November 13th is World Kindness Day. Initiated in 1998 by The World Kindness Movement, it is a day that is observed internationally to highlight and good deeds in the community. Encouraging positive actions and acts of kindness plays an important part in forging unity, empathy and social harmony.
We don’t need paragraphs to explain why a day focused on kindness is a good idea. Kindness is good for relationships. Kindness benefits our working environment and culture and encourages collaboration and innovation. Kindness is good for ourselves.
Research shows that kindness has many benefits that includes increasing your self-esteem and sense of purpose, and it improves your overall mood and wellbeing. Kindness positively affects your brain chemistry, releasing feel-good hormones like oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine. Oxytocin is known to reduce activity in the amygdala, turning down the noise in the part of our brain that harvests stress, anxiety, worry and fear.
So how can you celebrate World Kindness Day? With more kindness, of course! It doesn’t need to be elaborate or a great grand gesture. There are simple ways to incorporate kindness into your today, and hopefully all the tomorrows.
The ABCs of Kindness
Attention. Compassion. Benevolence.
Often, just paying attention is the simplest form of kindness. Notice things. Is someone looking harried, tapping their foot, waiting to put in their morning coffee order behind you at the café? They may be running late. If you have the time, perhaps offering your spot in the queue can change their day. Look up and out of your phone screen. Is someone walking towards the lift you’ve just walked into? Keep the doors open! It’s the right thing to do.
Being compassionate and empathetic allows you to understand how someone is feeling and actually want to help. If notice that a colleague is struggling with a heavy workload, ask if there’s a task you can take off their hands. Or if someone has been a little flat lately, give them some positive feedback to cheer them up. Hold the door open for people! Meet people’s eyes when you’re passing them and smile. These little sparks of human connection are so vital to our days. Small, everyday moments can initiate a chain reaction and create a ripple effect of kindness in the world.
Benevolent gestures are just good things you can do, without wanting anything in return. Whether you bring in a pack of Tim Tams for the team to enjoy in the break room or donate your time to charity, doing good is a really good way to bring about lasting positive change. Your good deed might inspire others to act with similar kindness and create a ripple effect that extends far beyond your single gesture. Practicing benevolence, contributes to building a society that is more compassionate, equitable, and connected.
And that is just a good thing, isn’t it?