World Kindness Day 2021
November 13, 2021 | by Chloe Wood
The world is frequently portrayed as a cruel and unkind place and it can sometimes feel that as one person, you cannot create positive change.
However, this couldn’t be further from the truth! It can be easy to forget that kindness is intrinsic to humans and that by being kind, some of us may have unintentionally saved lives over the years, or at the very least have brightened someone’s day.
If we are going through a challenging time, it can feel much harder to offer up kindness to others as well as to ourselves. People who are struggling with their mental health do not always look like they are having difficulties and the value of both random and intentional acts of kindness can be immense for someone who may be struggling. This could be as simple as bringing someone a cup of tea or as fleeting as offering them a compliment.
Kindness is often associated with acts that we perform towards others to benefit them. Whilst doing so can elicit positive feelings for the giver as well as the receiver, the well-known saying “you can’t pour from an empty cup” is so relevant if you have nothing left to give. So, allowing time to be kind to ourselves is incredibly important in order to fill up our “cups”.
An important element of being kind is acknowledging the power of our words, as they can be crucial to making or breaking someone’s day. The ability to stop, take a step back, check-in with our own feelings, taking a moment to think before we speak is essential to being mindful of the impact our words and actions have.
What will be your act of kindness this World Kindness Day?
“A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees”
Amelia earhart