Why World Kindness Day Matters More Than Ever Before

Everyone talks about it, so many people post about it, but are they kind and what does kindness actually cost?

We are living in a world, where people are often unkind. Maybe, for some it’s easier to be that way, but it really got us thinking as we celebrate World Kindness Day on 13th November.

In the last twelve months, our business has enjoyed significant growth, for which we have worked hard and are very grateful. We are ambitious and we’re enjoying the next steps in our business journey. 

We’ve made some mistakes along the way and it’s not been an easy ride. In fact, some days I wonder if it’s all worth it. But then I remember why I started the business in the first place and why I wanted to bring kindness into an industry that was well known for only thinking about the bottom line and not about the people who live in the buildings that we manage.   

We are out there on social media and we post and comment with pride and we are saddened that we have recently been the target for online trolls. People who have made up online profiles to verbally abuse us, our service and our business.

Hiding behind fake profiles, making threatening and nasty comments.

Of course, we have reported the fake profile and blocked them, but they’ve kept coming. We’ve reported it to the Police and their specialised Cyber Crime Teams and they have been so supportive.

But what drives the unkind behaviour?

Often, it’s not about you, the behaviour comes from a place of unhappiness.

“How people treat other people is a direct reflection of how they feel
about themselves.” Paulo Coelho

There is no excuse for rudeness, offensive behaviour, or being unkind to other individuals and we know logically, that when people are being rude to you in your everyday life, it says more about them than it does about you. They have likely convinced themselves that they are unworthy, not good enough or generally very unhappy in their own lives, and that is the biggest tragedy of all.

But, when you’re on the receiving end of this unkindness it’s hard to stay positive.

We know all too well that you don’t have to tolerate it when others are unkind, and, although challenging, you should try not to take it personally, no matter how personal it feels.

You Have a Choice!

You really do!

You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you. You can control how you react to what happens to you. So choose the controllables.

You don’t have to internalise the meanness as a fault of your own. You can simply recognise that the person being rude is struggling with their own problems, and they need to find a way to cope with them.

Something that we have learnt, and in some respects, we have learnt it the hard way, is that you cannot control the actions and behaviours of others. You can only control your personal reactions to them.

YOU HAVE TO REMIND YOURSELF - IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!

We found this great Tiny Buddha article Why People Are Rude and Unkind (and Why It’s Not About You)

Kindness on Social Media and the Impact

This week we also celebrated Social Media Kindness Day. This is particularly important to us right now, for obvious reasons.

Everyone talks about being kind, so Social Media Kindness Day is about shining the light on making Social Media a kinder place as opposed to it being somewhere where anger and hate breeds.

Most people would never make the nasty remarks they do on social media to a person's face, and yet there are many ‘keyboard warriors’ out there hiding behind their online profile, or in our case even fake profiles. If they only saw the hurt and upset caused by their harsh words, maybe they would think before they attacked.

On social media, the ability to see that reaction is taken away. You never know how someone would react to the nasty messages they receive on social media. 

You never know what someone is going through in their personal life. They could be suffering with depression or anxiety and all of their efforts go into getting up and staying strong for those few hours a day that they have to go to work. 

Or those few hours a day that they can spend with their child. 

Or even that one hour a day when they can face simply having a shower and changing into clean clothes. 

That one split second when a person sees a nasty online comment could have dire consequences. 

That comment could leave a husband without a wife. A child without a mother. A parent without their child. The list goes on…

I think there is something to be said for the old saying “if you haven’t got anything nice to say don’t say anything at all.” 

It Costs Nothing To Be Kind. Does it really?

Social Media Kindness Day was created in memory of the late TV presenter Caroline Flack, being held on what would have been her birthday - 9th November. It is through her message of being kind that this day is connected to her. This is a movement - check it out - where unkindness isn't tolerated.

Social media should be a place where we can all socialise, network, do business and live 'their best life' without fear of negativity.

When someone is unkind to either me, my team or my family it triggers all sorts of unpleasant memories. I wrote about it last year in our blog The Bully And Me.

How do we deal with it now?

At Fraser Allen Estate Management we are a team of warm-hearted overachievers with a brilliant work ethic and we love what we do, join us as we work to make kindness the norm!

Finally, always remember, even on your darkest day, you are braver than you believe, stronger than you feel and smarter than you think.