hanamiSenior Contributor
Join us for KIND JULY!
❤️ This month is Kind July! ❤️
“In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”
I will always remember when I was quite mentally unwell, and I had to take things hour by hour, as looking ahead even to the next day seemed impossible. One way I learned to get through the day was to do one little act of kindness. I remembered seeing a documentary about happiness where they had people with depression to go out and perform an act of kindness to see if it improved their mood. It did, with participants saying they were surprised at how good they felt afterward.
Some of the things I did to get me through was smile and chat to random people in queues at the grocery store, and wave to a couple of elderly neighbours when I went for my morning walk. One day I stopped and spoke to an elderly lady that I would see each morning. She would always yell out to me that she loved my dog, so I walked over and let her have a little pat of her. She told me I had made her day and it filled my heart for the day!
Kind July is about doing an act of kindness every day of the month. You can read more about how Kind July started on the website www.staykind.org. They say, “We’re on a mission to promote the prevention of harm to youth and the wider community from bullying, hazing, violence, self-harm, and suicide, by inspiring every Australian to actively engage in simple daily acts of kindness.”
You can register for Kind July on their website where you can see how they encourage kindness in various settings such as at work, at home, online, and at school. You can collect points for each act of kindness you do and the website will tally them for you so you can check in on your progress.
Not only does being kind make people feel good, but it’s also actually good for your health. Studies have shown it decreases anxiety, stress, depression, blood pressure, and pain. And it increases happiness, pleasure, and the feel-good chemicals serotonin and oxytocin. You can read more about that here.
We want to encourage everyone to share how they plan to do a little act (or many little acts) of kindness this month. Or you can share how you’ve been kind in the past and made someone’s day, or how someone has been kind to you and made your day! To help inspire you have a read of these easy ways you can show kindness https://www.signupgenius.com/groups/random-acts-of-kindness-ideas.cfm
Happy Kindness Month!
