6 Wholesome Acts That Make A Difference
Why not make this world full of kind and wholesome people?
Unfortunately, there is a societal trend that prevents people, especially men, from being wholesome, with their kindness being subject to suspicion by most. However, after a reality check from a friend that society measures should not define our acts or even prevent us from doing what we enjoy, I have enlisted the 6 wholesome acts that one can do to make a difference in this cruel world.
- Hear out people and be with them
Quite often, some of us feel low with a need to rant or even explain our problems. Coupled by the lack of trust and the suspected back draws of expressing themselves, it requires a lot of courage to speak from your heart to someone who isn’t a part of your immediate family. Most of the time, these rants have nothing to do with your life and you are powerless in most cases as the problem is beyond your scope or ability, which inevitably leads to a lack of interest and motivation to continue with the engagement at hand. Thus, sometimes, the conversations come at an abrupt end with someone changing the topic or (worst case) one of them remembers that they have something else to do (such as eating roll parathas). Trust me, this is nothing less than a crime, with you becoming the main culprit.
This is even more important during this era when most of us can’t meet one another. Suppose there’s a boy, depressed at how’s life treating them, in an alone bedroom at 2 a.m, and suddenly, someone texts him, asking about his well-being after reading one of his posts. Just one message, from someone whom he rarely may talk to, is enough to inspire him with renewed hope! Hope, that there is someone out there who is willing to hear him and tell him that the world is not over.
If you are one of these, I can vouch that you’re one of the best in this world!
JUST LISTEN TO WHAT THEY ARE SAYING! THEY KNOW YOU CAN’T SOLVE THEIR ISSUES! THEY JUST WANT TO LET OUT THE PAIN THEY HAVE BEEN SUFFERING WITH AND JUST TALK!
With your support, they can leapfrog their issues to become a better version of themselves and should low-key be proud that someone considers you worthy of sharing their emotions.
2. Compliment them
Ever watched an action movie? Yeah, then you must be aware of how they confess their admiration for one another literally seconds before an Armageddon. What’s the point of telling someone that they’re amazing or you are proud of them when you’re half convinced you won’t meet that person again?
Personally, I believe that this is another misplaced concept that we cannot appreciate people around us during our regular life. WHY? WHAT’S THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN? They’ll get angry thinking that you called them intelligent or appreciated their little acts?
Honestly, even I was scared of this dilemma as I am surrounded by magnificent people who are parallel to none in their respective fields. Recently, I started this habit myself and I can vouch that there hasn’t been a negative impact of this as my friends only felt better hearing someone else telling them that they have done a fabulous job.
Next, you might be accustomed to even recommendations from friends, be it a movie, book, season, restaurants, etc. Not only should you try them (if they’re decent enough) but also be courteous enough to tell them that their recommendation was spot-on, something that you enjoyed. This opens avenues to further recommendations as your compliment encourages them to come up with more for you!
3. Do not kill their energy
Can’t stress this enough! IF SOMEONE IS PASSIONATELY TELLING YOU ABOUT SOMETHING THAT THEY CAME ACROSS, DO NOT BE A VIBE KILLER BY GHOSTING THEM FOR HOURS OR NOT MATCHING THEIR ENTHUSIASM LEVEL!
Not only would you entitle yourself to be one of the few who would not be bothered next time when they have another mesmerizing experience, but also, you won’t realize that you shattered their enthusiasm and they would probably overthink whether to express the same level of excitement or passion for something that you did not manage to even grasp your attention.
Imagine your friend telling you about his cricket match. He starts by telling the background story, the scenario when he came out to bat on, continuing with the tale and you suddenly interrupt.
“I don’t even watch cricket so don’t bother telling……”
Would that person continue with his story or feel slightly embarrassed?
Some people do not realize it but friends drift away, one way or the other and these are some of the things that make a difference. Your little actions act as stepping stones as such behavior turns out to be fairly obnoxious for the other.
4. Not envy their success
Relative grading and self-created ideals of success act as scorn between friends at times. I dream, that one day we have an educational system where they place focus on collective effort and teamwork between groups for success rather than the toxic marks system which plays a role in the creation of back-stabbing friends who show themselves as your friends but deep down are one of those who wish the worse for you.
Naturally, your mind develops a defense system where you conceal your achievements, believing that talking about them to friends would only lead to envy, hatred, and a sense of complexity. If you do feel such emotions, IT IS OK as there’s always hope for overcoming this. The first stage of overcoming a problem is identifying that it exists.
Slowly, but surely, you will develop the skill of being ACTUALLY HAPPY at others rather than the little enmity we come across. Once you start appreciating their achievements and be happy for them, the other person gets an indescribable satisfaction which the burden of their success previously prevented.
Friend earns a TA-ship? CONGRATULATE HER!
A friend got an acceptance from MIT? BRAG HOW YOU KNOW PEOPLE FROM IVY COLLEGES (this is fun, to be honest)
5. You don’t need the spotlight while helping someone
We, as a nation, have a habit of imposing and bragging if we gave someone a favor (ihsaan kartay hain). Although it is nice to help someone with a desire to make things easier for them, doesn’t the bragging that follows undo your good intentions? Would someone like to be repeatedly told that you did them a favor?
THE MOST WHOLESOME THING ONE CAN DO IS HELP SOMEONE WITHOUT EVEN LETTING THEM KNOW THEY WERE THE ONES RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT ACT!
There is indeed a chance the other person figures out that it was you but for a moment, we would pretend that possibility is almost negligible. The happiness you achieve with this act is truly one in a million. You not only ease the life of someone you care about but also don’t have to face your friend who may feel indebted by this favor with a sense of inferiority. If they even figure out it was you, imagine how blissful they’ll be to realize how modest and caring people they are surrounded with.
6. Occasional gifts
Most people look at the price tags of gifts and are under the assumption that the more the cost, the brighter the smile. While I won’t be unhappy if my friend ends up gifting me an Audi E-Tron someday, just a little parchment, describing one of our memory would be enough to bring a gleaming smile across my face.
Gifts are not judged based on wealth, they’re a token of love and priceless anyway!
Getting an orange unexpectedly from someone in a park, a novel after you tell your favorite genres, a bookmark…..the list goes on!
The sky is the limit!
There are millions of other ways to make the life of those around you wholesome and adopting them only makes life even better. All things aside, I think honesty with zero lies is also SUPER SUPER WHOLESOME! We sometimes lie, believing we’re over smart, only to later realize that the other has found the flaws in our statements.
