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The Kindness Box

Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Growing up, my mother always told me to be kind and that it pays to be nice. When I was young, I knew that you should hold a door for someone, take a moment to smile and say hello, and offer help to those who look like they may need it. I grew up believing that you should go out of your way to care about and be thoughtful of others, from all walks of life. Now, I’m doing my best to impart that same simple wisdom onto my daughters. I tell them they should always say please and thank you and that gifts (no matter how small) should be followed up with a note of appreciation. I tell them that each of their classmates deserve kindness, even if there comes a time when one of those classmates isn’t kind to them. We talk about empathy and taking time to really think about other people’s perspectives. I explain to them the importance of including others who look like they may need a little extra compassion. When my girls leave in the morning for school, I always tell them:

“Be good to your teachers, and be good to your friends.” They are learning that those few words have great and powerful meaning behind them.

Teaching our children to be kind, compassionate, generous, and appreciative is perhaps one of the greatest gifts we can give one another. I believe that it’s our responsibility as adults, role models, leaders, parents, and educators to not only teach these behaviors to the next generation but also to model them ourselves.

Here are a few resources to help all of us share more deliberate kindness in the world.

Resources for Teaching Kindness – Playful Learning

All the best!
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Psychology blogs kindness

Kindness is a value that is often disregarded. Why is kindness so undervalued? In part, it’s because kind people may be viewed as “enablers” by some, or worse, as “suckers” by the cynical. Thus, the cynic’s view that one is a “sucker,” if one behaves in a kind manner toward others, reflects a belief system that success is only achieved through stepping on or ignoring others. Yet, the cynic’s behavior rarely results in true happiness—that sense of feeling loved, that one’s true destiny and purpose are fulfilled, and that what one is doing matters in the most profound sense.

Why Random Acts of Kindness Matter to Your Well-being

Plus the rest of that blog ...

Cheers!
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
We know all the great benefits of being kind to others, and how kindness can change someone’s life, especially if they are going through a hard time … but did you know that showing gestures of kindness can impact our psychological wellbeing just as much. According to positive psychology principles, people who exhibit random acts of kindness are happier themselves and appear to have a more positive overall wellbeing. Why is this?

World Kindness Day - Psychology of Kindness — Melbourne Wellbeing Group

:)
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Kindness as a treatment for pain, depression, and anxiety
What we know about the science behind acts of kindness is influencing how we treat certain health conditions, Dr. IsHak says.

  • Studies are investigating if oxytocin can be beneficial in treating some conditions. The hormone is a protein and cannot simply be taken as a pill. It's being studied in injection and nasal spray forms.
  • Mindfulness-based therapy is becoming increasingly popular for treating depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. The therapy is built on mindfulness meditation, documenting your gratitude, and acts of kindness. People being treated in a mindfulness-based therapy program incorporate acts of kindness into their daily routines.
  • Helping others is also believed to increase levels of an endorphin-like chemical in the body called substance P, which can relieve pain, Dr. IsHak says.
The Science Behind Random Acts of Kindness | Cedars-Sinai
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Kind thoughts words and deeds

Hinduism kindness

Swami Tejoymayānanda explains the ideal very eloquently -

What do we mean by compassion? It is the ability to stand by and see other suffer. It is not something passive but where one actively tries to alleviate the suffering of others. Many times we have abundant compassion for people of our own country or religion, but for others we have little or none. Sometimes we are large-hearted to people, but cruel to animals. Some people slaughter animals for food, clothing and for sport and abuse them for medical and cosmetic experiments. How then are we to follow a spiritual path? Compassion is at the very heart of religions and righteousness. Our compassion should include plants and animals. When we destroy trees indiscriminately, we suffer the results of our actions expressed in a damaged ecology. Whenever we cause such harm we suffer the consequences automatically.

Ideals and Values/Compassion towards all Creatures - Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

All the best!
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Kindness core religions -

Kindness matters. In fact, it may be the only thing that really does. In today’s world, kindness is one of the things we appreciate most, yet it oft time remains one of our least shared attributes. We buy books about sharing random acts of kindness, yet cut someone off in traffic. We are kind with our friends, yet quick tempered with strangers. We say nice things to one another, yet gossip behind someone else’s back. We’ve learned to compartmentalize our kindness rather than make it a way of life.

The vast majority of us believe in God and follow one religion or another, yet still find it easy to be unkind to one another. We label ourselves as Christian, Muslim, Jewish or whatever, yet go against the very tenants of the religion be being mean to one another. We pray for peace yet don’t act peaceful. We pray for kindness and act selfish. What will it take for us to live what we pray?

Kindness: The Core Of 12 Religions | Inspire Me Today®

:)
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
When Mahsheed Ansari goes to a shopping centre, she has an unusual habit.

"It sounds a bit funny, but I intentionally smile at people," she says.

"It's a very simple virtue that we human beings have done for generations, but I think our modern lifestyle … has deprived us of these simple acts of kindness."

For many people, kindness isn't limited to times of tragedy, like the current bushfire crisis, it's a perennial pursuit that's rooted in their belief system. So we spoke to five religious Australians to discover what Islam, Sikhism, Judaism, Christianity and Buddhism say about being kind.

From smiling at strangers to feeding those in need: What different faiths say about kindness - ABC Life

:)
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Kindness faith teachings? -

Led me to a Bahai site ...

What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness? – Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Philosophers, writers, and all of the world’s great Faith traditions praise kindness. The Dalai Lama said: “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” Confucius said: “Forget injuries; never forget kindness.”

The Not-So-Random Practice of Extreme Kindness

:)
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
The Cambridge dictionary defines kindness as “the quality of being generous, helpful, and caring about other people, or an act showing this quality.” I like to think that we are all innately kind whether we are conscious of it or not, but events around the world this year are showing me that believing in kindness is simply not enough. We need to find practical ways to practice kindness every day.

Kindness manifests in many ways, and being kind to ourselves, other people, animals and the environment are all essential. There is no hierarchy to kindness. We can be kind to ourselves and others simultaneously, and we can receive the kindness of others graciously. How we treat others and the natural world has a direct and immediate impact on our own spiritual growth, which in turn influences our capacity to continue to give. As Shoghi Effendi said back in 1933,

https://www.bahaiblog.net/2020/08/the-transformative-power-of-kindness/

:)
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Love, Kindness and Courtesy

Every great Faith teaches that love builds the foundation of all spiritual development. Abdu’l-Baha explained the meaning of love:

Love is heaven’s kindly light, the Holy Spirit’s eternal breath that vivifieth the human soul. Love is the cause of God’s revelation unto man, the vital bond inherent, in accordance with the divine creation, in the realities of things. Love is the one means that ensureth true felicity both in this world and the next. Love is the light that guideth in darkness, the living link that uniteth God with man, that assureth the progress of every illumined soul. Love is the most great law that ruleth this mighty and heavenly cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the divers elements of this material world, the supreme magnetic force that directeth the movements of the spheres in the celestial realms. Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe. Love is the spirit of life unto the adorned body of mankind, the establisher of true civilization in this mortal world, and the shedder of imperishable glory upon every high-aiming race and nation. – Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 27.

:)
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
“… why should men be unjust and unkind to each other, showing forth that which is contrary to God? As He loves us, why should we entertain animosity and hate? If God did not love all, He would not have created, trained and provided for all. Loving-kindness is the divine policy.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 25)

A couple more Bahai quotes -

Kindness — True Self Baha'i

Enjoy!
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Kindness

One day ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was asked how one should live. His reply was, 'Be kind to everyone.' One must not 'belittle the thought of another'. This kindness must reach out even to those who may suffer mental illness, as the Master so beautifully demonstrated when Mirza Aqa Jan, who had been the amaneunsis of Bahá-u-llah, became very disturbed. In spite of the troubles that this ill man caused, the Master did not want him banished to Yemen as the mayor of 'Akka suggested.

To Juliet Thompson the Master said, 'Never let anyone speak of another unkindly in your presence. Should anyone do so, stop them. Tell them it is against the commands of Bahá’u’lláh, that He has commanded: "Love one another." Never speak an unkind word, yourself, against anyone. If you see something wrong, let your silence be your only comment...'

Honnold, Annamarie, Vignettes from the Life of "‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 39

Kindness | Bahá’í Stories
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
More Bahai stuff!

“What profit is there in agreeing that universal friendship is good, and talking of the solidarity of the human race as a grand ideal? Unless these thoughts are translated into the world of action, they are useless. The wrong in the world continues to exist just because people talk only of their ideals, and do not strive to put them into practice. If actions took the place of words, the world’s misery would very soon be changed into comfort.”

The Duty of Kindness and Sympathy Towards Strangers and Foreigners - Beyond Foreignness

:)
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Buddhism cherish others kindness -

This is very important to try to bring into our daily lives. As Geshe Chekawa says in his Seven Point Mind Training:

When the environment and its dwellers are full of negative forces, transform adverse conditions into a path to enlightenment, by banishing one thing [my self-cherishing attitude] as (bearing) all blame and meditating with great kindness toward everyone.

The Decisions to Stop Self-Cherishing & Cherish Others

Hope that link works!

:)
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Cherishing others doesn’t mean that we do everything they want. We have to be very clear about that. We can cherish others and still have very clear boundaries. It doesn’t mean that we do everything everybody wants. “Oh, I cherish you, and you are asking me to do a shady business deal, so in order to be kind to you I’ll do the shady business deal with you.” Come on, folks! That is not cherishing others, that’s stupidity.

https://thubtenchodron.org/2003/08/treasure-sentient-beings/

That is yet another huge site from first impressions!

:)
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
More from Thubten's site -

The kindness of sentient beings, which we will talk about that some more on a Thursday night teachings. It’s a fact that we stay alive due to the kindness of others. We have a precious human life due to the kindness of our parents and all the people who took care of us when we were little. When we see parents now taking care of their kids, we never think of ourselves like one of those little babies, with somebody having to change our diapers, when somebody was waking up with us in the middle of the night, somebody having to soothe us when we fell down and went boom, all the little things that parents do for kids. It’s hard for us to think of our self in that role and somebody having done of all of that for us. Teaching us how to speak, and teaching us not to stick our fingers in a electrical plug, and taking us to the doctor when we had the measles, and teaching us to ride a bicycle, and consoling us when other kids threw sand in our faces and called us names, reprimanding us when we called other kids name and threw sand in their faces.

Verse 33-2: The kindness of others

All the best!
 
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