A very good tradition for many countries was the annual celebration of World Kindness Day on November 13, the date for which was chosen as the opening day in 1998 in Tokyo of the 1st conference of the World Kindness Movement. This event was attended by representatives of Australia, Canada, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Great Britain and the USA (later other countries joined the Movement).
The organization itself «World Movement for Kindness» was created in Japan a year earlier, in 1997, and brought together « under its banner» like-minded kindness movements from different countries – volunteers and volunteers who from year to year tirelessly act all over the world and with their deeds inspire people to do good deeds. Today, anyone who wants to commit a good, sincere, noble act can join them. Moreover, the main communication between the participants of the Movement takes place via the Internet, where on their resources they talk about the ideas of good deeds and ways to implement them.
The Movement has its own official document – «Declaration of Kindness», which reads: «We recognize the fundamental importance of simple human kindness as the basic condition for a satisfying and meaningful life, and with this document proclaim the creation of the World Kindness Movement. We will strive to unite through organizations in each country and through the creation of a worldwide network, and create a kinder and more empathetic world».
It was the participants of this organization who proposed creating such a wonderful holiday. World Kindness Day was officially established in Singapore on November 18, 2000 at the 3rd Conference of the Movement.
It is no secret that in the modern high-tech and high-speed world, human feelings and moral qualities are increasingly fading into the background, and there is less kindness among people – this fact, unfortunately, is obvious. Therefore, today's holiday – is another reason to remember such a quality and category of human relations as Kindness and to unite the movements for kindness existing in various countries to help people realize that doing good – is not at all difficult, and the result of good deeds and actions is colossal.
Doing good – is not difficult at all... (Photo: Alena Haurylik, licensed from Shutterstock.com)
Another goal of World Kindness Day, according to its founders, is to promote the unification of different nations, despite linguistic and cultural differences. After all, only on the basis of sincerely good deeds and actions can unity and mutual understanding be achieved, while maintaining identity and uniqueness.
Doing good deeds – is incredibly simple, goodness is not measured by money, sometimes – does not require a lot of time and effort, the main thing is to start –. Even just a kind smile to a stranger – is already capable of creating miracles, including for the person himself who does this Good. After all, in addition to the fact that good deeds increase everyone’s mood, they also have the best effect on well-being and increase vitality.
According to a study by psychologists and doctors from different countries, people who do good deeds every day feel better physically, feel their lives more harmonious, have better immunity, which means they get sick less and live longer. All this is even confirmed by practical research – when a person does something good to other people, his lymphocyte level increases, and his blood vessels dilate, this leads to the correct functioning of the heart; The brain produces a large number of endorphins (known as « pleasure hormones»), which have a calming effect, neutralize the effects of stress, and relieve depression. Finally, responsiveness is accompanied by a mental upsurge bordering on euphoria, which is explained by the production of the hormone serotonin, which regulates our mood.
Moreover, as the organizers of the holiday call, it is important to be kind selflessly not only on this Day, but also daily and limitlessly. After all, if you expect gratitude (in any of its manifestations) for your kindness, then this is no longer real Kindness.
By the way, during its existence the holiday itself also developed its own traditions. Thus, on the Day of Kindness, in addition to good smiles and deeds, it is customary to give flowers to acquaintances and strangers (for example, in Singapore – daisies and gerberas), and especially for this Day, the French artist Aurele created the symbol – open heart.
With each such, essentially simple act, it becomes better for someone, and therefore more kindness in the world (Photo: giorgiomtb, licensed by Shutterstock.com)
In Russia, Kindness Day was held for the first time in 2009. – then in Moscow on Manezhnaya Square, on the initiative of the journal Psychologies, a flash mob took place, in which everyone took part. Those who came to the square at exactly 11-00 hours joined hands, forming a large circle, in the center of which was the Globe of the World Clock. It was a symbolic sign of solidarity with the whole world and those countries in which Kindness Day takes place. On the same day, special Postal Points of Kindness were organized in different places of the capital, where anyone could write kind letters to residents of boarding schools for the elderly with words of participation and support. By the evening of the day, more than 500 letters were sent to the addresses of residents of boarding schools in the Tula and Vladimir regions.
Join this good, wonderful holiday too. After all, it’s so simple – smile at someone like you, hug your parents or friend, compliment your colleague or boss, give flowers to a neighbor or stranger, call your friends and tell them how wonderful they are, take your grandmother across the road, but only the one who definitely needs to the other side of the roadway, make and hang a bird feeder on the street, feed a stray kitten or puppy... This list can be continued for a long time. All this will take little time and effort, but the effect will be colossal. After all, with each such essentially simple act, someone gets better, which means – and more kindness in the world.
It is also important to remember that with such deeds –, with manifestations of responsiveness, sympathy, generosity, friendliness, love, nobility –, we teach our children to do good.
It is advisable, of course, to do good every day, and not just on this holiday. After all, there is never too much kindness, and on February 17, the world annually celebrates the Day of Spontaneous Exercise of Kindness.
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