You have kind genes!

Seriously.

We all have. Kind genes are some of the oldest in the human genome. We’re talking 100 million years at least, but the roots go back around 700 million years.

Ancient!

Kind is our legacy. We’re supposed to help each other. It’s our deepest nature.

It’s when we’re not kind that we introduce ourselves to stress, because we go against our nature.

So how did we get kind genes?

Well, long ago, a very long time ago, our ancient ancestors learned that helping each other out was much safer and healthier than serving the self only. There were no supermarkets in those days. Food had to be hunted or found.

Sharing what we had, working together, supporting each other, teaching each other, having fun together, caring for each other; these are the things that worked to keep our ancient ancestors fed, watered, safe, and thriving. 

The inclination, then, to help each other, to support and encourage each other, plus the good feelings of living, playing, and enjoying time together, got passed from one generation, to the next, to the next, and the next again, all the way to the present day.

Over this time, the instinct to be kind, to share, care, and support, and the good feelings went together as a package and were knitted into our DNA. Today, it’s why kindness feels good.

The satisfaction we get today, that sense of it being the right thing to do when you help someone, give someone a lift with some well-chosen words of encouragement or support, buy someone a coffee, even hold a door open, is those ancient community vibes at play. And the positive feelings come along for the ride.

If you ever wondered why kindness feels good, right, satisfying, this is why.

And it’s backed by science. Lots of research now shows that kindness boosts happiness and is protective against depression and anxiety in the long term. It even counteracts stress. Kindness turns down stress regions of the brain and ramps up positive mood regions. It even leads to lasting physical changes that help us better weather some of life’s rainy days.

I think of all this as Nature’s Reward.

It’s Nature’s way of giving you a High Five and saying, “Well done! Your actions are supporting the survival and thriving of the human species. Here’s a wee squirt of happy hormones for your trouble.”

But Nature is not quite done with just some happy hormones.

Nature’s reward package

Other things happen too. The effects of our kind genes run deep. There’s a relaxing of the nervous system, reduction in blood pressure, reduced inflammation, reduced oxidative stress (free radicals), slowing of ageing, a support to the immune system, faster healing of wounds, and much more.

These are just some of the things that come in Nature’s “reward package.”

So next time you find yourself helping someone, checking in, offering words of encouragement or support, even letting someone ahead in the supermarket queue, give a nod to your kind genes and those ancient community vibes at play.

It’s the ancient version of what you said or did in that moment that got us this far, and what you’re doing now is helping it go a bit farther.

Now accept the delivery of Nature’s reward package.

These seemingly little things you do go much farther, and are much more important, than you realise.

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Sources
If you want to read more detail on our kind genes and all of the mental and physiological effects of kindness, plus learn about the different ripple effects of kindness and how you can make a difference, I’ve explored it all and more in my new book, ‘The Joy of Actually Giving a F*ck’.

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