The Impact Of Kindness On Our Wellbeing – Guest Blog Post

It’s 2015 and the population of the earth today is 7.2 billion. On our tiny little Island of Ireland alone, over 4 million people reside while day to day, each of us is bound to meet as little as 10 and as many as 1000’s of people as we go about our existence. It’s safe to say therefore, that avoiding people, their influence and certainly, their energy, is impossible.

In a recent conversation with a friend, we spoke about the law of attraction, what it means and how it works in life. Basically, we (like many people) believe that what we put out there, we attract into our lives. This refers to events, experiences and people of all sorts and at every stage of our lives. People matter and are going to have an impact and so, why not make the most of it?

One of the greatest human traits is kindness. No matter where someone is from, what their job is and how we know them, if they show kindness then they make an impact on us. When times are hard, kindness eases the hardship. When we’re unwell, kindness makes us feel better. And of course, when we show kindness to other people, it impacts not only their mood but our own state and mental wellbeing.

In late 2014, RTE aired a factual programme entitled “How to be happy”. In this short series, expert psychologist Dr. Maureen Gaffney demonstrates to a group of random invited individuals from across Ireland, to take part in some experiments that she’d prove would impact their happiness. Workshops were set up, tasks were assigned and by the end, people were indeed happier. One of the strategies Maureen recommended for happiness was showing kindness. Ways of showing such kindness include buying someone a gift, calling them up to say hello or simply smiling at a stranger. Interestingly, according to Maureen, although our happiness is indeed affected by our genetics, 40% of the factors are external meaning they can be impacted by us. We have the power to influence our happiness with strategies such as kindness.

When we consider how we make an impact on others, it comes down to human connection and how we use it. World Happiness Day has this exact focus in mind. A day that was totally made up (like many) for one clear purpose – to celebrate human connection and how we each relate to and affect each other. The day encourages people to take part in community activities (both on and offline), reach out to strangers with a positive message and generally, try to make the world a better place. If someone hasn’t taken part, there’s an invite to do so. If the day has already passed, the clear hint is to apply the same logic to our “normal” days as opposed to waiting around for the next one. As can be read on the World Happiness Day website, “Kindness has a knock-on effect. What we do for others affects the communities around us”.

If we take just 5 extra minutes per day, everyday to consider how we might show a little more kindness, think of what can be achieved?

Links:
http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/howtobehappy.html
http://www.dayofhappiness.net/involved

June’s Blog:  www.sometimeswrite.com