France is the only country in the world that celebrates Kindness Day on November 3. Originally, this day was celebrated on November 13, but for reasons that everyone will understand (the Paris attacks of 2015), it was logically brought forward by 10 days in France. We are used to saying “too nice too stupid” but kindness, is it a strength or a weakness?
Today is World Health Day kindnessa good opportunity to show your kindness and benevolence to all those around you, but also to others… Basically, this day is fixed for November 13, but in France, it was logically advanced 10 days not to coincide with the commemoration due to the victims of the Paris attacks of 2015.
This day has its origins in Japan in the 1960s with the movement of Small Kindness Movement of Japan whose goal was to restore this notion of kindness on a daily basis, through small gestures, small attentions in order to take care of others without expecting anything in return. This movement quickly became a global success.
Too nice too dumb?
You are probably familiar with the colloquial expression ” Too nice too dumb which dates from the last century and equates kindness with evidence of weakness, naivety or even a lack of intelligence, but it is a mistake. Just because you’re nice doesn’t mean you have to say yes to everything!
Kindness as such is a positive and caring attitude. It’s a smile, a thank you, a gesture of solidarity, a kindness that softens our daily lives, but also that of others. I am obviously talking here about sincere kindness, not kindness that masks individual and selfish motivations. True kindness is love of self and others.
Being kind means first of all being empathetic, available for the other. The saint is essentially empathetic; the nice one only punctually. To welcome the other, it is therefore necessary, first of all, to be passive ourselves (…), we have to make room for it, that is to say that we were emptying ourselves a bit.
The benefits of kindness
Nice people live on average 9 years older than the others ? Many scientific studies prove that kindness is beneficial for physical and mental health. It’s hard to be happy without a little kindness!
By acting in a benevolent way, we secrete more serotonin, the hormone of good humor and the joy of living. Good deeds also improve immunity by reducing stress. Kindness is also a bulwark against loneliness and allows, among other things, to have better self-esteem. So many arguments that make you want to cultivate your kindness and make it a real way of life!!
20 ideas for being kind today
It’s not easy to be nice all the time, especially on bad days. Yet it is a simple way to undermine feelings of guilt and bouts of stress. Kindness is a direct access to well-being and harmony because it concerns the quality of the relationships we have with others. Behave with others as you would like them to behave with you. It’s not more complicated than that!
The idea is not to show kindness only on November 3rd but to really commit to practicing it. A nice project, right?!
Here are twenty ideas for cultivate kindness from today :
- Compliment the first person you meet in the morning.
- Bring the croissants when you get to work
- Leave a thank you note to the waiter at the restaurant
- Drop a sticky note with a smiley face on a colleague’s computer.
- Give flowers to someone you like.
- Distribute coffee in the street (to newsagents, homeless people, etc.).
- Organize a collection (money, food, clothes) for an association.
- Bring flowers, compliment your child’s teacher.
- Give a big tip to the waiter.
- Think of neighbors or isolated elderly people, invite them to dinner.
- Write to a lost friend or with whom you are angry.
- At the hospital, go see those who do not receive visits.
- Vote for the nicest person in the office.
- Leave your seat on public transport.
- Dedicate time to someone who needs it.
- Donate to charity.
- Say something nice to someone you know.
- Be kind and indulgent with yourself.
In addition, like good humor, kindness is highly contagious. Worth spreading this virus! Too nice too dumb? Certainly not !
