Ripple Effect of Kindness

I recently moved to a new town and the day after we moved in, our new neighbors came by, rang the doorbell, and handed us a platter of homemade chocolate chip cookies.

I was so taken aback by their thoughtfulness and kindness (I mean, those things only happen in the movies, right)?

Less than a week later, our first snowstorm in our new house hit. It was afternoon and my husband was at work. I was very pregnant waddling around the house when I peered out the window and I saw my neighbor's son shoveling our driveway.

All I could think was, "Who are these angels who we moved next door to?"

Kindness begets kindness. And friendships.

Over the last few months, we have become friends with these neighbors, doing favors for one another, and spending time with each other's families. These are people that my family will build memories with as our kids grow up, and I hope we will be there for one another through the years. And it all started with a tray of cookies.

What kind of ripple effect can you start in your community?

Is it buying coffee for the person behind you at Starbucks (that may cause another ripple of altruism like in 2014 where 378 people bought the customer behind him/her a cup of coffee)? Is it simply holding the door for someone? Smiling at a stranger? Organizing a community cleanup? Delivering flowers to a neighbor?

The beauty of kindness is you do not need to have a lot of time, money or status -- you simply need a willingness to make someone's day just a bit brighter and the follow-through to go out and do it.

If you want more health, love and happiness in your life, I’d love for you to join my free Facebook community at Love Yourself Journey.

Jessica Kishpaugh is a Certified Holistic Nutritionist & Life Coach and owner of LoYo Wellness in Bergen County NJ (www.loyowellness.com).  Jessica specializes in healthy weight loss, intuitive eating, recovering from emotional eating, stress reduction and mindfulness. For your FREE nutrition breakthrough call, schedule a consultation here.