The Importance Of Being Kind

Why Kindness Is the Key to Improved Well-being Can kindness, love and a strong sense of community actually make you healthier and happier? Research says that it does. ........ A 1978 study looking at the link between high cholesterol and heart health in rabbits determined that kindness made the difference between a healthy heart and a heart attack. ......... Most of us, when we think about health, we think about diet, exercise, sleep, the occasional trip to the doctor. But it’s really quite striking because there are decades of evidence that show that, in fact, probably

the biggest contributor to our health is our relationships

......... while quality medical care is absolutely critical, access to it probably only accounts for about 10% to 20% of our health........ Genes definitely play a role, but what was so shocking to me is that they’re not as fixed as you think. Lifestyle is important, but again it comes back to our relationships. ........ Do you think most people make this association between good health and positive emotions?........ I would say absolutely not, and I think that’s the thing. ............. the strongest predictor of a man’s death from heart disease isn’t cholesterol or blood pressure. It’s his job. Or her job. ........ It’s easy to get sidetracked with the razzle-dazzle of biomedicine........ there are really low-cost interventions that are community based that can have huge impacts on people’s health down the road. .........

we really need to be gentle on new moms and families.

....... The hug you give your child or your spouse when you walk out the door makes a difference, and not only with them. ......

loving actions actually change our physiology

....... They looked around and realized what was different about that one group is that there was a researcher that wasn’t just giving the rabbits kibbles. She was actually picking them up. She was petting them. She was talking to them. She was giving them love and kindness......... Loneliness kind of comes in two flavors. It’s the number of connections you have, and then it’s also how connected you feel to others. ........

loneliness is as significant a health risk as well-established factors, such as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, heavy alcohol use, even high blood pressure and obesity.

....... “When did you last call a good friend? When did you meet someone for dinner or coffee?” ........ being married is health-protective if it’s a happy marriage........ healthy, positive relationships and marriages can reduce pain if the relationship is strong........

being kind is a practice, and it’s hard.

It involves having to learn to navigate conflict, and conflict comes up many, many times a day. Part of it is also recognizing it’s a practice and then building our skillset, because we have to be doing a better job of this. ........ for every one life saved by biomedicine, it seems as though education saves eight....... not finishing high school is the equivalent of a lifetime of smoking........ having a life purpose, feeling optimistic — all those things actually can prolong telomeres, can help us live longer and help us live better even when illnesses do come........

Spending time in nature boosts the immune system. People in hospitals who are exposed to a garden recover a day faster.

They require less pain management, less intervention from staff........... these microaggressions, these things that happen over time. ....... these tiny little events that happen during the day, but they have a cumulative health effect........ death by a thousand paper cuts....... “Well, maybe I have some assumptions and actions that I’m not even aware that I’m doing.”........ “You can probably toss out your human [resources] manual and just rewrite it as, ‘Be kind.'”......... it comes down to kindness.......

People who work in health care are at high, high [risk] of burnout, and I think part of it is because we’re aware that we’re not addressing this. It feels overwhelming to put that responsibility just on the health care system alone. This is really all of us. It’s treating each other with dignity and learning to navigate conflict in a way that’s about supporting people and not tearing them down.

................. We need to be kind to people in our schools, in our workplaces ...... When you’re driving on the road, be kind.