Sacrificial Kindness is Healthy and Contagious

Teresa Neumann : Aug 23, 2010
Kay Marshall Strom - Faith and Fitness

"Sacrificial kindness is catching. You extend kindness to another, and that person is far more likely to extend kindness to someone else. It expands and expands, from person to person to person, like ripples spreading on a pond's surface after you throw in a stone. It is many acts of sacrificial kindness all taken together—in families, in neighborhoods, in schools and churches and workplaces, from one city to the next and from one country to another—that can change the world."

Author Kay Marshall Strom has written a wonderful article on the "sacrifice of kindness" for Faith and Fitness magazine.

She begins by relating a story many can relate to, in which—under great stress from being a caretaker—she "unloaded" on a stranger. That stranger happened to be a Christian woman who, instead of reacting to Strom's frustration with shock or indifference, said, "Let's decide how I can help you." That, despite the fact that the woman worked full-time and had her own difficulties.

Sometimes, Strom notes, sacrificial kindness comes in the form of simply not complaining.

Says Strom: "Sacrificial kindness has a profound impact on the lives of the recipients. I can attest to that. But did you know that it also brings positive health benefits to the giver? Sure, people who extend themselves in such ways agree that it makes them feel good. But a number of scientific studies have shown that acts of extreme kindness also deliver significant physical and mental health benefits.

"One study was conducted by Allan Luks, former executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of Health and the executive director of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of New York City. He did an extensive study of kindness and documented his findings in his book, The Healing Power of Doing Good: The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others."

In the report, Strom lists several of the conclusions Luks came to in his study. Among them was that "for some people, extending kindness even decreases the constriction in the lungs that leads to asthma attacks, and pain can actually decrease as a result of a kind deed. The euphoria rush releases endorphins, which are the body's natural painkillers."

To read Strom's challenging article in its entirety, click on the link provided.