Does Performing a Kind Act Really Improve Health?
Just as laughter and a good sense of humor have been found to protect one against a heart attack, performing random acts of kindness and helping others naturally improve one’s sense of self-worth and can relieve stress. But stress relief is only the beginning. Kind actions toward others improve physical symptoms of disease and illness. The Web site, Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, explains there are positive health benefits of doing something nice for someone: “Stress-related health problems improve after performing kind acts. Helping reverses feelings of depression, supplies social contact, and decreases feelings of hostility and isolation that can cause stress, overeating, ulcers, etc. A drop in stress may, for some people, decrease the constriction within the lungs that leads to asthma attacks.” How Does One Go About Doing Kind Things for Others? The nice thing about helping someone by doing a kind deed is the action is contagious. Just try waving to the neighbors and see what h
