Libby Drummond

Last year was challenging and confronting, to say the least. Jacinda Ardern’s key message “Be Kind” repeatedly echoed through the TV screen and media.

Throughout my 4 years at St Hilda’s I’ve had my ups and downs. Moving to Dunedin from a small country school hasn’t been the easiest. And to be totally honest with you, moving away from the comfort of home is hard, but I soon discovered kindness was my key to happiness and overall the key to enjoying life. Fast forward a few years and honestly, I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. I believe one of the reasons is due to kindness. Being kind to yourself and to others has a profound impact on relationships and your overall happiness.

In the Lady Gaga book 'Channelling Kindness' she quotes ‘the act itself is free and it’s priceless'. I couldn’t agree more. There are many ways for us to show kindness in our everyday lives and expressing kindness can do a wonder of things. Whether it be bringing people together, putting a smile on someone’s face, or giving someone’s mood an overall boost. It generates positivity in oneself. We all know for sure how kindness can change our mood for the better. But it is most important to pass that feeling on.

So how can we do this? My top tips are...

Treat everyone with kindness, no matter who they are or how they have treated you. Every situation is different and you don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes in their life and unless you are going to walk a mile in their shoes, you’re probably not going to know. You can never underestimate the effect of being kind, even to someone who doesn’t show any gratitude in return. Because at the end of the day you are just doing the right thing and you shouldn't regret being kind to anyone.

Secondly Don’t fake it. It goes with the idea, if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Saying one thing to someone and meaning the opposite is not even worth it. It does not show kindness and definitely doesn’t do anything to benefit you either. If you don’t like something keep it to yourself, definitely don’t pretend and act as though you do.

Kindness doesn’t need to be big, it can be as simple as a smile or saying hello to someone. Don’t think you need to go out there and carry out an extravagant task in order to please someone, because it doesn’t need to be that at all.

Also, the most important thing is to be kind to yourself. How can you possibly be kind to others when you’re not kind to yourself? Take time out of your day to focus on you, a quick trip to the brow bar or even catching up on your favourite show can be so fulfilling but yet is all too often forgotten about.

Overall kindness is a feel-good process, being kind can have a good return. By completing an act of kindness you are able to feel proud of yourself and your actions. It’s a rewarding process in which you will gain as much out of it as the person on the other end.

Being kind isn't hard. It is an easy task that everyone can achieve. So from today I challenge you to be kind. Go out there and make someone else’s day and remember the smallest act of kindness can have the biggest impact. Even a smile can do the job.