Be Kind, Rewind!

kindness
NOUN
1 The quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.
‘he thanked them for their kindness and support’
1.1 A kind act.
‘it would be a kindness on your part to invite her’
Kindness is as simple as being nice to one another, a selfless act that doesn’t take time or energy and is just a part of who you are. It is the easiest thing in the world to hold a door open, give a compliment or volunteer your skills; and research has shown that exhibiting kindness is a major contributor towards your own personal happiness.

“How to Make Friends and Influence People,” has been used in business circles for self-development since its first edition in 1936. Yep, 1936. In the first Chapter, “If you want to gather honey, don’t kick over the beehive,” the first key point is to be kind and to avoid criticism, condemning and complaining. How many times have people criticised, condemned or complained to you this week? How many times have you done this to other people this week?

People will always make mistakes, nobody has the capacity to be perfect all of the time. And having the ability to accept people for who they are and to find genuine appreciation for them is not something that is innate, it is something that can be developed with practise.

In celebration of World Kindness Day 2017 (yes, that’s today! Monday 13th November, 2017), I am going to start giving myself a weekly challenge that will help me to increase my levels of kindness and by association, my own personal happiness.

This week, I am going to stop and think before I speak to criticize. This does not mean avoiding getting a point across, it merely means re-framing the words to get the point across in a positive way. Whilst this is something I have been doing for many years at work, it is not something I have been making a conscious effort to do all of the time and I’m sure this extra effort can only benefit my home life too, if not at least improve my husband’s!

In this way, when words are spoken in frustration or anger, the response will often be an exacerbation of that frustration or anger leading to a person feeling undervalued, demeaned and unhappy. Imagine how many difficult situations could be immediately diverted by a change in perspective?

Patience is not one of my strong points. I want everything and I want it immediately. And when I am hungover, tired, hungry or stressed my teeeeeny tiny reserves of patience pack up their little knapsacks and go off on a little adventure until I am healthy again. So to ensure I get as much out of these weekly challenges as possible, I will also be ensuring that I am nourishing myself with a healthy diet, regular exercise, the continuation of my Facebook and smart phone exile, activities that fill me with joy and more importantly, make a step forward to the all-encompassing No Booze that was recently derailed (and I may or may not speak about it in the future!).

I don’t anticipate that this will be easy since we’re moving house next week (NEXT WEEK?? WHAT?!?!) and so my focus needs to be on those things that will help with this huge, life changing event. And booze, my old, trusty friend, is not one of them.

So this week, make an effort to be even more kind to people. But more importantly, make a huge effort to be more kind to yourself.

As the Dalai Lama said, “There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.”


And if you want some ideas as to how you can celebrate World Kindness Day today, check out the Kindness UK website here: http://www.kindnessuk.com/individuals.php

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