The Kindness Challenge {Review}

Written by Shaunti Feldhahn, the Kindness Challenge dares its reader to find more kindness in each day.  Every day we're bombarded with negative news, mud slinging in politics, sarcastic comebacks, and "looking out for Number #1" attitudes.  But are we really happy?  More money, more toys, more vacations... and yet divorces, depression, and loneliness are all on the rise.  Can something as small as a little kindness really turn the tide?  Feldhahn asserts that it can.

The Kindness Challenge is laid out in three parts.  Part One lays the foundation for displaying kindness: the who, what, and why.  This section of the book presents the three main ingredients of the challenge: eliminating negativity, pouring praising, and small acts of kindness.  Part Two takes those three ingredients into account and explores each one in greater depth.  What does "eliminating negativity" look like in relationship to your co-workers?  How do you praise people in a genuine way?  And what are some unique acts of kindness that aren't cheesy?  Part Three contains three unique 30 Day plans for showing kindness to someone in your life.  Of the three 30 Day plans, one is for husbands, one for wives, and a third plan for showing kindness to anyone outside the first two categories.  I actually really like that because marriage represents its own special challenges and deserves its own road map.

So for 30 days, I've taken the challenge with two people in my life.  Unbeknownst to them, I've been working on the three prong approach in my relationships: nixing negativity, finding ways to praise, and serving simple acts of kindness.  I wanted to know if 30 days could really make that big of a difference.  And you know what I found out?  30 days didn't make a difference.

My relationships started to change within a week.

Less than a week and this challenge was already changing the relationships in my life.

I was shocked.  It's not that these relationships were bad.  They just needed a little attention.  And boy did they blossom with just a little bit of time.  I'm finding myself much happier, satisfied, and optimistic about what the future holds for me with these two individuals.  And it really took a minimal investment on my part.  The surprising thing was that the more I gave, the more I wanted to give because as I gave the relationship became more rewarding and fruitful.

When I first started Feldhahn's book, I thought I'd pick up a few tips.  Maybe complete a challenge or two.  But I never expected how life changing it would be.  Now I find myself looking for relationships and opportunities to practice kindness.  It's like my eyes have been opened to a world of possibilities.  It's what Feldhahn would call "Kindness Blindness."  I thought I was a kind person before this challenge, but now I see that kindness is so much deeper than I ever realized.

The Kindness Challenge has certainly changed my life and I'm sure to find myself reading this book over and over again.

*Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge from the publisher.  All opinions are my own.