Sarah Mullin
We live in a busy society, where we don’t even have time to stop and
enjoy “the small things”, let alone create “the small things” for others. The dictionary’s
definition for random acts of kindness is: a selfless act performed by a person
or people wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual person. However,
they forgot to mention how all these small acts of kindness impact the mood of
the doer of the act and the receiver. It has been proven that when you commit
an act of kindness it not only affects your mood, but your mental and physical
heath as well. Performing an act of kindness diminishes stress levels, which
reduces your of the chance of ulcers, reverses the feelings of depression, and
in some cases, doing good can even create a rush of euphoria which triggers
endorphins, and acts as a natural painkiller.
So with all of the benefits why is it so hard to take a minute or even
five seconds out of your day to help someone in need. Well, Mark Zaidi has no
problem with that. Every week he brings joy to many people by doing something
as simple as giving away free pop. Mark was born in Toronto on November 15th,
1997. He lives with his mom (Vanya), who is now a scientist but used to be an Olympian, his dad (Hassan), who was born in Pakistan, is also a scientist. Every day for lunch, Mark gets ten dollars, but he only spends half of it on food. Fortunately, he gets to keep the spare change; what he does with it is his choice. If you ask almost
every economist they will say the three choices with extra money are to save,
spend, or invest. Well, Mark thought outside of the box and decided to create a
new category all together, give. Yes give, a word that many of us have forgotten,
but it’s never too late to get the word give back into your vocabulary.
First, Mark bought and gave away gum for anyone who asked, as he knew
people at our school have a small addiction to this chewy, sweet treat that
teachers despise. However, his first problem of good-doing arose: the gum was
beginning to melt in his locker. Not letting that slow him down, he decided to
switch to pop. The nice refreshing drink that nobody can turn down, but the pop
was too warm to be considered refreshing. Again Mark was determined to help
people out on those days when they were too lazy to walk to the nearest fast
food restaurant. Mark kept going when most people would have called it quits. He
went as far as installing a small makeshift fridge in his locker to keep those
babies nice and cold. The next part was easy, finding people to give the free
pop. Mark started out with his friends, then classmates, then any cheap and
lazy person who asked (including me). With the left over change for his lunch,
he can buy up to ten cans of pop, which is equal to ten grateful and happy
people a day. I still wondered why someone would spend all of his money on
other people while he could save up for the newest iPhone or Xbox game. His answer,
“I have everything that I need.” Also his parents don’t allow many video games.
Overall, Mark doesn’t care much for material possessions as he would much
rather brighten people’s day by giving pop. This shows how small acts of kindness really do have an impact on people. So, I challenge all of you to take a few minutes or seconds out of your day to do something as simple as holding a door for someone, or doing something as generous as quenching the thirst of the lunchtime hallways sitters.
For more ides of how you can get your kindness on, visit: http://www.karmacooler.com/2009/02/100-ideas-for-kindness/