Capt. Rashmi C.’s Post

KINDNESS IS THE NEW BLACK!! ❤️ Kindest person in the room is the smartest one NOW !! With the introduction of the sustainable development goals (SGD's) by the UN , we have started to recognize the strong interdependency among all beings living on this planet, and how one person’s or country’s actions can affect others living thousands of kilometres away. We all recognize that we live on a planet with finite resources. According to the Global Footprint Network, our current level of consumption requires 1.7 Earths, and will require two Earths by 2030. With this astonishing burn rate, the redistribution of resources among individuals within and between countries is crucial to achieving the SDGs. If we continue with the present mindset that we must produce more to narrow the inequality gap, we are doomed to failure. We must instead start to learn to share and come to terms with the notion that monetary wealth alone is not the key to happiness. There are enough studies demonstrating that there is indeed a ‘bliss point’, beyond which a marginal increase in happiness is reduced with each extra dollar of material wealth. The act of giving is key!! Practicing kindness is the key!! Kindness by its neurobiological nature, improves the happiness and well-being of the receiver and the giver. People are empathetic by nature. This natural trait, however, has been suppressed by the external environment to which we are subjected today. The fast pace of life, increasing employment insecurity, the stress of needing to excel at all times and, more recently, the increasing frequency of extreme climate changes have all dampened our sensitivity to the plight of other beings. We need to bring back our natural tendency to practice kindness. Training young people in Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) can help spark acts of kindness. In the last few years, SEL has emerged as a set of competencies. In general SEL seeks to provide explicit training in four competencies, namely, empathy (E), mindfulness (M), compassion (C) and critical inquiry (C), to encourage kindness and promote prosocial behaviour. Each of the SEL competencies must be practiced and experienced to be learned; the beauty of this learning experience is that it builds kinder individuals. Research shows that the act of giving actually produces the feel-good neurotransmitter serotonin, thus increasing happiness (Luks, 1988). Continued acts of kindness set into motion an upward spiral of happiness, and reverse the downward spiral of depression and reduce levels of the negative neurotransmitter. So move over... Kindness is the new black !! ❤️ -extract from an article on UN site #kindness #kindnessmatters #SEL #socialemotionallearning #sustainable #development #sustainabledevelopment #teachchildren #empathy #criticalthinking #compassion #mindfulness #happiness #practice