“World Kindness Day is celebrated annually on November 13th. On this day, participants attempt to make the world a better place by celebrating and promoting good deeds and pledging acts of kindness, either as individuals or as organizations”.
Unfortunately, we live in a world riddled by stress, stigmas against mental health and substance abuse, violence, and a lot of unhappiness. World kindness day is one day a year where individuals can go out of their way to practice kindness and spread good deeds to others. But shouldn’t kindness be practiced every day of the year out of habit?
Why spread kindness?
Research has shown that kindness is linked closely to happiness and contentment on psychological and spiritual levels. Kindness promotes gratitude, compassion, empathy, and interconnectedness. Being kind to others can encourage those to pass the kindness along. Practicing kindness also builds friendships and relationships and can heighten the awareness of your good fortune. Kindness is also known to reduce stress, boost our immune systems, and help reduce negative emotions such as anger, anxiety, and depression.
Everyday ways to spread kindness to others
Kindness does not necessarily mean you have to spend money or go too much out of your way to help. Kindness can be simple acts that can ease others’ burdens without taking time out of your day.
• Taking time to talk with a neighbor, even though you are in a rush
• Saying “hello” to strangers and neighbors alike
• Saying, “please” and “thank you.”
• Picking up trash, you see while walking.
• Hold the door open for someone.
• Compliment a friend or stranger
• Donate unneeded clothes and household items
• Smile
• Write a card to a friend.
• Send a nice text or email to a friend.
Random acts of kindness to brighten someone’s day
Sometimes it is nice to go out of your way and surprise someone by buying them a gift, running an errand for them, or even taking time away from your busy day to do something nice.
• Buy a cup of coffee for the person in line behind you
• Bring a coworker or a friend flowers
• Bake a treat for your neighbor
• Shovel snow off your neighbor’s porch or driveway
• Volunteer at an animal shelter, nursing home or some other place in your community
• Donate to a local charity
• Participate in a trash cleanup
• Start your own fundraiser for a cause that is important to you
• Offer to make dinner for a friend
• Lend a helping hand to a coworker who’s behind on their project, even though this means that you will have to stay late at work
• Give a dinner gift certificate to a couple who are facing hard times.
“Kindness is a habit of giving, of wanting to lift burdens from others or to merely provide a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on. It humanizes us; it lifts us spiritually. And it is good for us”.
Akua Mind & Body is here for you!
Akua Mind & Body is a substance abuse and mental health treatment center that offers detoxification, residential and virtual outpatient treatment programs for individuals who are struggling. A multidisciplinary treatment team is available to treat each client’s individual needs with the utmost professionalism and compassion. Regardless of where you are in your recovery process, Akua Mind & Body can help.
