Caring without sharing?

 

I could easily just have shared the above quote and saved typing up an entire blog post but where's the fun in that. I think there is much to be said about doing the right thing, kindness and helping others - I actively endorse this, I strongly believe kindness is one of the greatest traits any person can have. 

However...a new trend seems to be on the rise where certain people only do kind deeds or the right thing when they can then brag about how kind they are, often accompanied by a selfie or video of themselves having just done the aforementioned good deed, etc. Where is there integrity!? 

I'm lucky as I happen to know a lot of genuinely kind, helpful people. Indeed a load of them have helped me and my family more than they can ever know and I will always be eternally grateful to them. The one trait these thoroughly lovely friends have is that they never seek praise for their actions, in fact they never mention it because they are doing it for the purest of reasons - to help out, not to make themselves look better. As much as I would love to name-drop them and scream from the rooftops about how wonderful they are , I know they simply wouldn't want praise as they are, well, genuinely kind and caring folks. The world needs more of this, if I am ever in the position to help out others financially - nobody would ever know who I've helped as it would be done anonymously, I firmly believe in integrity.

I realise I've gone off on a tangent but it's true, if you are seeking credit for something that you consider to be extremely kind of yourself for doing, then you are doing it for all the wrong reasons I'm afraid! I've even known certain people to take on an admirable role as their job and just continuously humble-brag about how great they are, it's really odd. 

Not to mention the fact that whilst you are smugly telling everyone how amazing you are, you are simultaneously belittling those you are helping by making it public knowledge which in turn negates your good deed. There are tonnes of videos online of people doing seemingly lovely deeds like giving homeless people hundreds of dollars and the like, but the fact you are recording it and posting it for the world to see shows why you are really doing it - it's not for the benefit of the honeless person, it's all to show how great you must be. Here's an idea; just do it without filming or mentioning it at all. 

The kindest, warmest and most loveliest people I have the privilege of knowing never need to say how great they are because everyone knows that already. If you need to keep stating it then perhaps there is a reason for that? Some of these self-promoting individuals are often those with a dubious track record of not being very nice in the past so perhaps they are trying to turn over a new leaf, but again - you can do that without the credit and praise. 

Be kind, always, but don't brag and self-promote yourself, it's never a good look!