Kindness can be defined as the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.
Revolution is defined as a dramatic and wide-reaching change in the way something works or is organized or in people's ideas about it.
When we combine them together, we are embracing the notion that we can change the world by focusing first and foremost on being friendly, generous, and considerate with ourselves and with others.
What would happen if instead of choosing greed, individualistic values, judging others, or competing for more, we focused on being kind to ourselves and spreading kindness around us? What if we tried to acknowledge our similarities first rather than condemn our differences? If we chose to help one another? If we stopped comparing and observing everyone on social media and just started living our most fulfilled lives?
Wouldn’t our entire world be different?
Researcher David Hamilton, Ph.D. believes that we are inherently kind. In his book, The five effects of kindness, he shares the five benefits of kindness and the impact it makes in our community.
Kindness makes us happier – A study of more than 3,000 people found that 95% of people feel good when they help someone. 81% of people feel more optimistic feelings for several days after that. We seem to get a ‘helper’s high” from the elevated levels of endorphins and dopamine.
Kindness is good for the heart – It is cardio protective. Kindness and generosity release oxytocin which reduces levels of free radicals and inflammation in the cardiovascular system.
Kindness slows aging – It boosts our immune system and calms our nervous system.
Kindness improves relationships – it boosts relationships. We are able to connect with each other through kindness. Kind actions inspire others to be kind as well.
Kindness is contagious – there is a ripple effect in kindness. One kind act inspires many additional kind acts.
It turns out that kindness is life changing. It brings ease to the body, to the mind, and to the world. It starts within and can influence our surroundings, our family, and our community. The ripple effect starts inward and expands generously outward.
Personally, I have felt the benefits of infusing more kindness into my life. Recently, I committed to being kind to myself. I love to take care of everyone else but decided to be more mindful about being caring and kind to myself each day. I start my day with kind affirmations, I prioritize my day and make time for the things that fuel me like exercise, walks in nature, breath-work, read and moments of connections each day with my family and my pet. I have made a priority to go back to eating real foods and limiting processed foods to give my body the purest form of fuel and enjoy the delicious natural flavors that nature offers us each season. I make myself go to bed earlier each night. I even took time to take a bath last week for the first time in years. All those things seem simple enough but they basically show that I am nurturing myself. The biggest change is that I feel less lonely and more connected to myself. I needed to step up and show up for myself to feel confident, at peace and grateful. I now feel less needy and more open. I feel more present and able to lend a hand to others. I am far from perfect so I still lose my patience with my children or my spouse at times but then I try to go back, apologize and attempt to repair the damage I caused.
My attitude went 180 from the moment I decided to be kind to myself. I went from feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and unsatisfied to feeling empowered, inspired, and at peace. As soon as I shifted my mindset from a place of want to place of acceptance, love and kindness, I felt myself relax. I felt satisfied and more serene. My desire to show up for others and spread more kindness is strong and achievable now. Being kind to myself changed how everything was working in my life for the better…Isn’t that the beauty of the Kindness Revolution?
If you are feeling lonely, withdrawn, stressed or unsatisfied, try being kind to yourself first and start nurturing yourself as you would nurture a little infant. Small kind actions each day can start a revolution in your life.
I’d love to hear your experiences about the matter, or if you are a sceptic, I would love to know if you are open to trying to infuse more kindness in your day. Please send me your comments or questions below or email them to me at Jo@notestoselfacademy.com . Thank you!
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