Life in Cyprus can be hectic – endless errands, long workdays, traffic with a mind of its own. And it’s easy to shrink into your own bubble, head down, just trying to get through.

But here’s a secret: one of the simplest ways to feel better yourself is to brighten someone else’s day.

Random acts of kindness – paying for a stranger’s coffee, letting a driver merge, helping an elderly neighbour with shopping – don’t just help the receiver. They change the giver, too. When you do something kind, your brain releases oxytocin (bonding and trust), dopamine (reward and motivation) and even endorphins (the same chemicals that spark a runner’s high).

Science backs this up. One large review recently found that people who performed small daily acts of kindness felt happier and more satisfied with life than those who didn’t. Researchers at the University of British Columbia showed that even spending a few dollars on someone else boosts wellbeing more than spending the same amount on yourself. And a 2024 study reported that kindness lowers anxiety and depression symptoms while increasing feelings of social connection.

Kindness also travels. That coffee you pay forward on Ledra Street might inspire the next person to hold a door, who then smiles at a colleague – and the effect keeps rippling. This island, with its tight-knit villages and talkative cafés, is fertile ground for this kind of positive chain reaction.

And Cyprus isn’t short on everyday kindness. In our recent wallet-drop experiment, five wallets were deliberately ‘lost’ across the island. Do you know how many came back to us? All five! Every single one was returned – often within hours, sometimes minutes – proving just how ready strangers here are to offer random acts of kindness.

Now, you don’t have to be grand or showy in your actions – nobody’s asking you to buy a Porsche for the next-door neighbour or treat the whole suburb to Sunday souvla.

Instead, next time you’re at Zorbas, offer your place in the queue to the frazzled parent behind you. Compliment the cashier’s earrings. Help someone reach something off a high shelf. Each tiny act gives someone a lift – and your own mood usually rises right along with theirs.

Why not test it? Slip one quiet kindness into your day and notice how you feel afterwards.

Chances are, you might just end up feeling better yourself!