For seven days during RAK Week, from February 14th - 20th, we invite you to take the Extreme Kindness Challenge. We will suggest a new Act of Kindness each day. Choose a time when it works for you to do the Act of Kindness, but be sure to do it at least once each day for seven days. (If you don't want to do our idea but do a challenge of your own, that counts too!)
Of course, doing good deeds now and then is good for the soul. Gratitude and generosity are part of positive living which can dramatically increase our overall wellness, helping us on our paths to optimal health.
While many people would dismiss this notion as quackery, touchy-feely girl stuff, or being overly spiritual – guess what – there’s scientific evidence that “being nice” is not only good for the soul, but it is HEALTHY for you, too!
A new study done at the University of California “challenges our long-held belief that humans are hard-wired to be selfish.” This isn’t necessarily true! Researchers involved in this study say that Darwin believed that “humans are successful as a species precisely because of our nurturing, altruistic and compassionate traits,” rather than the widely-accepted interpretation of Darwinism that is an “every man for himself” theory. The study states that hard science is showing that “the human capacity to care is mechanically wired into our brains and nervous systems.”
These scientists believe that the idea of selflessness could be the key to a longer life.
While this notion would make sense from a religious or spiritual standpoint, it might be surprising for many of you to learn that there is actual medical and scientific evidence to prove it on a more quantifiable level.
Selfless people - including volunteers and caregivers – appear to be “rewarded” with greater life longevity.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, “Stephanie Brown, associate professor of preventive medicine at SUNY-Stony Brook, followed a group of older adults caring for family members with dementia and other illnesses. If they offered care more than 14 hours a week, they were less likely to die in a seven-year period than their peers.”
As I’ve mentioned in past entries, being grateful can also be healing. It creates positive thoughts which increase endorphins in the body – and these endorphins are medically-proven natural pain relievers! (They are also released during exercise!)
Recent academic studies that being grateful and selfless or generous go hand-in-hand, and also create a healthier mind-body connection….and if it won’t reduce your physical pain, it will at least help you cope with the emotional struggles that go along with chronic illness, in addition to reducing stress!
...We should practice selflessness at all times of year, and not just at Thanksgiving or the winter holidays. It can’t hurt, and will help others while helping ourselves, too! After all, if you “pay it forward,” you never know what will come back to you – and the prospect of a longer life? That sounds like a pretty good deal, too!
Many may then question, if this is all true, how a nice person could be stricken with illness if being kind is, in fact, healthy. Well just think: that person’s condition(s) may be much worse off if they WEREN’T a positive and/or selfless person! Food for thought ♥
Leave a comment and tell us how you’re “doing good” or “paying it forward!” We’d love to hear the effects that this positive experiences have had on you physically, mentally, or emotionally! After all, health is about ALL components of our being – mind, body, and spirit!
Let’s Move Together towards a happier and healthier life! From: http://midatlanticarthritis.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/pay-it-forward-can-being-nice-be-healthy-too-the-science-behind-selflessness/
Visit the Foundation for a Better Life: http://www.values.com/
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