Kindness Is The Important Quality We Need Right Now

"Let there be kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile, in the warmth of your greeting…Don’t only give your care, but give your heart as well."
- Mother Teresa

Kindness is sometimes missing in today's society. Women are more connected to their devices than to what is happening around them. They are self-absorbed. Kindness is frequently the last thing they think about throughout their day.

Without kindness, our world is filled with anger, discontent, and strife. We have seen relationships just fall apart (or never start). Countless countries have disintegrated into perpetual war zones. Our whole world has completely changed.

All successful relationships are, in the end, supported by kindness, according to Dr. John and Julie Gottman, originators of the Gottman Institute, which studies relationships. What's more, they assert that the most crucial time you should be kind is during the conflict, such as when arguing with your husband. Yet, that is the hardest time for most women to be kind.

"Kindness is about showing acceptance, empathy, and acceptance," says Lawrence Stoyanowski, a Vancouver-based therapist. "It is about being able to examine your partner for things you can  appreciate rather than criticize." Stoyanowski observes the tenets set by the Gottman Institute.

Why Kindness

Children and adults look for kindness from family and friends. We all give and receive kindness in some form daily.

Many studies have shown that kindness is a good moral value and is good for you. It benefits your brain, body, and emotions in numerous ways. It is our foundation for meaningful lives.

Here are six reasons why kindness is so important.

1. It makes us more content. If we carry out random acts of kindness, we activate areas of pleasure, social connection, and trust in our brains.
2. It establishes a positive loop in our psyches. Kindness makes you cheerier, and cheerfulness makes you kinder. So, if you are happy, you are more likely to feel giving and kind towards others.
3. It can build bonding and social connections. As humans, we are preprogrammed to be in groups. Being part of groups or social relationships improves our physical performance and boosts our mental clarity. Being kind enables us to be a part of a group.
4. It facilitates our healing processes. When healthcare is provided with kindness, it can accelerate the healing process, thereby shortening hospital stays. Kinder care leads to various outcomes, including reduced pain, lowered blood pressure, and less anxiety for the patient and caregivers.
5. It can reduce the incidence or help inhibit diseases. Kindness lowers our anxiety and stress levels and reduces pain because of the endorphins and feel-good hormones released at the act.

Positive emotions from kindness enhance your vagus nerve function, which controls blood sugar. This helps the body avoid diabetes, strokes, and heart disease.

6. It has been demonstrated to invigorate the reward area of our brain. Studies suggest that we get a 'high' from being kind.

No matter the insignificance the act of kindness might seem, it is good for you. Life would be lonesome, overflowing with anger, despair, diseases, and stress without kindness. But if kindness is given and received, with no expectation in return, our lives are calmer, happier and we build meaningful connections with others.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated on the third Monday of January each year in the United States. This holiday honors his life and legacy. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought against injustice, promoted peace and nonviolence, and stood up for the things he believed. Through it all, Dr. King did with kindness on his mind. 

Dr. King’s famous quotes promoting kindness:

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”

“Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.”

“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”

“If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love.” 

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

“Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service… You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.”

“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.”