Kindness is a virtue. It's an instinctual and/or learned behaviour distinguishable by ethical attributes, nice dispositions, and concern and consideration for others. It is written into the books of nearly every religion on the planet, and yet...we still see human and animal suffering, and environmental collapse.
But it's not all doom-and-gloom because today sees the start of #randomactsofkindnessweek!
#RAKWeek has previously been witnessed in the third week of February each year. Although, you may not hear as much song and dance about it this year, as the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation have officially announced that it's #RAKday that they will be putting a little extra kindness into going forward - I have only just learned as I sat down to write this post - which happened to be yesterday, so be sure to note 17 February in your calendar for next year so you don't miss it.
Kindness UK sees #KindessDay in on November 13th each year.
I truly believe we should be kind every day of the year, regardless of celebratory day in the annual international calendar. Here are NC HQ however, we had been getting very excited for a week long celebration of random act of kindness, and will be celebrating with vigour! And you should too.
Who is leading this kind of movement?
Much to my delight, there are several!
The RAK Foundation (who are behind the random acts of kindness day and week) are an American organisation funded by private endowment. Their mission is to simply, make the world a kinder place. They help achieve this through education in schools and other organisations.
Kindness UK are a UK not-for-profit organisation flying the flag on this side of the pond. They are behind Kindness Day on 13 November each year.
Then there is Kindness.org, another nonprofit that believes kindness is the way to solve all the worlds problems.
What's more? All these organisations back their belief in the power of kindness with science. Yes, you read that right, science tells us that being kind makes not only other peoples lives better, but ours too.
“It’s kind of like weight training, we found that people can actually build up their compassion ‘muscle’ and respond to others’ suffering with care and a desire to help.”
Dr. Ritchie Davidson , University of Wisconsin
Why should I be kind, when the world is so cruel?
Fear not dear friend. We know those dark days too. Here's the thing though...being kind to others has numerous positive impacts on your own mental health and physical wellbeing. There is a lot of evidence that suggests being kind decreases pain, anxiety, stress, depression, and even our blood pressure! It also tells us that it increases the levels of oxytocin (the 'love hormone'), energy and our happiness...which increases our lifespan!
Don't believe me? Take a look at the Kindlab for some wonderful statistics.
So why are NC making such a song and dance about it all?
True kindness transcends religion, race, age, gender or species. These same qualities, as it happens, underpin the practices of the nice folk you will find here on our platform. We fundamentally believe in the importance and power of being kind (we call it nice) to people, the planet and animals.
We need kindness in the world more than ever.
So this week, in support and solidarity with all the wonderful organisations and people around the world promoting kindness, I am asking you to share your stories. Less so about how kind you were to someone else (if you need ideas on how to be kind however, you can find some here), and more so about how being being on the receiving end of kindness made you feel. You can either leave a comment on this post or follow us on social media and share your stories there.
K x