CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — There’s nothing like realizing that effortless acts of kindness can make someone’s day. Author Brad Aronson made being kind the subject of his book, “Humankind,” which details the story of his wife, Mia, and her battle with cancer.

“During that period in our lives, so many people came out of the woodwork — like friends, family, strangers — and just stepped up and started doing things for us,” said Aronson during his “Morning in America” appearance on Monday. “And it helped us get through that period of our lives.”

Mia was diagnosed with leukemia in December 2014. After her diagnosis, Aronson spent two and half years of his life by his wife’s side and taking care of their 5-year-old son Jack. Aronson said he got inspired to write the book after attending one of Mia’s treatments.

“During treatment, someone suggested we come up with a project to give us a distraction and a focus,” said Aronson. And I thought I’d write about all the kind acts that helped us get through that.”

Aronson said he first began writing about his friends and family members who were doing simple things. Then, he started reaching out to other people to find stories about random acts of kindness. Aronson believes his book, which also provides dozens of ways people can help others, will help others going through cancer treatment to provide comfort, understanding, and hope.

Aronson also provided some actions people can take to help others feel less overwhelmed about the holidays.

“It can be awkward for people, they want to do something, but they don’t know if they should reach out. They don’t know if you want to talk about it. Just being seen and having people say, ‘here’s what I’m going to do for you. I’m bringing over food, I’m shoveling your driveway, I’m going to come over and take your son with us because we’re going to the zoo for the day.’ Just having people step up and doing that made a huge difference.”

Aronson also suggested helping out someone who you don’t know because it can lead to a sense of interconnectedness with others.

“I’d say, well, especially now, during the holidays, I think about cashiers, they’re going through such a difficult time, right? We all have holiday stress, we might convey it to them. There’s a spike in COVID and they’re seeing hundreds or thousands of people a day. What if when we got to the front of the line, we said I need to buy some candy. And we looked at the candy display and said, What’s your favorite kind? And when they told us we bought it and said, ‘Oh, here this is for you,’ and we gave it to them?”

Ultimately, Aronson said simple acts of kindness transform lives across the globe every day.

“I’d advise everyone, if you see someone going through a hard time, just reach out and do something for them.”