[Music] you [Music] in a world of 7 billion unique people of all different backgrounds ethnicities languages religions economic standings and values it's easy to say I can't relate in a world of seven billion people who all experience joy pain love and hurt it's even easier to say I know how it feels our own vulnerability invites others to be more apt to sharing their own stories creating stronger social ties nobody wants to feel alone in their struggles it is when we learn to acknowledge and understand that everyone is going through their own set of battles do
we buy into a community as a society we look to solve social issues by simply addressing them pointing out our flaws is an important step in creating solutions but I believe that the root of all evils we face are attributed to who we are as people we ostracize differences in fear that we might be the different ones we Envy the lives of people we don't actually know out of insecurity of our own and we join in on hateful behavior to prove that we are not weak if everyone simply bought into the idea of just being
kind to themselves and to others the world would be a better place today I'd like to look at three parts of being kind harmlessness humility and honesty all three collectively will reveal the power of kindness although we should not partake in kindness for the pat on the back or the affirmations thereafter it is important to know that the person who most immediately benefits from an act of kindness is the one initiating the act themselves Emory University conducted a study that illustrated the phenomenon of helpers hi when participants enacted kindness the reward and pleasure centers of
their brain lit up as if they were the ones receiving the kindness being kind releases serotonin into the body a known for healing wounds calming the nervous system and happiness we all know what it's like to be stressed our bodies are tense ready to fight or flight' this is because of the hormone cortisol being kind reduces the amount of cortisol being pushed into the body by combating it with another hormone known as oxytocin which is protective towards the heart by decreasing blood pressure that being said stress and kindness are therefore opposites of one another stress
makes us unhappy kindness makes us happy stress weakens the immune system while kindness boost it just to top it all off stress speeds up aging what kind of slows aging perhaps the best things about kindness is that it's both teachable and contagious kindness is not only about helping others but rather helping yourself it is the most selfless selfish act one could conduct at first glance harmlessness seems to be a passive quality to do no harm however it is very much so an active quality as it requires self-awareness intelligence and goodwill think about all the ways
people perfect strangers even can make your life miserable standing too close to you in an elevator talking loudly on their cell phone in public bringing in dirt from outside not even attempting to laugh at your bad joke or not saying thanks after you hold the door for them consciously or not we all have been and will be slightly obnoxious it is with harmlessness that we actively choose to make others lives easier this is a great example of harmlessness last year in one of my classes this one boy had a particularly hard week he was clearly
stressed he had bags under his eyes and he complained tirelessly about how many assessments he had that week but the thing was he took his stress out on our teacher he made these unwarranted rude comments for absolutely no reason and it really bothered me so I had a decision to make I could call him out after class tell him he was being a jerk or I could let it go in the end I chose to let it go not because I was afraid of what he might think of me after but because he was already
having a hard enough week I didn't need to add to it I knew that that kid wasn't fully represented in the comments he was making I knew that he was an honest good kid and he was just having a bad week so I let him have his bad week but you see harmlessness does not always mean treading lightly like that example often times it means going against the crowd standing with an unpopular opinion and ultimately choosing not to partake in the easy slander of the world although everyone else might be as philosopher Philo of Alexandria
once said be kind towards anyone you meet because they are all engaged in a big battle remembering this common predicament makes us better people we may only coexist and collaborate if we have respect towards one another now this does not mean liking everyone that's an impossible task but it means that you have respect towards everyone's journeys acknowledging that they all have their own battles and you don't add any obstacles to it humility is not embarrassment it is perhaps the greatest strength and tool for growth and one of Corey's etchings there's two words on aprender which
directly translates to I am still learning this is humility in learning those who think humbly of themselves often do better than those who think that they are overly confident in their ability because they understand that they still have Corrections to make and are thus more apt to listen and to learn humility begets our realization of our shared humanity we are all fallible however it is when we learn not to dwell on our mistakes but rather take them as lessons learned do we lead better lives if I do not try to be what I am NOT
I give myself permission to be Who I am accepting who we are the good and the bad makes us better better capable of benevolent irony but are able to stay in our place and make room for others to be honest mom those jeans don't really do you justice some would say this is too harsh to say to your mother I would say this is unapologetically honest I would join the ladder you see I could have let my mother buy the jeans spend the money she probably wouldn't have ever worn them ever again but instead I
decided to tell an uncomfortable truth and in my opinion do her a favor you see honesty is the very basis of kindness and the honesty lays the foundation for genuine acts of kindness that often tell uncomfortable truth being honest and kind is at times more difficult than saying yes when you mean no and smiling through the agony yet it is always worth it to be transparent is a biological relief the lie detector test runs off the idea that when we lie we subject our bodies to stress after we invent the lie we must keep the
story which only perpetuates anxiety however the brain tells the truth we are therefore program to be sincere so it's important for us to be honest with ourselves because it is exhausting to live lives that are not our own take the Divine Comedy the narrative of Dante's journey toward redemption for example the hypocrites in Hell must wear lead capes painted gold it's exhausting for them to wear these glamorous but falsehoods every day that represent what they are not and what they will never be the same goes for all of us being our truest selves alleviates the
need to live a story that we did not write so why do it more often than not we mask our emotions to save ourselves from judgment or to spare others from our apparent misery yet more often than not when we share our own stories we invite others to do the same resulting in that key phrase I know how it feels it is when we learned that we are not the only person in that boat that there are 7 billion other people going through their own set of struggles but their struggles are much more similar to
ours and they are different we feel a bit better so it's not only important to be honest with ourselves but to each other when someone asks how your day is be honest if your day sucks just say it when you ask someone how their day is mean it it is okay not to be okay it is okay to tell someone that you're not doing so great we as a society we have silenced that we have shamed that so it's time for us to tell uncomfortable truth it's time for us to have a bit of humility
to be harmless and to be honest honesty is the very basis of kindness because kindness cannot exist in a world of mass and illusions I'd like to close today with a series of self affirmations in times of doubt and confusion I ask me to remember this one thing there are 7 billion people in this world if you cannot find a kind person be one and you will start a change it is time for us to be kind to ourselves after too many days of waking up looking in the mirror and saying you are not enough
enough of what you are enough you have always been enough and you will always be enough here are this health affirmations I am at peace with all that has happened is happening and will happen because I know that everything is towards my highest good I am strong confident and kind I accept others as they are and in turn they accept me as I am I deserve all that is good I'll release any need for misery and suffering I am never alone this one I think is the most important I am never alone today the door
is open for all opportunities for me I approve of myself thank you you you
