August 4, 2025 • 16 mins
In this episode of Jump In With Jonathan, we explore the life-changing power of kindness. A simple act of compassion can brighten someone’s day, open doors of opportunity, and even change the course of a life. Jonathan discusses practical ways to show kindness in everyday situations, why it’s often underrated in today’s world, and how small gestures can have a big impact on the people around us. Whether you’re looking to inspire others, strengthen relationships, or simply make the world a little better, this episode will encourage you to lead with kindness.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey friends, I'm Jonathan Smith and this is Jump In
with Jonathan, the podcast that makes you think, smile and
take action. Are you ready to jump in this show
with me? Let's go Hello and welcome to Jump In
with Jonathan. I am your host, Jonathan Smith. I want
(00:21):
to say thank you so very much for taking the
moment to listen to the podcast. Today. We're going to
be diving into something today that is free, powerful, and
world changing. It is the topic called kindness. We are
in a world today where kindness is lacking all throughout
(00:43):
the world. There's no kindness between fellow humans, there's no
kindness between countries, there's no kindness anywhere in this world.
And today, if there's something that you and I all
need is for someone to be kind. As I begin
to think about kindness, think about the last time you
(01:05):
gave a stranger a compliment. Think about the last time
you held the door for a stranger, whether it be
male or female. Think about the last time that you
just smiled at someone to let them know that you
was appreciative of them. Think about the last time somebody
did that for you and how it lifted your day.
That is what I called the magic of kindness. And
(01:28):
what that does is that allows you and I to
spread kindness one to another. That encourages me to be
more kind to my fellow humans on earth. That encourages
you to be kind no matter how bad your day
may be, no matter how good your day may be,
(01:49):
it encourages you to be kind. So I think one
of the questions that you would ask me today is
why kindness matters. Well, Kindness matters because it is how
we let other people know that they are loved. This
is the kind of thing that you and I do
(02:10):
to let people know that they are cared for. This
is the kind of thing to let people know that
they're not alone. I was speaking with the group of
people here recently and I told them that just being
kind by sending a text to someone and saying, hey,
I'm thinking about you, Hey, I love you, Hey, I
(02:30):
care about you. Hey, it's things going good in your life.
What can I do to help you? What can I
do to encourage you? What can I do to lift
you up? That is an act of kindness. Reaching out
to the homeless man on side or the homeless woman
(02:50):
on side of the street and handing them money is
an act of kindness. Going over to your neighbor who've
not seen in a day or two that you may
not ever talk to, say hey, i've not seen you out.
I just want to check on you to make sure
you're okay. That is an act of kindness. Kindness today
is something that you and I have forgotten about. Sometimes.
(03:14):
I think we put barriers up because we may not
agree with someone politically, we may not agree with the
lifestyle of someone. We may not agree with many things
about them, and you and I put a barrier up,
and by putting that barrier up, it allows us not
to be kind today. When we think about being kind,
(03:37):
I remember being in an airport line one day, and
I was tired and frustrated, and the person in front
of me turned and smiled and said, long day. Huh,
hang in there, And then that gave me the encouragement
to be that much more kind to all the other
people around me, who was frustrated, who was getting amy,
(04:00):
who said, my God, will this line ever go? And
will this line ever move with this line ever speed up?
That simple human connection did it fix my day, but
it changed the outlook of my day. When I think
about kindness, small random acts of kindness can create a
ripple effect. I think about times that I've been at
(04:21):
a restaurant and someone's paid for my meal, and I've
turned around and paid for somebody else's meal, and then
somebody else pays for somebody else's meal. That is the
ripple effect that you and I need to cause. When
someone experiences kindness, as I've already said, they're more likely
to pass it on. What else do you think about
(04:41):
this of kindness? Why else's kindness? Not only does it matter,
but there's a psychological value of kindness as well. Man,
I've never run into a group of people like I've
run into now that are depressed, discouraged, broken hearted. Their
world is seen like it's caving in on them. They
(05:01):
don't know where to turn to next. I walked up
to somebody the other day and man, they were down
in the dumps and they explaining everything that was going
on in their life. And I was like, gee wiz,
I'm glad I'm not. I'm glad I'm not in their
life right now. But I was kind by opening my
ears to listen to what they had going on. When
(05:22):
I think about a psychological context of kindness today, studies
show kindness releases feel good hormones like oxytocin and dopamine,
which reduces stress and it boosts happiness. Everybody's looking for
how to be happy. Everybody's looking for how to live
(05:43):
a life less stressful, and I'm on it myself. There's
anti anxiety medicine, there's anti stress medicine. There's all of
these different medicines out there, and all of those are good,
and I recommend if you need to take them, to
take them. But sometimes just an act of kindness can
change that. Acts of kindness can lower blood pressure, can
lower anxiety. Being kind, letting someone on the interstate, being kind,
(06:07):
holding the door for someone, being kind by complimenting someone.
Someone may have had anxiety that morning when they woke
up and was not very self confident in what they
were wearing and how they were dressed and how their
hair looked or how their makeup looked or whatever. And
you may say, hey, I want to let you know
that outfit looks nice, or your makeup looks nice, or
your hair looks nice. And by giving that compliment, you
(06:28):
have reduced their anxiety and you have boosted their self confidence.
Communities with higher levels of trust and kindness report better
overall will be we talk about and I've already mentioned
this to pay it forward movements where someone goes through
the drive through and pays for someone's meal, and the
(06:49):
next person pays for someone's, and the next person pays
for someone's and the next person pays for someone's and
the chain of kindness has been distributed. One small jet
inspires this kind or excuse me, one small gesture inspires
a chain reaction. Kindness is contagious, just like a bad
mood is contagious, just like anger is contagious, just like
(07:12):
bitterness is contagious, just like malice is contagious, just like
pride is contagious. Kindness is very contagious. Now, how can
I be kind every day? What is it that I
can do to be kind? Well, let's get practical. You
might be thinking, okay, kindness is powerful, but how can
I do that in my life? Well, I've already said this,
(07:37):
but I'll do it again. Compliment someone genuinely. People rarely
forget a genuine compliment, especially when they're having a hard day.
Don't be afraid to step outside of your box. And
I'm not talking about I'm not talking about doing this
with bad intent, but don't be afraid to step out
of your box and say, you know what, I just
(07:58):
want to let you know you're a really nice or hey,
I appreciate what you did for me. Compliment them, let
them know that you've thought of them, Let them know
that you that you are grateful for how they treated you.
If they're unkind for you, say thank you for being
unkind for me, You say, why would I do that?
Because what that does is is that lets you know
(08:19):
how you would not want to treat other people. Send
someone a thoughtful message, and I talked about this a
little bit in the introduction. All you got to say is, hey,
just wanted to let you know I appreciate you. That
ten second effort could me the difference of them having
a good day or a bad day. There are days
(08:43):
that I go through my life and my wife would
just text me out of the blue, and I could
be having a horrible day. My wife just text me
out of the blue, hey I love you so much, or Hey,
I appreciate all the hard work, or hey, keep doing
good on your podcast. I just listened to one of
your episodes. I really enjoyed it. It helped me out,
it was, it was recorded good, it sounded good, all
of these different things. What does that do that changes
(09:07):
the day? Also help without being asked. You see someone
struggling to get their groceries in their car, help them.
You see someone at Low's or home depot or the
hardware store struggling putting lumber in the back of their
truck or putting or getting a shopping cart in the store.
Help them. See today that kindness will go a long
(09:30):
ways in building relationships with others. Practice. Oh, this is
a tough one. Practice kindness online. Don't be a jerk
to people online. If you see something that someone posting
you disagree with it, don't be a jerk. Just go
through it and say, you know what, I'm going to
be kind. The Internet at times is very harsh and
(09:50):
it'll leave People on the Internet will leave critical comments,
rude comments, nasty comments. They will curse at you. I
call them keyboard warriors. They don't have you anything else
to do in their life up to set behind a
keyboard and be jerks to people. But instead of that,
leave a comment that shows kindness, respect, love, or just
(10:16):
like their post to show that you was scrolling through
and you was showing support to that person. Also, learn
to be kind to yourself. Sometimes our harshest critics are ourselves.
There are times in my life that I will record
a podcast episode and I'll go back and listen to
it out of that my God ain't uploading that delete,
(10:38):
and there I've wasted ten or fifteen minutes of my
time recording it. Sometimes I listen to it and says,
this ain't gonna go over very well, and it goes
over extremely well. I was listening the other day to
a popular preacher online and he was making a statement
that he wrote a song one time, and he said
after they recorded it, he looked over at some people.
(11:00):
I said, this song is awful. This song is terrible.
I don't know that I like this song. And all
of a sudden, that song goes to number one on
the charts. It was, oh, come to the altar. So
never take for granted, Never take for granted the work
that you put in each and every day. There are
times in our work, each and every day that you
(11:21):
and I think sit will go unnoticed. But fortunately for us,
there's someone out there that notices. I was somewhere the
other day somebody came up to me and they said, hey,
don't you do a podcast? And I was like, yeah,
I do a podcast, and they said, can I have it?
I want to. I want to know. I want to
listen to your podcast. I said, which one do you want?
(11:42):
I run two. I run just the Bible Will Do Podcasts,
which is a Bible study podcast. I do this one
here called Jump In with Jonathan. It's a more secular podcast.
We talk about a host of many things. And they said,
I want both of them. They said, you know what,
while I'm on there, go ahead and give me your
YouTube channel. I want to go in subscribe. I don't
want to miss an episode. And man, that encouraged me
(12:03):
that I know my work is keep that my work
is helping other people. So learn to be kind to yourself.
Kindness starts inward. The way you treat yourself sets the
tone for how you will treat others. Kindness is not
always about leaving a large tip on a table. It's
(12:26):
not always about being seen. But kindness is being there
when no one else sees you there. Kindness doesn't need
you to wave a flag say oh look I'm being
kind to somebody. Know. Kindness needs you to be silent
and help that person in their darkest need. Consistency matters
(12:48):
in kindness. Don't be kind to one person and be
rude to the next person, Then be kind to to
one person and be rude to the next person. Know
what you need to do is be kind to every man, woman,
boy and girl. So my challenge directly for all of
you today is this week, I want you to intentionally
do three acts of kindness. They don't have to be huge,
(13:13):
just something that makes someone else's day a little writer.
And then I want you to write down these things.
I want you to notice how it makes you feel
after you show that act of kindness, and I want
you to write that down. I want you to write
it down how it made them feel by you showing kindness.
(13:37):
And then I want you to write down if there
was others around you when you show kindness to this person,
how it made the others around all of these people feel,
and let it encourage you. Kindness is one of the
few things where the return is always bigger than the
effort you put in. As I finish up today, if
(14:05):
you take this challenge, I want you to share your
story on social media. And I actually said, don't wave
your wife. Don't wave a flag saying look I was
kind of someone. But I want you to share your
story on social media, whether it be YouTube, whether it
be Instagram, whether it be Facebook. Wherever you share it.
(14:26):
You don't have to video it. I just want you
to come back and come back to your car or
go back to your office and say, hey, look I
shared this kindness today and this is the kind This
is how they kindness affected me. This is how they
kindness affected the other person, and this is how they
kindness affected the others around that other person. And tag
(14:48):
me in it, because I'd love to hear how your
simple act of kindness made a difference in your life,
in someone else's life, in the lives around the others
around you both. Hey, thank you for jumping in with
me today on Jump In with Jonathan. Remember, one small
(15:10):
act of kindness can start a ripple you'll never see
the end of. Let's make the world a little better
one act at a time. Thank you so very much
for listening to the podcast today. Like, follow, share, subscribe
to the podcast no matter where you find it. Again,
(15:32):
don't forget a little active kindness will go a long ways.
Until next time, This is your host, Jonathan Smith. Let's
jump in together and be kind to the world around us.
Thank you for listening to today's episode on Jumping with
(15:54):
Jonathan and keep in mind that life is better when
you jump in. Have a blessed day. M
Hey friends, I'm Jonathan Smith and this is Jump In
with Jonathan, the podcast that makes you think, smile and
take action. Are you ready to jump in this show
with me? Let's go Hello and welcome to Jump In
with Jonathan. I am your host, Jonathan Smith. I want
(00:21):
to say thank you so very much for taking the
moment to listen to the podcast. Today. We're going to
be diving into something today that is free, powerful, and
world changing. It is the topic called kindness. We are
in a world today where kindness is lacking all throughout
(00:43):
the world. There's no kindness between fellow humans, there's no
kindness between countries, there's no kindness anywhere in this world.
And today, if there's something that you and I all
need is for someone to be kind. As I begin
to think about kindness, think about the last time you
(01:05):
gave a stranger a compliment. Think about the last time
you held the door for a stranger, whether it be
male or female. Think about the last time that you
just smiled at someone to let them know that you
was appreciative of them. Think about the last time somebody
did that for you and how it lifted your day.
That is what I called the magic of kindness. And
(01:28):
what that does is that allows you and I to
spread kindness one to another. That encourages me to be
more kind to my fellow humans on earth. That encourages
you to be kind no matter how bad your day
may be, no matter how good your day may be,
(01:49):
it encourages you to be kind. So I think one
of the questions that you would ask me today is
why kindness matters. Well, Kindness matters because it is how
we let other people know that they are loved. This
is the kind of thing that you and I do
(02:10):
to let people know that they are cared for. This
is the kind of thing to let people know that
they're not alone. I was speaking with the group of
people here recently and I told them that just being
kind by sending a text to someone and saying, hey,
I'm thinking about you, Hey, I love you, Hey, I
(02:30):
care about you. Hey, it's things going good in your life.
What can I do to help you? What can I
do to encourage you? What can I do to lift
you up? That is an act of kindness. Reaching out
to the homeless man on side or the homeless woman
(02:50):
on side of the street and handing them money is
an act of kindness. Going over to your neighbor who've
not seen in a day or two that you may
not ever talk to, say hey, i've not seen you out.
I just want to check on you to make sure
you're okay. That is an act of kindness. Kindness today
is something that you and I have forgotten about. Sometimes.
(03:14):
I think we put barriers up because we may not
agree with someone politically, we may not agree with the
lifestyle of someone. We may not agree with many things
about them, and you and I put a barrier up,
and by putting that barrier up, it allows us not
to be kind today. When we think about being kind,
(03:37):
I remember being in an airport line one day, and
I was tired and frustrated, and the person in front
of me turned and smiled and said, long day. Huh,
hang in there, And then that gave me the encouragement
to be that much more kind to all the other
people around me, who was frustrated, who was getting amy,
(04:00):
who said, my God, will this line ever go? And
will this line ever move with this line ever speed up?
That simple human connection did it fix my day, but
it changed the outlook of my day. When I think
about kindness, small random acts of kindness can create a
ripple effect. I think about times that I've been at
(04:21):
a restaurant and someone's paid for my meal, and I've
turned around and paid for somebody else's meal, and then
somebody else pays for somebody else's meal. That is the
ripple effect that you and I need to cause. When
someone experiences kindness, as I've already said, they're more likely
to pass it on. What else do you think about
(04:41):
this of kindness? Why else's kindness? Not only does it matter,
but there's a psychological value of kindness as well. Man,
I've never run into a group of people like I've
run into now that are depressed, discouraged, broken hearted. Their
world is seen like it's caving in on them. They
(05:01):
don't know where to turn to next. I walked up
to somebody the other day and man, they were down
in the dumps and they explaining everything that was going
on in their life. And I was like, gee wiz,
I'm glad I'm not. I'm glad I'm not in their
life right now. But I was kind by opening my
ears to listen to what they had going on. When
(05:22):
I think about a psychological context of kindness today, studies
show kindness releases feel good hormones like oxytocin and dopamine,
which reduces stress and it boosts happiness. Everybody's looking for
how to be happy. Everybody's looking for how to live
(05:43):
a life less stressful, and I'm on it myself. There's
anti anxiety medicine, there's anti stress medicine. There's all of
these different medicines out there, and all of those are good,
and I recommend if you need to take them, to
take them. But sometimes just an act of kindness can
change that. Acts of kindness can lower blood pressure, can
lower anxiety. Being kind, letting someone on the interstate, being kind,
(06:07):
holding the door for someone, being kind by complimenting someone.
Someone may have had anxiety that morning when they woke
up and was not very self confident in what they
were wearing and how they were dressed and how their
hair looked or how their makeup looked or whatever. And
you may say, hey, I want to let you know
that outfit looks nice, or your makeup looks nice, or
your hair looks nice. And by giving that compliment, you
(06:28):
have reduced their anxiety and you have boosted their self confidence.
Communities with higher levels of trust and kindness report better
overall will be we talk about and I've already mentioned
this to pay it forward movements where someone goes through
the drive through and pays for someone's meal, and the
(06:49):
next person pays for someone's, and the next person pays
for someone's and the next person pays for someone's and
the chain of kindness has been distributed. One small jet
inspires this kind or excuse me, one small gesture inspires
a chain reaction. Kindness is contagious, just like a bad
mood is contagious, just like anger is contagious, just like
(07:12):
bitterness is contagious, just like malice is contagious, just like
pride is contagious. Kindness is very contagious. Now, how can
I be kind every day? What is it that I
can do to be kind? Well, let's get practical. You
might be thinking, okay, kindness is powerful, but how can
I do that in my life? Well, I've already said this,
(07:37):
but I'll do it again. Compliment someone genuinely. People rarely
forget a genuine compliment, especially when they're having a hard day.
Don't be afraid to step outside of your box. And
I'm not talking about I'm not talking about doing this
with bad intent, but don't be afraid to step out
of your box and say, you know what, I just
(07:58):
want to let you know you're a really nice or hey,
I appreciate what you did for me. Compliment them, let
them know that you've thought of them, Let them know
that you that you are grateful for how they treated you.
If they're unkind for you, say thank you for being
unkind for me, You say, why would I do that?
Because what that does is is that lets you know
(08:19):
how you would not want to treat other people. Send
someone a thoughtful message, and I talked about this a
little bit in the introduction. All you got to say is, hey,
just wanted to let you know I appreciate you. That
ten second effort could me the difference of them having
a good day or a bad day. There are days
(08:43):
that I go through my life and my wife would
just text me out of the blue, and I could
be having a horrible day. My wife just text me
out of the blue, hey I love you so much, or Hey,
I appreciate all the hard work, or hey, keep doing
good on your podcast. I just listened to one of
your episodes. I really enjoyed it. It helped me out,
it was, it was recorded good, it sounded good, all
of these different things. What does that do that changes
(09:07):
the day? Also help without being asked. You see someone
struggling to get their groceries in their car, help them.
You see someone at Low's or home depot or the
hardware store struggling putting lumber in the back of their
truck or putting or getting a shopping cart in the store.
Help them. See today that kindness will go a long
(09:30):
ways in building relationships with others. Practice. Oh, this is
a tough one. Practice kindness online. Don't be a jerk
to people online. If you see something that someone posting
you disagree with it, don't be a jerk. Just go
through it and say, you know what, I'm going to
be kind. The Internet at times is very harsh and
(09:50):
it'll leave People on the Internet will leave critical comments,
rude comments, nasty comments. They will curse at you. I
call them keyboard warriors. They don't have you anything else
to do in their life up to set behind a
keyboard and be jerks to people. But instead of that,
leave a comment that shows kindness, respect, love, or just
(10:16):
like their post to show that you was scrolling through
and you was showing support to that person. Also, learn
to be kind to yourself. Sometimes our harshest critics are ourselves.
There are times in my life that I will record
a podcast episode and I'll go back and listen to
it out of that my God ain't uploading that delete,
(10:38):
and there I've wasted ten or fifteen minutes of my
time recording it. Sometimes I listen to it and says,
this ain't gonna go over very well, and it goes
over extremely well. I was listening the other day to
a popular preacher online and he was making a statement
that he wrote a song one time, and he said
after they recorded it, he looked over at some people.
(11:00):
I said, this song is awful. This song is terrible.
I don't know that I like this song. And all
of a sudden, that song goes to number one on
the charts. It was, oh, come to the altar. So
never take for granted, Never take for granted the work
that you put in each and every day. There are
times in our work, each and every day that you
(11:21):
and I think sit will go unnoticed. But fortunately for us,
there's someone out there that notices. I was somewhere the
other day somebody came up to me and they said, hey,
don't you do a podcast? And I was like, yeah,
I do a podcast, and they said, can I have it?
I want to. I want to know. I want to
listen to your podcast. I said, which one do you want?
(11:42):
I run two. I run just the Bible Will Do Podcasts,
which is a Bible study podcast. I do this one
here called Jump In with Jonathan. It's a more secular podcast.
We talk about a host of many things. And they said,
I want both of them. They said, you know what,
while I'm on there, go ahead and give me your
YouTube channel. I want to go in subscribe. I don't
want to miss an episode. And man, that encouraged me
(12:03):
that I know my work is keep that my work
is helping other people. So learn to be kind to yourself.
Kindness starts inward. The way you treat yourself sets the
tone for how you will treat others. Kindness is not
always about leaving a large tip on a table. It's
(12:26):
not always about being seen. But kindness is being there
when no one else sees you there. Kindness doesn't need
you to wave a flag say oh look I'm being
kind to somebody. Know. Kindness needs you to be silent
and help that person in their darkest need. Consistency matters
(12:48):
in kindness. Don't be kind to one person and be
rude to the next person, Then be kind to to
one person and be rude to the next person. Know
what you need to do is be kind to every man, woman,
boy and girl. So my challenge directly for all of
you today is this week, I want you to intentionally
do three acts of kindness. They don't have to be huge,
(13:13):
just something that makes someone else's day a little writer.
And then I want you to write down these things.
I want you to notice how it makes you feel
after you show that act of kindness, and I want
you to write that down. I want you to write
it down how it made them feel by you showing kindness.
(13:37):
And then I want you to write down if there
was others around you when you show kindness to this person,
how it made the others around all of these people feel,
and let it encourage you. Kindness is one of the
few things where the return is always bigger than the
effort you put in. As I finish up today, if
(14:05):
you take this challenge, I want you to share your
story on social media. And I actually said, don't wave
your wife. Don't wave a flag saying look I was
kind of someone. But I want you to share your
story on social media, whether it be YouTube, whether it
be Instagram, whether it be Facebook. Wherever you share it.
(14:26):
You don't have to video it. I just want you
to come back and come back to your car or
go back to your office and say, hey, look I
shared this kindness today and this is the kind This
is how they kindness affected me. This is how they
kindness affected the other person, and this is how they
kindness affected the others around that other person. And tag
(14:48):
me in it, because I'd love to hear how your
simple act of kindness made a difference in your life,
in someone else's life, in the lives around the others
around you both. Hey, thank you for jumping in with
me today on Jump In with Jonathan. Remember, one small
(15:10):
act of kindness can start a ripple you'll never see
the end of. Let's make the world a little better
one act at a time. Thank you so very much
for listening to the podcast today. Like, follow, share, subscribe
to the podcast no matter where you find it. Again,
(15:32):
don't forget a little active kindness will go a long ways.
Until next time, This is your host, Jonathan Smith. Let's
jump in together and be kind to the world around us.
Thank you for listening to today's episode on Jumping with
(15:54):
Jonathan and keep in mind that life is better when
you jump in. Have a blessed day. M
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.