Every one of us has a light within us. When we share that light with someone else, they light up too.

A close friend recently told me, "You really do your name justice. You are a blessing." Also, faithful follower Ravenclaw-Lovegood told me today, "You always lift up my spirits when it's down, and I want to thank you for that." Both of these comments made me feel awesome, and inspired me to write up something about it.

I want everyone to experience good feelings like this. We all deserve to feel good. One of the best avenues to get this is kindness. I'm always talking and writing about kindness, because it's such an important concept. And the best thing is you don't have to spend a penny to practice it! How?

Compliment People

I don't mean empty flattery that sounds fake. I mean tell someone when they do something right. Tell them what a good job they did washing the car. Tell them you like their outfit. Tell them how delicious the scrambled eggs are even though they're green. (I make an outstanding roasted kale scramble, by the way. :D )

Compliments give people smiles, and smiles are contagious. They feel good, and that makes you feel good too. Share your thoughts! You may think your friend's homemade lemonade is perfect, but unless you tell them, they won't know or get a chance to feel good about it.

Thank People

This is even simpler than complimenting people. When you express appreciation, the other person feels good because their efforts have been recognized. It doesn't feel like they are toiling in anonymity. Feeling taken for granted is terrible, like the people around them don't care about them or appreciate the things they do.

Thank your brother for taking out the trash (even if that's his assigned duty). Thank your mom for cooking dinner (even though she does it every day). Thank your teacher for helping you understand a tough concept. By thanking the people in your life for seemingly routine or mundane things, you acknowledge their important role in your life. You make them feel good.

They also feel better about doing that routine, mundane task all the time, because now they know someone appreciates it. They complain less about it. They smile more.

And that makes you feel good too.

Do it. Share your light with everyone you know. Make this world a better place one compliment and thank-you at a time.