The 1 Step Method to Becoming a Kindness Domino

Yup, just 1 step

May 17, 2021

Mitchell Marcus was the team manager for the Coronado High School basketball team in El Paso, Texas. On the last game of the regular season, his coach told Mitchell to ‘suit up’ to play. With just a couple of minutes left in the game, something amazing happened.

I bet you thought that Mitchell was going to get the ball from one of his teammates and score, right? I did. It’s not as if his teammates didn’t try. Two passes. Two misses. Another pass. Turnover. It’s down to the wire, when his opponent, Jonathan Montanez, makes the pass of a lifetime.

Kindness can be taught. Kindness can be learned.

A 2016 Sesame Workshop survey, “K is for Kind” showed that 78% of teachers thought it was more important for students to be kind to others and that parents can help kids grow kinder.

Research by Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, psychology professor at University of California, Riverside, proved that students’ happiness increased by nearly 42% after being assigned to do 5 random acts of kindness per week for 6 weeks.

Dr. Ritchie Davidson, University of Wisconsin, says that kindness is teachable.

“It’s kind of like weight training. We found that people can actually build up their compassion ‘muscle’ and respond to others’ suffering with care and a desire to help.”

All this research shows that kindness can be taught and learned, but is there anything more real than the story of Mitchell Marcus? Coach Morales was a kindness role model for his players, creating a domino effect that encouraged teammates to pass the ball to Mitchell so he could score. The effect rippled through the stands and opposing players, including Jonathan Montanez, who said,

“I was raised to treat others like you want to be treated. I just thought Mitchell deserved his chance, deserved his opportunity.”

You Can Be a Kindness Domino, Too

Each of us is at a different place in our life. But we each likely have someone (or lots of someones) who could benefit from a Kindness Domino. A Kindness Domino does a kind act for someone else. That act has a ripple effect that encourages others who witness the act to also do kind acts.

When you become a Kindness Domino, you create more happiness for yourself and for others. You help create a happier world. And that’s backed by research.

The 1 Step Method

It just takes one small step to become a Kindness Domino. Do an act of kindness for someone else and the ripple effect will begin. Do that act in front of others and you will enlarge the ripple into a wave. When enough of us become Kindness Dominoes we will create a tsunami of kindness. We all just need to start. Today.

The Rest of the Story

And in case you doubt the power of Kindness Dominoes, here is the rest of the Mitchell Marcus story.

Jonathan and Mitchell became friends. An official from the University of Texas saw the story and offered Jonathan a scholarship, probably the only scholarship awarded for a turnover! And the dominoes just keep falling…

So I ask you, who will you impact when you become a Kindness Domino? A friend, a family member, a co-worker, a stranger?

May your life be filled with Kindness 💜

Heather Johnston Brebaugh

Read my bio, background and quirks.

You can also click here for a collection of my other articles on Practical Kindness.

Do you know someone who might want to become a Kindness Domino and help us create a Kindness Tsunami? I hope you will share this story with them.

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See you next week!