Dear Editor,
The effects of kindness are experienced in the brain of everyone who witnesses an act, improving their mood and making them significantly more likely to “pay it forward.” This means one good deed in a crowded area can create a domino effect.
Kindness offers many benefits:
Even witnessing acts of kindness produces oxytocin, occasionally referred to as the ‘love hormone’ that can lower blood pressure and improve heart-health. Oxytocin also increases our self-esteem and optimism.
Feelings of worth
Acts of kindness create calmness and less depression, with increased feelings of self-worth in a study group.
Happiness
A 2010 Harvard Business School survey of happiness in 136 countries found that people who are altruistic – in this case, people who were generous financially, such as with charitable donations – were happiest overall.
Lifespan
It is reported that people who volunteer tend to experience fewer aches and pains. Giving help to others protects overall health twice as much as aspirin protects against heart disease. People 55 and older who volunteer for two or more organizations have an impressive 44% lower likelihood of dying early.
Helper’s high
When you are kind to another person, your brain’s pleasure and reward centres light up, as if you were the recipient of the good deed – not the giver. This phenomenon is called the “helper’s high.”
Serotonin
Kindness stimulates the production of serotonin. This feel-good chemical heals your wounds, calms you down, and makes you happy! In addition, it increases the production of endorphins—the brain’s natural painkiller!
Everyone you meet has a challenge that you know nothing about. Be kind! Commit to a random act of kindness weekly and share your experience with us on Facebook:
Random Acts of Kindness International
Carmelise Gittens
