Every child deserves to be loved, taught that they are good, and told they are worthy of all the good things life has to offer.
Kindness
Kindness Works ~ What Makes Acts of Kindness so Powerful?
Kindness is a Wellness Pill You Take with Each Kind Act
It makes sense that when someone kindly holds the door open for us, we benefit by not getting smacked in the face with the door. But research suggests that practicing kindness also significantly improves our own physical well-being. Even after researchers account for differences in factors like age, gender, education, personality and mental health, studies show that kinder behavior is linked to having fewer health problems—such as heart disease, sleep disorders and even hearing loss—and to greater longevity.
Studies have also found that being kind can help lower blood pressure and anxiety. Helping others even lessened symptoms of depression in people who had lost a spouse. Experiments show that doing something kind for someone is more likely to boost your mood and lower your stress than doing something for yourself. Plus, a recent sweeping review of data from nearly 200,000 research participants around the world found that prosocial behavior (things like donating money to charity, volunteering and spontaneously helping out) was linked to better physical and mental health.
What makes these acts of kindness so powerful? Think of life partly as a series of choices. “Each small daily choice we make either nurtures our emotional well-being or aggravates stress, and that helps or hinders our physical health,” Dr. Harding says. Practicing kindness is on the helping side of that equation.
Source: DIGIULIO, S. (2022). Why Being Kind is GOOD for your HEALTH. Good Housekeeping, 273(2), 41–44.
Kindness Works ~ Acts of Kindness are Powerful!
The research is piling up: Studies have found that being kind can help lower blood pressure and anxiety. Practicing helping behaviors even lessened symptoms of depression in people who had lost a spouse. Experiments show that doing something kind for someone is more likely to boost your mood and lower your stress than doing something for yourself. Plus, a recent sweeping review of data including nearly 200,000 study participants found that prosocial behavior (things like donating money to charity, volunteering, altruism, trust, and compassion) was linked to better physical and mental health.
What makes acts of kindness so powerful? “Each small daily choice we make either nurtures our emotional well-being or aggravates stress, and that helps or hinders our physical health,” Dr. Harding says. Practicing kindness is on the helping side of that equation.
We know kindness triggers a neurochemical response, explains Waguih IsHak, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and editor of The Handbook of Wellness Medicine. Oxytocin and dopamine (two feel-good hormones) get released, and cortisol (a hormone related to stress) falls.
Source: DIGIULIO, S. (2021). HOW KINDNESS CHANGES US. (Cover story). Prevention, 73(12), 28–34.
Kindness Works ~ Each Act of Kindness is Empowering
“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt,
kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate(Albert Schweitzer).”
Each act of kindness is an act of empowerment. Each act of kindness is our way of telling the world our actions make a difference.
Keep making a difference.
Today’s Photo ~ Making the World Better
How we treat the most vulnerable among us tells us much about ourselves. Offering our compassion and kindness to all creatures makes our world better.
Kindness Works ~ Kindness Always Makes a Difference
“Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference.
They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver (Barbara De Angelis).
When we offer a kindness to another, no matter how small, we make the world a bit better. We make the world a bit more kinder. We make a difference, even if it is only a small one,
Today’s Positive Thought ~ We Become Like the People we Associate With
“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best (Epictetus).”
We become like the people we associate with. If we associate with perssimists and angry people, we’ll become like them. If we associate with people who refuse to quit and who believe they will make a difference we’ll become like them. Choose friends and associates carefully.
Kindness Works ~ There’s Always a Time for Kindness
“Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness (Seneca).”
Kindness can happen wherever we find ourselves at any moment. It can happen with the person next to us. It can happen with a neighbor or a co-worker. It can happen with a stranger. All it takes is our being aware there is someone other than us in our proximity and to offer a kindness to them.
Kindness Works ~ Being Kind to Yourself
When Was the Last Time You Were Kind to Yourself?
Act as though you are a friend who needs you. It’s so easy for us to be kind and supportive to the people we care about, but we often forget we need to show up for ourselves too. If a friend was dealing with a stressful situation or was feeling down, how would you respond to them? Now flip the script. What if you were in their shoes? Try doing for yourself what you would do for them. Whether it’s giving self-affirmations to validate your good qualities or buying yourself a thoughtful gift, be a friend to your inner self, too.
