We are taught kindness from our childhood, an Aesop Fabulist writing “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” But can we teach our children kindness, can kindness grow? According to researchers at the Center for Investigating Health Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, we can not only train children to be more compassionate, but adults as well.
Researchers trained young-adults how to increase the caring feelings for those who were suffering. First they encouraged participants to use ancient Buddhist meditation to relieve another person’s suffering. They repeated phrases to help them focus on compassion. Initially, participants started envisioning people they knew, and gradually moved into feeling compassion for themselves, and then for strangers. Eventfully, they used the training to feel compassion for an individually whom they had a previous difficult encounter with. Through the study, researchers found that people can be trained to feel compassion and kindness for other individuals.
Here are a few ideas to help you celebrate World Kindness Day -
- Donate used books to a local library
- Give care packs to the homeless
- Volunteer at a local school
- Help a neighbor or friend with yard work
- Let someone in line go in front of you
- Pay the tab for someone behind you
- Stop and say thank you at the local fire or police department
- Pick up trash
- Send flowers
- Cook a meal for someone
- Leave quarters at a vending machine
“The best part of life is not just surviving but thriving with passion and compassion and human and style and generosity and kindness” ~ Maya Angelou
Happy Kindness Day!
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