About a week and a half ago, November 21, it was ‘World Hello Day’. This day has existed in more than 180 countries since 1973. The idea is that we would then greet at least ten people in a friendly manner, an argument for more personal contact, in order to guarantee world peace.
A nice small gesture that could have a big impact. In science we call this impact a ‘ripple effect’, like the expanding ripple in water when a drop hits it. More about this later.
Now there are many so-called theme days, every day we honor something. The pessimists among us shoot this down mercilessly and the argument is standardly the same: there is no point in dwelling on something good one day a year if you do nothing about it for the rest of the year. What’s interesting is that this is completely true, the pessimist is right. And at the same time they talk nonsense, because the purpose of such a theme day is of course not that you only think about it one day a year.
A little bit of oxytocin
With a friendly greeting, where you briefly look into each other’s eyes, you produce a little bit of oxytocin, a hormone that makes you feel more connected. It’s only a tiny amount, but if you do it several times a day, it will definitely have an effect. When we feel connected, it becomes more difficult to feel something bad about the other person. You then somewhat belong to the same tribe, after all, we are all one.
But there is more, in addition to this ‘ripple effect’, there is also such a thing as contagiousness. Your effect on the other person ensures that the other person also acts more cordially towards their own environment and that also comes back on your plate, you infect each other.
Cappuccino over my new pants
Recently I suffered from a ‘bad day’, without knowing exactly why: before breakfast I threw a full cup of tea over the table, I stuck my finger in the door and during my first consultation I dumped a cappuccino over my new pants and nice red chair. My colleague congratulated me on my daughter during the morning and I asked her why. I felt like sinking to the ground when I realized that I had completely forgotten that it was her birthday, after all, it had been on the same day for 28 years. What the hell was wrong with me?
I decided on an experiment and walked to a large mirror. I sighed deeply a few times, looked at myself and greeted myself five times in a friendly manner. And what do you think? It worked, you can also infect yourself, the rest of the day was a great day!