Being Kind Matters More than Chocolates
Being kind is showing love. Kindness encompasses all the various ways, large and small, in which we show concern, care, and compassion for both ourselves and those with whom we coexist in the world. Kindness often manifests as a reassuring hug, a supportive smile, and a helping hand just when we need it most yet may least anticipate it. Valentine’s Day is all about sharing love and kindness with others around us, not only our significant others and those we love. Society has come to associate the holiday with having a partner, but that doesn’t have to be the case.
Let us celebrate the element of love. We all have a strong desire to be loved and nurtured. One of our most fundamental needs is the desire to be loved. Contact comfort, the desire to be held and touched, is one manifestation of this need. Even though society tells us that happiness comes from receiving others’ love, respect, and attention rather than from giving love, respect, and attention to others. The majority of us must recognize, either consciously or unconsciously, that happiness comes from loving and caring for others.
Go out this year and tell your loved ones and people within your surroundings how much you appreciate and love them. They probably need to hear that now more than ever as we enter the third year of the pandemic. Because the satisfaction of this urge raises our happiness levels, we are aware that they want to love and care for others is deeply ingrained and hard-wired. The act of showing love or compassion to another person is rewarding for both the giver and the receiver.
Valentine’s Day serves as a helpful reminder to treat others kindly. Love those you know well, strangers, and those you may have just met. Giving and sharing love with others is an act of kindness that might make you happier than receiving. Even more intriguing is the possibility that this will start a positive cycle that could make us happier for longer.
Every year, writers celebrate Valentine’s Day with family, trusted friends, and community members. Valentine’s Day is also a day to reflect on all the people you care about, including your wonderful family and friends. This year will be celebrated in Bismarck, ND with the North Dakota legislatures, where she and a select group of colleagues are set to meet and discuss their love for healthier Dakotans and finding practical solutions to the state’s health issues.
Send a letter expressing your gratitude to a professor, supervisor, or coworker. Make sure to tip your server well if you plan to dine out for the holiday. Consider performing some acts of kindness to commemorate Valentine’s Day, which coincides with Random Acts of Kindness Week. It is up to you how you spend the holiday; it need not be just about giving and receiving hugs and kisses.
For example before Valentine’s Day, collect coins in a heart-shaped jar and present them to a nearby nonprofit organization, send a note of appreciation to someone you admire, send some red roses to a family experiencing hardship, make Valentine’s cards to give to a nursing home or a shelter for the homeless, find one way to express love to a different family by helping them out in the garden, watching the kids for the evening or hosting a meal, and hand out a single red rose to random students within North Dakota State University campus in Fargo, ND.
Valentine’s Day can be spent wonderfully by telling someone you appreciate them, checking in on them, or even just planning to get out with them later. Rather than spending the day being sour, choose to be sweet and treat friends, family, and strangers to acts of kindness this Valentine’s Day.