Three Acts of Human Kindness
Three Acts of Human Kindness and One Bonus Act!
By W. Owen Thornton
Here are three acts of human kindness that you can perform that will make yourself or others more kind. The first act is something that you can do for your self and the other two are things that you can do to make other's kinder. The key behind these last two acts of human kindness is motive. If you perform these acts in hopes that they will simply make people more kind, then that's great! If you perform them to manipulate ... well, if there is a power of positive energy in the universe, you will not be rewarded should you attempt to manipulate. All three acts have science behind them.
To make yourself feel better, tell someone your daily story. In fact, this idea works well in pairs. Find someone who will take time to listen so that you feel "heard" and share your stories with one another. Sharing your daily story will make you more kind. Why? because when we tell our daily stories, we release positve hormones and chemicals inside our bodies. These hormones and chemicals are then taken back up into parts of the brain and we receive a positive high from this action.
To make someone else better touch someone in a loving or caring manner. Now this one is a bit more "loaded" than the first idea. Some people have a wide personal space, so touch CAN be tricky. However scientists can now detect the following. When you are ill and someone you care about visits and touches you meaningfully, again, your body emits positive hormones and chemicals that give you a positive high. My question is why wait until someone is unwell to touch them. The power of a positive touch is healing power and can change someone's attitudes and behaviour.
Last bake some cookies or or a pie or make some popcorn. In fact, you don't really have to eat any of these things to have a human kindness reaction. Isen and Levin, in 1972 determined that people will be kinder for upwards of 20 minutes simply by smelling things like food. Again, hormones and chemicals are released inside of our bodies that enable you to feel a positive high and this can make other people kinder towards themselves and others.
Now in all of these cases the effects do not last long. Isen and Levin thought that the warm glow of success would last upwards of 20 mintues. But wow, in the meantime, you or the people you care about the most will have better thoughts than they were having moments before.
And your Bonus Human Kindness Tip?
Place Teddy Bears around the house (or the office if you dare!). There is something real and true about a teddy bear that prevents you from getting angry and that may well prevent others from getting angry at you. It seems, seeing as teddy bears are about love, that people cannot get angry in front of a teddy bear because ... well ... simply ... how could someone with a teddy bear around all the time ever get angry. And, if you're the kind of person who had teddy bears around ... others will feel hesitant in getting angry in front of them. Oddly enough, the presence of a teddy bear is not a short-term effect. Having them around will make your world a kinder place.
We are strange animals eh?
By W. Owen Thornton
Here are three acts of human kindness that you can perform that will make yourself or others more kind. The first act is something that you can do for your self and the other two are things that you can do to make other's kinder. The key behind these last two acts of human kindness is motive. If you perform these acts in hopes that they will simply make people more kind, then that's great! If you perform them to manipulate ... well, if there is a power of positive energy in the universe, you will not be rewarded should you attempt to manipulate. All three acts have science behind them.
To make yourself feel better, tell someone your daily story. In fact, this idea works well in pairs. Find someone who will take time to listen so that you feel "heard" and share your stories with one another. Sharing your daily story will make you more kind. Why? because when we tell our daily stories, we release positve hormones and chemicals inside our bodies. These hormones and chemicals are then taken back up into parts of the brain and we receive a positive high from this action.
To make someone else better touch someone in a loving or caring manner. Now this one is a bit more "loaded" than the first idea. Some people have a wide personal space, so touch CAN be tricky. However scientists can now detect the following. When you are ill and someone you care about visits and touches you meaningfully, again, your body emits positive hormones and chemicals that give you a positive high. My question is why wait until someone is unwell to touch them. The power of a positive touch is healing power and can change someone's attitudes and behaviour.
Last bake some cookies or or a pie or make some popcorn. In fact, you don't really have to eat any of these things to have a human kindness reaction. Isen and Levin, in 1972 determined that people will be kinder for upwards of 20 minutes simply by smelling things like food. Again, hormones and chemicals are released inside of our bodies that enable you to feel a positive high and this can make other people kinder towards themselves and others.
Now in all of these cases the effects do not last long. Isen and Levin thought that the warm glow of success would last upwards of 20 mintues. But wow, in the meantime, you or the people you care about the most will have better thoughts than they were having moments before.
And your Bonus Human Kindness Tip?
Place Teddy Bears around the house (or the office if you dare!). There is something real and true about a teddy bear that prevents you from getting angry and that may well prevent others from getting angry at you. It seems, seeing as teddy bears are about love, that people cannot get angry in front of a teddy bear because ... well ... simply ... how could someone with a teddy bear around all the time ever get angry. And, if you're the kind of person who had teddy bears around ... others will feel hesitant in getting angry in front of them. Oddly enough, the presence of a teddy bear is not a short-term effect. Having them around will make your world a kinder place.
We are strange animals eh?
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