Every year, World Kindness Day is celebrated on November 13th. While I like the idea of taking a day to focus on the importance of kindness, I think we all know that kindness isn’t just a value that you practice one day a year. Instead, just like Earth Day (April 22nd) gives us the opportunity to think about how we can appreciate and protect our planet every day, I think of World Kindness Day as a chance to consider how we can make kindness a more regular part of our lives all year long.
To do that, we first need to ask ourselves a big question: what does being kind actually mean?
The most obvious example of kindness is found in the act of giving. When we donate money, clothing, food, or other resources to someone in need, we are showing them kindness. But there are also other kind things that we can give to anyone, like attention, compassion, advice, encouragement, and forgiveness.
Kindness is also behaving in ways that help — or at least don’t hurt — others. When we hold a door open for the person behind us, help someone pick up an item they dropped, wait our turn to speak instead of talking over others, or offer to carry something for someone who is injured or overburdened, we are demonstrating kindness — and those examples of public kindness can be inspiringly contagious.
How we feel about others is also an opportunity to be kind. When we agree with and get along with someone else, it’s easy for us to think positively about them. But when we disagree with someone’s opinions or beliefs, our reaction may be to think or speak negatively about them. In these moments, we can practice kindness by disagreeing without thinking or speaking poorly of each other. In fact, disagreements are also great opportunities to talk things through and find common ground, which helps remind us that we are all more alike than we are different.
Perhaps the most important kindness of all is the grace we give ourselves. When we make mistakes or fall short of our goals, it’s natural that we may feel angry or upset. But beating ourselves up won’t make us stronger. Instead, admitting that we still have work to do and granting ourselves the space, time, and patience to keep doing that work is the type of personal kindness that gives each of us the strength to make the world a better place, one day at a time.