A study conducted by the University of British Columbia confirmed that acts of kindness lifted the moods of the giver and reduced anxiety levels. Kindness is known to generate increased levels of happy and love hormones. With these facts in mind, you would think kindness would be as ubiquitous as the air we breathe. In this world that is saturated with incessant turmoil, horrendous pressures and unprecedented tribulations, we all need to invest in this quality in a deliberately purposeful manner.
True, people often offend us. Why do we need to be kind to these individuals? A Jewish philosopher named Philo of Alexandria gives this insight, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” This calls on all of us to work on the quality of kindness even if we are not that naturally inclined. The enormity of our souls is unfathomable. If we wish, we can create within ourselves intrinsic multiple hovels of kindness and make room for others despite their flaws. Our capacity to be kind and compassionate can only be constrained by heavy self-imposed strictures that would suffocate our capacity to think straight and impede our ability to widen our hearts. Of all avenues that we can exploit to restore the waning faith in humanity, kindness will always be second to none.
