The art of reciprocating kindness

Kindness is a simple concept but its impact can be very tremendous. Whether big or small, the impact of being kind can create a ripple effect that touches lives in ways we can't fully understand. Doing something good for a person out of the kindness of your heart can help to brighten up their day and take off some burdens from their shoulders because these days, people are going through a lot that we don't even know, and just a simple art of kindness might be enough to get them through the day.

It can be something as simple as holding a door for a person to pass or offering a friendly smile to a stranger, these small gestures can uplift people's spirits, foster connections and inspire others to reciprocate. The good news is that it doesn't only benefit other people when we help them, but we also improve our mental well-being because showing kindness to others gives us a sense of purpose and fulfilment, which generally leads to happiness (unless you're a sadist).

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My experience

I always try to help people when the need arises and also when I'm in the position to do so but these days, I only do something good for people that actually deserve it because believe me when I say that a lot of people will take your kindness for granted. One of my lecturers back at the university will always say "If you are too sweet, the world will lick you dry," and if you have been very observant, you will realize that this is true. Nonetheless, I sometimes go out of my way to do something good for even strangers just because I can.

One notable experience happened last year when I was still at the university. I was in my final year and was working on my final project, which meant I was always on campus because of the constant electricity which was missing in my apartment. Most of my coursemates also work on their projects in school and on this very day, one of my coursemates asked me if he could use my laptop to do a flyer design for a client. This guy is a graphics designer but his laptop got damaged and he couldn't afford to buy a new one during that period.

He told me that he would give me N1000 ($1) for every N5000 ($5) he makes, but I just laughed it off because I thought he was just joking (he loves cracking jokes a lot). I told him he could use it later at night because I don't make use of the laptop at night. When I got done for the day later in the evening, I left the laptop with him and gave him the password. I was once a graphics designer, so I already had the softwares he needed (Photoshop and Illustrator), which is the major reason why he asked me for my laptop and not my other coursemates.

The next day, he returned the laptop to me and offered me 1k as my share of the money he made from the design. I told him to not worry about it, he couldn't believe it and he thanked me profusely (that made me feel good even more than the money). From that day, he occasionally borrowed my laptop whenever he got a gig and he always tried to offer me money later on but I declined. There was even a day I was at home and he called me about using my laptop, I had to walk from my house to meet him at the university's gate to give him the laptop.

Now the question is, why did I do all this? Well, I was once in his shoes, so I could fully relate to his condition. There was a time I didn't own a laptop, but one of my friends gave me his laptop to use and that was what I used to learn graphics design back in 2020. The laptop was with me for over a year and I used it to make lots of money from graphics design jobs. This was different from what I did for my coursemate who only got the laptop when he had a job to do, but in my case, my friend's laptop was always with me and I even customized it as if it was mine.

So, I figured if my friend could give me his laptop for free to do something meaningful, I figured I could also help my coursemate out in his time of need, after all, he needed the laptop for his job. The money he was always offering me after each job would've been very useful but I just decided not to accept because I believed he needed that money more than I did and also because my friend never collected any money from me for all the times his laptop was with me, I was just doing the same for someone else, and the cycle continues

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