Reflections: Daily Deeds

Completing this challenge has made it even more apparent that it really doesn’t cost a lot to be kind.

Although I consider myself to be a pretty giving and altruistic person, I still prioritise my needs first. The whole aim of doing these challenges is to learn a thing or two about myself, and they always highlight things I had previously failed to truly acknowledge.

The Daily Deeds encouraged me to consistently ask:

“How best can I serve someone today?”

And prior to this challenge, I wasn’t asking myself the above on a daily basis.

I noticed a shift in my behaviour too, despite the goal of doing a deed a day I found myself trying to seek opportunities to be less selfish and more selfless multiple times throughout the day.

Altruism is when you put the needs of others before yourself which may even cost you in some capacity. The cost could be: giving up some of your time and energy, sacrificing your plans, and of course it could incur a financial cost to you too.

At the end of the day you can ask yourself: What is more important? Aimlessly scrolling through social media for 30 mins or spending 30 mins of uninterrupted quality time with a loved one?

Personally, I feel as though every single deed I did wasn’t extravagant at all. A small gesture can definitely go a long way and it could have made a world of difference to the recipient of the kind act.

As with everything in this life, awareness is the key here.

We all have our own things to deal with and I know we often assume that the people we love and care for, know that we love and care for them. But sometimes it’s just nice to occasionally remind them of this by actually showing that you do.

We don’t have to wait for a special occasion to express our appreciation for someone, for example, let’s take Mother’s Day. It’s not necessary for us to wait till the day to get our mum’s or the significant women in our lives flowers (or whatever they like), we can go and get those flowers now for no reason other than you simply felt like it.

Jay Shetty touches on this in his book: Think Like a Monk, he speaks about gratitude and explains that we feel so grateful for people at times but have no idea of how to express it.

He also states, gratitude comes from realising that someone else is invested in you. And explains that:

‘Your own acts of kindness teaches you what it takes to be kind 

So your own kindness enables you to feel truly grateful.’

The key takeaway is: kindness teaches gratitude.

This is why the previous ZoD Daily Gratefuls Challenge and this challenge are so closely related, as both gratitude and kindness work in conjunction.

Doesn’t it feel wonderful when someone is invested in you and you know they genuinely want the best for you? That feeling alone is likely to inspire you to do the same for another person. I hope the majority of you reading this have experienced it in some way and for those who are yet to, my wish is that you do soon.

Intention was the main theme underlying this challenge: paying attention, taking time and making an effort to do something that will benefit another individual is meaningful beyond measure.

Being altruistic is really a win win situation, it has such a positive effect on mental health and some of the psychological benefits from altruism include: helping others feel good which in turn makes you feel good, it creates a sense of belonging and increases your awareness and perspective too.

I hope to continue to be more mindful of others feelings and have the ability to attend to the people I cross paths with, in a way that makes their lives a little easier, more comfortable and less stressful.

I’m inspired to continue asking, how best can I be of service to those I come into contact with today?

I hope you’ve been inspired to do the same. I think the world would be in a better place if we all vowed to do one good deed a day.

Thank you to all of you who got involved too, I really enjoyed reading your daily deeds ?

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