Many people report that helping others feels good, often claiming that they get more out of the experience than those with whom they help. Is this true?
Absolutely. There are many ways to start. There are many ways to help others and most importantly help ourselves in the process.
Why We Are So Detached
Too frequently the trend in our society is for individuals to be detached from one another. Automobiles have taken us off the streets, where we used to greet each other and stop to chit chat.
Cubicles have removed a bit of the humanity in working, as have factories and even computers to some extent.
Television has planted us firmly in our living rooms, instead of out with other people. Even movie theaters, where many people get together, cut us off from true conversation because we’re staring at a big screen. You could also add to the list cell phones and social networks. It takes away from face o face conversation.
And while I’m not railing against any of these inventions (except perhaps the cubicle), what we must stay away from is the tendency to be focused on ourselves too much.
This only results in being detached from our fellow human beings. We have a tendency towards selfishness rather than giving to or helping our brothers and sisters in humanity. I’m not saying we’re all like that, but it can happen, if we’re not careful.
So strike back against the selfishness and greed of our modern world, and help out a fellow human being today. Not next month, but today.
Helping a fellow human being, while it can be inconvenient, has a few humble advantages:
1. It makes you feel better about yourself.
2. It connects you with another person, at least for a moment, if not for life.
3. It improves the life of another, at least a little.
4. It makes the world a better place, one little step at a time.
5. And if that kindness is passed on, it can multiply, and multiply.
So take just a few minutes today, and do a kindness for another person. It can be something small or the start of something big.
Ask them to pay it forward. Put a smile on someone’s face. Don’t know where to start? Here’s an extremely incomplete list, just to get you thinking — I’m sure you can come up with thousands more if you think about it.
