In Week 6 of A Happier You, we focus on cultivating kindness in speech, thought, and action. The 14th Dalai Lama said, “It is always possible” to be kind, both to ourselves and others. But sometimes kindness may feel far off, especially if you’ve been suffering from a traumatic event in your life, emotional exhaustion, or high levels of stress.
If that’s the case, I first recommend nurturing the intention to be kind, which usually begins with directing kind thoughts and actions toward yourself. The first step might be taking a warm bath, carving quiet time out to read, or wrapping yourself in a mental hug. Self-kindness like this often blossoms into kind thoughts and actions toward others, simply because we are restoring our capacity to feel good. Then, when we feel good, it’s easier to channel benevolence outward. And we also know that kindness is connected with mental and physical health benefits, including longevity, purpose in life, and happiness.
Wonderful resources to inspire kindness can be found at kindness.org, including ideas for random acts of kindness and ways to bring kindness into your community. A new NFT project is donating proceeds to support Kindness.org’s mission to spread kindness throughout the world. We know that we need a kinder world for the generations that follow us. That work almost always begins within.