Happiness Always Boils Down to Sharing and Giving Rather Than Hoarding and Having
One of the best reasons to exist is to serve
The last thing on your mind when your mood is low might be to give to others. Whether it’s your time, energy, or something else, though, your altruism can upgrade your temperament.
I’ve heard it said that to get what you want, you should be what you want. Display the virtues of what you wish to attract. To increase happiness, help to make someone else happy.
Being generous might assist in a healthy return of altruism. But the major advantage of giving stems from what it does to you inside. It opens your heart, ramps up feel-good hormones, and suggests the purpose of living is to serve.
Why you might not feel like being a giver when you’re blue
Anyone who suffers under an ominous cloud of gloom knows it drains energy. Your body and brain give you the memo you’re not okay, and you want to hide under the bed covers or gawk at the TV screen until the emotion passes.
Your objective is to shed discomfort, and you might reach for your poison of choice: alcohol, zombie-like movie watching, or cake. But it only lifts your frame of mind for a while. Then you’re back to square one unless the scene shifts, and you’ve got something else to do.
The science of giving
We all know it’s valuable to give, yet seldom consider generosity boomerangs. When you give, you also know the joy people receive upon accepting your kindness.
Generosity kick-starts happy chemical production in your system. You feel great about making someone else happy, and those feel-good hormones flow.
Giving is expansive. Your awareness heightens because you note another person’s needs rather than fixate on yours.
Blinkered attention leaves room for self-focus. Occasions when you fret, turning over problems, result when your attention contracts. Opening it up by paying attention to people stops the stream of worries.
The more extensive your awareness, the more you see life’s vast picture, too. So, one of the great things about giving is it helps you broaden your perspective, and your problem-solving capacity and creativity can soar.
Happiness comes from acts of generosity
We reside in an insular society that forwards the message we should have what we crave. The primary thing we want, however, is happiness which seldom comes from what we pursue.
Often, we seek accolades, affluence, and acclaim to subdue insecurity and help us feel valuable. These might be entertaining when all goes well, but they can still lower self-esteem.
If you are anxious that your social standing is weak, you will be on edge as you go all out to establish a perfect image and maintain it.
Generosity is a more valuable way to raise self-worth. You are grateful immediately, so you need not wait months or years to realize your investment pays. You know it does because your heart seems to swell, and you feel warm inside.
One of the best reasons to exist is to serve
No wonder many millionaires conclude the choicest way to allocate their time and money is by serving. You can still aim for the stars and move up in life. You can progress.
But you may note unless what you do helps other people, it provides little meaning. So, you can revel in a shiny expensive car, for instance, but not be content until you take a friend out in it for the day to cheer them up when they are blue. You love it at first, driving it around, but unless you use it for a loftier purpose, after a while, it might as well remain in the garage.
Another example might be if you buy a mansion. Initially, you may be in awe of its magnitude and elegance. You can have fun filling it with furniture and gadgets. Then, you can experience using those things. Later, nevertheless, your enjoyment wears thin, and you are only happy if you invite friends to take pleasure in your mansion, too.
Happiness always boils down to sharing and giving rather than hoarding and having things just for ourselves. Stretching your borders and striving for success can bring rewards. But most of the time, they are only valuable because they help you connect with others and improve their lives.
How to be more of a giver
Some ways to give are simple. You can offer someone financial support if you have the means, for instance, or help them move house when they head to a new apartment.
Other acts of largess are less easy to think of yet help people too. Like letting someone in front of you in line because they have fewer items in their shopping basket. Or you can smile at a passerby, give someone your car-park ticket with time left on it, or chat with a homeless person.
You might keep in touch with a lonely relative, write a thank-you letter, or share skills by teaching them to others. There are endless ways to help people if you take a moment to think and stay aware, and participating in them might make you happier.
Don’t want to miss new stories?
Click here for limitless access to my writing and every other story on Medium. Your membership fee supports ✨ Bridget and other writers you read, and you’ll get access to all stories on Medium.
Bridget Webber is a writer and nature lover, often found in the woodland, meadow, and other wild places. She writes poetry and stories and pens psychology articles; her love of discovering what rests inside the thicket and the brain compels her to delve deep. She’s appeared in many leading publications and is the author of Nature Poems to Heal the Heart and Nurture the Soul.
