Be kind
World Kindness Day Wednesday 13th November by some coincidence happens in the middle of Anti-Bullying Week 11th – 17th November 2024.
World Kindness Day was introduced by the World Kindness Movement in 1998 and is celebrated each year on the 13th of November. The day is about encouraging people to practice kindness. “It highlights the importance of empathy, understanding, and cooperation to create a more harmonious and caring world.” www.awarenessdays.com
We can all participate by preforming acts of kindness: saying hello to someone on your walk, helping a neighbour, complimenting someone, donating to a charity, cooking someone a meal, leaving a positive review, volunteering.
You can share kind words and if you receive kindness think about telling others either in person, by text or via social media. Studies have shown that kindness improves mental health, self-esteem, relationships, reduces inflammation, slows aging, gives people a sense of purpose and is contagious. Therefore, when you tell people about the kindness you have received it encourages them to be kind too. Moreover, people witnessing acts of kindness, especially random acts of kindness, benefit from that warm glow of thankfulness too, whether they witness it in person or read about it, therefore, share your experience you never know who you might help.
We have several Facebook pages in Antrim where people occasionally share stories of acts of kindness. The people in the car at the drive through that paid for the order of the people in the car behind. Stories of purses, wallets, keys, or phones being lost, handed in and returned to their owners. The person doing the kindness feels good, the witnesses to the kindness i.e. the person at the checkout or customer services feel good for witnessing it. Plus all the people that read about the act of kindness receive a boost to their mental health and restores a faith in humanity.
Anti-bullying week is a UK wide initiative to raise awareness of the issues of bullying. It is difficult to speak out against bullying in case we make ourselves a victim, however, I would encourage you to find a safe way to speak out against bullying. Whether you do this by anonymous information given to the people in charge in your world whether that is teachers in school, or managers in work or coaches in sports teams, find someone you can tell. This applies whether you are being bullied yourself or have witnessed the bullying. If you are being bullied, please reach out for help there are a variety of organisations go to www.helplinesni.com or ring Lifeline on 0808 808 8000.
To quote Clare Pooley “in a world where you can be anything be kind”