On November 4th, my family and I celebrated my mother’s 92nd birthday.
She doesn’t remember many details of her long, challenging, and beautiful life anymore, but her legacy of kindness continues to ripple through generations.
I was fortunate to spend most of my life close to my mother, except for those teenage years when I wished she were someone different, only to realize later she had been everything I truly needed.
If kindness had a middle name, it would be my mother’s. She prayed for everyone—people she knew, people she’d never met, anyone in need of grace. When I was eight months pregnant with my first daughter and the baby refused to turn, my mother started praying. Twenty-four hours before the doctor planned to do it manually (everyone warned me about it), the baby turned on her own.
The Science of Kindness
My mother practiced kindness in the most spiritual way she knew: through prayer.
Science now confirms what spiritual traditions have known for centuries: kindness is good for those who are kind and for those who receive kindness.
Acts of kindness activate the brain’s feel-good chemicals (serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin), which boost happiness and calm the nervous system. Kindness lowers stress, strengthens the immune system, and reduces inflammation. In a very real way, kindness heals.
November 13th is World Kindness Day, a perfect reminder that kindness is more than just good manners; it’s medicine for the mind, body, and soul.
But here’s the beautiful paradox: when you give kindness away, you receive even more in return.
The Ripple Effect You Can’t See
Every act of kindness, whether it’s praying for someone, smiling at a stranger, or offering encouragement, sends invisible ripples into the world. Studies call this “moral elevation,” when witnessing or receiving kindness inspires others to pass it on.
Each year, when I visit my family in Brazil, I try to bring something special to help our family reconnect and create new memories. This year, I made a Holiday Kindness & Gratitude Bingo. My niece and sister-in-law completed a line within 2 days and won a prize.
Think about the last time someone surprised you with a kind gesture. Maybe a friend called just when you needed it most. Perhaps a stranger’s smile changed your morning. That shift you felt inside wasn’t random; it was your biology aligning with the truth of human connection.
You can download the Holiday Bingo here
The Quiet Practice of Everyday Kindness
Kindness doesn’t always require grand gestures. Among the 16 actions in the Kindness Bingo, a popular one is to write and leave a positive note in a public place.
Kindness often shows up in the small, sacred moments of daily life, choosing patience over anger, listening over reacting, and forgiving over criticizing.
This week, while in Rio De Janeiro, my younger brother and I visited my mother’s favorite church, St. Anthony’s Cathedral, to honor her.
The Cathedral sits atop a hill in the Rio center, close enough to the company where my mother worked until she was 79 years old. Her life was interrupted when she crossed the street and was hit by a taxi. You can learn insights from unexpected events in life in my first book, Women, Rice, and Beans.
As I sat and prayed for my mother, I realized something profound: her faith taught me kindness, and through her prayers, she gave me the foundation of my own faith. Her devotion showed me that kindness isn’t just something we do; it’s something we become.
Self-Kindness
Kindness toward yourself may be the most transformative type of all acts of kindness; it screams: “I am worthy.”
When you offer yourself grace, when you rest instead of pushing, forgive instead of shaming, or speak gently to yourself, you model compassion that breaks old generational patterns of self-judgment. You heal not only yourself but those who watch you love yourself bravely.
To honor World Kindness Day, I invite you to try Kindness and Gratitude Bingo. You can print it here. Track your actions, not as a checklist, but as a mindfulness practice of living in kindness. Remember, every act of kindness, however small, rewires your brain for joy.
The Truth About Kindness
My mother may not remember her prayers anymore; she has dementia, but her kindness lives on in every gentle word, every act of faith, and every person she taught to believe in the goodness of life.
Kindness is my mother’s legacy. And I hope it becomes yours, too.
If you like this article, please ‘LIKE,’ ‘SHARE’, and leave a comment below to share your thoughts. You can download the BINGO here.
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