Why Is Kindness Important (5 Top Reasons)
Is it really that important to practice kindness, and why is kindness important?
Kindness is free – and can be hugely beneficial to those around you! Being kind to someone can make their whole day better. It can even change their life!
Kindness can become a habit and make a significant difference in your life satisfaction. Being kind releases happy chemicals in your body and makes you happier. Honestly, what’s stopping you?
Keep reading for our reasons why kindness is important. You may even know of a few more!
Does Kindness Have Benefits?
So, what is the meaning of kindness? Does kindness benefit you?
Yes, kindness benefits both the recipient and the giver!
The benefits of your kind words and gestures in someone else’s life are pretty obvious, but practicing kindness benefits you too! Kindness promotes the release of happy chemicals in your body, helps you strengthen relationships, and keeps life in perspective.
Kindness Can Change the World
The world has celebrated World Kindness Day since 1998. This day (along with the surrounding Kindness Week) is dedicated to promoting kindness across the globe.
Why is kindness important enough to have a special day?
It has earned this honor because it can change the world! But how exactly does kindness change the world?
Kindness is contagious – when you do a good deed for another person, they feel motivated to repeat the act. This means that your single act of kindness has the potential to roll through the lives of many!
Kindness also improves the lives of the people receiving it and those showing it. When we are kind to others, we not only make them feel good, but we also boost our own self-esteem and happiness. It’s a never-ending cycle of goodness that makes both the giver and the receiver kinder and happier!
Moreover, kindness can break down barriers. When we connect with others through acts of kindness, we open up lines of communication and understanding. This can help to resolve conflicts, build relationships, and create a more compassionate world.
So let’s commit to always choosing kindness. We can start making the world a better place – one act of kindness at a time!
Is Charity the Same as Kindness?
Charity is an expression of kindness, to be sure. Charity is not the only form kindness takes.
Charity often has a monetary aspect to it. You can donate money, food, or clothes to a charity you admire! While this is great, not everyone can afford to do this regularly. However, you can also donate time and energy to a cause close to your heart.
Volunteering is a great way to show kindness. You can give your time to help out at a soup kitchen, an animal shelter, or a local hospital. You can also use your talents to help others – for example, by tutoring someone struggling in school or teaching a skill to someone who wants to learn.
One of the simplest (and most important) ways to show kindness is to be a good friend. Just being a good friend can make someone’s day – and your own! Be there for someone when they need you, lend a listening ear, and show your unwavering support.
Why Is Kindness Important? 5 Top Reasons
Showing kindness seems like the right thing to do!
There is even reason to believe that kindness is innate. This means it’s human nature to be kind – even though not everyone expresses it.
It also might be expressed in totally different ways! There are endless ways to be kind.
So, why is kindness important? Let’s take a look at the 5 top reasons. After this, you’ll jump at the chance to pay for a stranger’s coffee.
1. Being Kind Lifts Your Mood
There are many research studies into the link between kindness and happiness. For instance, a 2009 study in the Journal of Social Psychology reported that performing acts of kindness can improve life satisfaction.
In 2016, researchers at The University Of Oxford performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of over 400 published papers about the relationship between kindness and happiness. Although they found that kindness led to only a small improvement in the emotional health of the study participants, they concluded that being kind does make you happier!
Kindness from others is one thing, but being kind to yourself is also important! So, put a stop to any negative self-talk right away. Treating yourself kindly will make a huge difference in your own sense of well-being and self-worth.
So, why is kindness important? It improves your emotional health, making you feel good and feel happier!
2. Showing Kindness Gives New Perspective
Every religion has espoused the values of charity and kindness for millennia.
Kindness and empathy, the ability to share and understand another person’s feelings, are closely related. You learn more about yourself and others by being kind.
Kindness teaches positive behavior, compassion, generosity, consideration, and gratitude. You learn essential life lessons and gain new perspectives when you perform a simple act of kindness that improves someone else’s situation. When you’re kind to others, you start seeing them as human beings like yourself.
Helping an elderly neighbor carry groceries or do yard work can foster a sense of community. When you visit someone in the hospital or write a letter to a deployed service member, you show concern and support.
Fostering abandoned animals can help the animals and also help families find their forever pets. When you phone a friend to tell them you appreciate them, it turns their bad day around.
A kind person can touch human life in profound ways. So, why is kindness important? It teaches you about life! It is a gift that blesses both the giver and the recipient.
3. Kindness Improves Your Mental Health and Lowers Stress
Some people believe that being kind is weak. This is not true! Kindness is not weakness, it’s strength, and it is great for you!
Whether work- or relationship-related, or due to other factors, stress is a reality that we all face. This can harm our mental health and lead to certain illnesses.
Kindness produces a physiological reaction that lowers the stress hormone cortisol, reducing stress and producing a calmer mental state. This happens whether we are saying or hearing a kind word. That’s astonishing!
This positive impact will spill over into other areas of our lives.
Less stress and a calmer mind in our everyday lives can help us study harder, perform better at work, and get along with people more easily. This leads to further benefits like greater self-confidence and success.
Why is kindness important? It strengthens your mental health, helps your personal growth, and makes you more resilient.
4. When You Practice Kindness, Your Physical Health Improves Too
Remember that stress hormone cortisol that we just mentioned? It wreaks havoc on the body and affects nearly every organ.
For instance, chronically elevated levels of cortisol can raise blood sugar levels. By reducing cortisol, kindness can help control your blood sugar and prevent you from developing diabetes.
Studies also show that kindness helps protect the heart. People who are more compassionate and kind to others show reduced levels of inflammation, which is linked to serious heart conditions, such as coronary artery disease.
Kindness also lowers blood pressure and positively influences the immune system. This means that just a smile or a small act of kindness can help you avoid disease!
Why is kindness important? Its many health benefits can help you to live longer and healthier! You could say that kindness acts as preventive medicine for many chronic conditions.
5. Kindness Improves Your Relationships
Kind words and acts are known for improving interpersonal relationships, including relationships with family, friends, and romantic partners.
A compliment may be just what your friend needs to get through a bad day. It will boost their self-esteem and strengthen the bond between you two. An unexpected gift or little note of gratitude will let your partner know how much you appreciate them and make them feel closer to you.
Love thrives on kindness! Why is kindness important for loving relationships? It releases feel-good hormones like the ‘love hormone,’ oxytocin. These feel-good hormones foster a sense of intimacy and closeness between people. In this way, kindness makes you feel more loved and more loving.
Final Thoughts
Why is kindness important? Well, kindness matters.
What a wonderful gift of pure joy kindness is! The positive energy of kindness can improve your life and overall well-being in countless ways. It can also make a positive impact on the lives of others.
Random acts of kindness don’t have to cost anything. Kindness can take many different forms – take your pick! There are many ways to show kindness that are simple and free – yet life-changing.
Be a shoulder for your best friend to cry on. Listen to your loved ones when they’re having a hard day. Smile at a stranger. When you choose to be kind, the world becomes a better place for you and everyone around you.
So choose kindness, and be the reason someone smiles today. Your life will never be the same.
Kindness is one of the key elements of happiness. For more articles on how to be kind, check out the a little dose of happy blog. Together, let’s make kindness a part of our everyday lives!
