Good day everyone. For those of you new to Kindness-Rocks (not to be confused with the group that uses painted rocks with positive messages) what we stand for is being champions of celebrating and empowering every human to see their unique remarkable awesomeness by being kind to ourselves and to others❤️ Often when I write this blog I look up what the definition of the word means. This is the answer google gave me today.

“Kindness is defined as the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. Affection, gentleness, warmth, concern, and care are words that are associated with kindness. While kindness has a connotation of meaning someone is naive or weak, that is not the case. Being kind often requires courage and strength.” December 4, 2017

This past week there have been three horrific, violent, mass shooting events in the USA. So far this year there have been a total of 251 mass shootings in America according to Wikipedia. So today the focus of today will be complete kindness to yourself and complete kindness to others. To do this on a daily, ongoing, consistent basis. Kindness to you and to others. You need it, others need it. Kindness is an action that creates powerful change for everyone. We all need a lot of kindness.

KINDNESS TIPS

  • Make sure you take care of your basic needs. Get your zzzz’s, eat healthy (for the most part), go for a walk, get in some fitness. Sneak in some meditation and mindfulness. Get a hobby or hobbies. Paint, cook, bake, draw, knit, garden, play pingpong, read. Do things you love to do that make you happy😊

You + Self Care = GOOD THINGS

  • Get outside and get around nature. Multiple studies have shown that being in nature improves your mental state. Think of it this way:

You + Nature = GOOD THINGS

  • Listen to the chatter in you head. Is it positive and empowering? Is it critical and demeaning? If it is critical and demeaning work on changing what your head, your brain, your words are saying to you and about you. Repetitiously state, write, comment positive words about yourself. 

“When admiring other people’s gardens don’t forget to tend to your own flowers” Sandbar Klan

  • Limit social media. Limit watching too much news and stories of tragedies. Graham Davey, a professor emeritus of psychology at Sussex University in the UK and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Experimental Psychopathology states today’s news is “increasingly visual and shocking,” and points to the inclusion of smartphone videos and audio clips as examples. These bystander-captured media can be so intense that they can cause symptoms of acute stress—like problems sleeping, mood swings or aggressive behavior—or even PTSD according to an article in Time Magazine written by Markham Heid on January 31, 2018.
  • Connect more with others and limit time to self. While being by oneself to regroup and recharge is important, too much of this can be detrimental to your mental health. Reach out to family and friends, take a fun class, volunteer, do something to be connected to people. Get a pet.

You + People = GOOD THINGS

  • Do kind things for others. Offer to help someone in need, show a kindness, buy a cup of coffee for the person behind you, bake some bread and take it to others. There is a brain boost in being kind to others. In order to have lasting impact it is important to repeat kind acts.

“We all seek a path to happiness,” says Dr. Waguih William IsHak, a professor of psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai. Practicing kindness toward others is one we know works. The rewards of acts of kindness are many,” says Dr. IsHak. They help us feel better and they help those who receive them. We’re building better selves and better communities at the same time. That’s why kindness is most beneficial as a practice—something we work into our daily routine whether in the form of volunteer work, dropping coins into an expired parking meter, bringing a snack to share with your officemates, or holding the elevator for someone.”This post is from the Cedars-Sinai blog on February 13, 2019.

You + Kindness to others = GOOD THINGS

You do matter. Everyone of us is an unique, individual amazing person that brings special talents, skills, and personalities to this world. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to others. Be kind always.

May your kindness be with you💜

Photo by Randalyn Hill