Celebrating World Kindness Day
by Rachel Wumkes
Celebrated each year on November 13th, World Kindness Day is an international holiday formed in 1998 to promote kindness throughout the world. The purpose of the holiday is to spread kindness as a result of small gestures. It encourages everyone to be kind and to advocate for kindness to triumph over hatred.
The theme for 2022 is “Be Kind Whenever Possible.”
Now, you don’t have to shower others with lavish gifts or expensive items to show kindness. Here are a few simple (and FREE) ways to sprinkle kindness around to others like confetti today.
- Say please and thank you
- SMILE
- Give a compliment
- Offer a helping hand
- Ask someone how their day is going
- Listen to others
Aesop once said, “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”
This rings true still today.
So, why should we be kind?
We live in a cruel, harsh world, littered with intolerance and filled with anger. The act of kindness has become a scarce commodity as people continually put themselves first. You are lucky when you find those people not corrupted by society or beaten down by the constant negativity. While the “Karen’s” of the world are on a rampage making everyone around them feel miserable – you can be a bright light.
You can be kind.
Acts of kindness have the power to make the world a better place. They can boost feelings of confidence, happiness and optimism. Trust me, even the smallest gesture can make you feel like a million bucks!
But that’s not all.
Acts of kindness can encourage others to repeat the good deeds they’ve experienced. Think of it like an avalanche barreling down the side of a mountain. A bit of snow starts to slide (that’s you… being kind) and then it gathers more as it gains momentum (others being kind because you made them feel all warm and squishy inside). It continues to build and build until it hits gets all the way to the bottom and explodes, showering the world with kindness all around.
Think kindness doesn’t matter? Think again!
When we practice kindness toward others (and even to ourselves), we can experience positive mental and physical changes through lowering stress levels and increasing the body’s production of feel-good hormones. Most research on the science behind why kindness makes us feel good is centered around oxytocin, which is sometimes called “the love hormone.”
At the same time, spreading kindness offers us the opportunity to connect with others, building a stronger sense of community with friends, family, neighbors and even strangers.
Over the years, it seems we have lost the ability to show kindness on a regular basis to others. We’ve become immersed in our own lives; our main goal to look out for only ourselves. Our hearts have hardened to the downfalls of others as we think their lives are not our problem. We are quick to judge them for their choices in life, finding fault in their bad decisions in order to make ourselves seem superior.
And along the way… we forgot how to be kind.
We forgot that a simple smile or holding the door for someone can make their day. We chose to ignore the elderly woman at the grocery store reaching desperately for the can placed too high on the shelf. In our hurry to lead such busy, important lives, we shoved past people to get to the front of the line.
Because we are the most important, right?
It’s easy to become jaded in a world where kindness isn’t always evident.
So, while your challenge is to do something kind to commemorate World Kindness Day on November 13th, Jane Fischer & Associates challenge to you is to make it part of your EVERY day.
Even if it’s only one small act. The ripple will spread, sending kindness far and wide to others.