability for helping grows. As the saying goes: “Practice makes perfect.”  By helping others, the kindhearted person gets better at finding and devising ways to be of help. 

Learning from others.

With more friends, one is likely to learn more things. Each one friend would have some unique skill or knowledge to share.

It is said that relationships are a lot like playing the lottery. One may have to bet more time in order to increase his chances of winning. The same holds true with friends. The more friends there are, the more chances to learn more things.

Yet the best learning to be gained from having more friends is dealing with different types of people. Different personalities can widen one’s understanding of people and how to effectively deal with them.

More opportunities open up.

As a consequence of having many friends, a kindhearted person attracts even more potential friends. At times it’s word of mouth. The more friends speaking well of the person, the more people want to become his friends too.

But more often it’s the way the kindhearted person carries himself. When other people see that he truly cares for others, they naturally get drawn to him. And more opportunities for making more friends open up for him.

More fun and happiness.

It often follows that a person who has more friends also has more fun. There’s fun when friends gather together. A person’s happiness is multiplied by the number of friends he has.