By the Australian Kindness Movement
The date decreed for World Kindness Day is 13th November. This was the opening day of the first World Kindness Movement® conference held at Tokyo in 1998, and the 35th anniversary of the Small Kindness Movement of Japan, which brought the signatories of the ‘declaration of kindness’ of the World Kindness Movement together in 1997.
The purpose of World Kindness Day is to look beyond ourselves, beyond the boundaries of our country, beyond our culture, our race, our religion; and realise we are citizens of the world. As world citizens we have a commonality, and must realise that if progress is to be made in human relations and endeavours, if we are to achieve the goal of peaceful coexistence, we must focus on what we have in common. When we find likenesses we begin to experience empathy, and in such a state we can fully relate to that person or those people. While we may think of people from other cultures as being ‘different’ when we compare them with our own customs and beliefs, it doesn’t mean that we are any better than they are. When we become friends with someone from a different culture we discover that despite some obvious differences, there are many similarities.
Sometimes knowledge is passed on to us about different races, different cultures, that has become distorted, and we build up a false, negative impression of these people. It is only when we get to know such people that we realise it is a lie.
Another form of separation is in those people who fail to let go of transgressions that have occurred in the past. This also applies to some groups, where bitterness from many hundreds of years ago has been passed down though generations, and hatred becomes a normal reaction to thoughts of, or association with, the other group of people. The recent genocide in Europe is a tragic example of this. There is a need to let go of past transgressions if we are to live in peace. While we cannot change the past, we can ensure such things never happen again.
If we were to ask ourselves on a regular basis, “Is what I am involved in at this moment promoting joining or separation?”, it would remind us of our commitment to kindness. All it requires is remembering. If our memory is not the best, small signs can be created and posted about the home and work environment. Simple solutions are workable solutions. Simple solutions to promote joining, working away at our goal for world peace with little acts of kindness, helping to break down the walls that separate races, religions, cultures. Helping our global brothers and sisters.
During the Great War (1914-18), when the dead were piled high in ‘no man’s land,’ a truce would be declared so the dead could be gathered by the respective sides. When this was completed, the battle would resume as if nothing had happened. One moment joining together in a common cause, the next, mortal enemies again. Do you associate this with day to day living? We have our moments of joining in a common cause – when we pause to be of service, or when we observe Kindness Day, Valentine’s Day, Christmas Day, Anzac Day, Australia Day, Clean Up Australia Day, and so on. But then we go back to the way we were before the truce was declared – we go back to being at war! Not physically at war, but psychologically. At war with the traffic, our boss or a co-worker, the neighbour’s howling dog, rising prices, rude people, the noisy garbage truck, the promotion we didn’t get, unruly children, the computer crash, the noisy party, falling share prices, an argument with our partner, the washing machine breaking down, the late train or bus, the long queue, the parking ticket, the recording that says, “Your call is important to us,” the person who didn’t ‘understand.’ It seems as if the whole of humanity is going through some mid-life crisis. All of these stressful incidents in our engagement with the world is creating separation. How can we hope to have a peaceful world when we are incapable of creating peace in our own lives? We give energy to whatever we put our attention on, and how sad that our energy is generally focussed on the negative things (creating stress and hostility), and on the things we don’t have (creating feelings of lack and dissatisfaction). What would it take to focus on the good things about our life, and be thankful for what we have, instead of being resentful or irritated about what we don’t have?
We can be co-creators of a better world, and we can have a positive effect on world peace, when we bring order into our lives. Be what you want the world to be. Is that difficult? Only if you think it is! When we accept the reality that we can create positive change, we move beyond ourselves, our limitations, our doubts, and realise our infinite power. Anthropologist Margaret Mead said, Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
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