It's too easy to get caught up in the drama of life and forget about the big picture, but when you reach out and help someone, you feel your sense of purpose kick in. When you give, you strengthen a mind-set of abundance rather than one of scarcity. Service makes you feel good. It helps you transcend the small self in favor of the higher Self.
A Sense of Happiness and Connection
Whenever you feel down or depressed, ask yourself what you've done for someone else lately. Consider that you have started to take yourself and your everyday agenda too seriously. Once you begin to serve others and pay it forward, you will find yourself more useful and grateful that you have something to give. You will discover what is most important to you, and will begin to feel more connected and on target, no longer drifting into self-centered concerns.
Popular culture persuades us to believe that satisfaction will be found in material possessions or powerful positions. People look for bigger houses, better cars, and more impressive friends for our happiness. And no matter how much stuff we accumulate or how far up we get on the corporate ladder, we always want more. That's the way of the ego. But, of course, what we think will make us happy never quite seems to fill the void. Material things do not hold true value. Being someone's boss or superior is not what the soul craves either. These "wins" appeal to the ego, but not to our higher Self. When we perceive as separate (as the ego would have us do) we feel alone and insecure, dwarfed by the vast world. So we grab what we can, thinking that by attaining things we can feel bigger and more secure, more able to stand up to the universe. The ego thinks that if it consumes enough then it will have nothing to fear.
Researchers have observed the money does not buy happiness (Kahneman and Deaton, 2010). The more you get, the more you have to protect. The ego is akin to a tapeworm that lives inside of you; it always craves more and it never satisfied. Spoiler alert - you'll never be rich enough or popular enough to feel enough to stand up to the vastness of the universe. When it's you against the world instead of you at one with the world, things can seem pretty daunting.
If we want to feel happy, we should look away from the material. As soon as you let go of your attachment to the things of this world, you feel lighter and freer. Your joy comes from giving things away rather than hoarding them. Your power comes from helping others feel better rather than attempting to impose your superiority. You realize that as you serve, so you gain. The great illusion of our ego is that we are alone in the universe when it is our Oneness - our connectedness to each other - that is the ultimate truth. By doing service, we begin to shift our perspective from the small self to the larger self.
This insight into our higher potential nourishes the awareness that we are infinitely interconnected with each other and it is in our best interest to "bring up the weakest link" rather than fortify our individual interests. When we realize that overconsuming is not the answer - even more so when our mindless self-indulgences cause harm to other living beings and wrecks havoc on the planet - we will begin to serve others.
We see in the world projections of what is inside us. So if we have generous intentions, we will see a generous world. If we are loving and compassionate, love and compassion will be reflected back to us. Each of our actions - kind or unkind - ripple our and affect others around us, and so result in reactions that affect us in ways we can't even imagine. When we make another life better, we make our own life better. We are our own - and each other's - savior, if we choose to step up to the role. You more you extend yourself in service, the more you will cease feeling alone and insignificant.
Popular culture persuades us to believe that satisfaction will be found in material possessions or powerful positions. People look for bigger houses, better cars, and more impressive friends for our happiness. And no matter how much stuff we accumulate or how far up we get on the corporate ladder, we always want more. That's the way of the ego. But, of course, what we think will make us happy never quite seems to fill the void. Material things do not hold true value. Being someone's boss or superior is not what the soul craves either. These "wins" appeal to the ego, but not to our higher Self. When we perceive as separate (as the ego would have us do) we feel alone and insecure, dwarfed by the vast world. So we grab what we can, thinking that by attaining things we can feel bigger and more secure, more able to stand up to the universe. The ego thinks that if it consumes enough then it will have nothing to fear.
Researchers have observed the money does not buy happiness (Kahneman and Deaton, 2010). The more you get, the more you have to protect. The ego is akin to a tapeworm that lives inside of you; it always craves more and it never satisfied. Spoiler alert - you'll never be rich enough or popular enough to feel enough to stand up to the vastness of the universe. When it's you against the world instead of you at one with the world, things can seem pretty daunting.
If we want to feel happy, we should look away from the material. As soon as you let go of your attachment to the things of this world, you feel lighter and freer. Your joy comes from giving things away rather than hoarding them. Your power comes from helping others feel better rather than attempting to impose your superiority. You realize that as you serve, so you gain. The great illusion of our ego is that we are alone in the universe when it is our Oneness - our connectedness to each other - that is the ultimate truth. By doing service, we begin to shift our perspective from the small self to the larger self.
This insight into our higher potential nourishes the awareness that we are infinitely interconnected with each other and it is in our best interest to "bring up the weakest link" rather than fortify our individual interests. When we realize that overconsuming is not the answer - even more so when our mindless self-indulgences cause harm to other living beings and wrecks havoc on the planet - we will begin to serve others.
We see in the world projections of what is inside us. So if we have generous intentions, we will see a generous world. If we are loving and compassionate, love and compassion will be reflected back to us. Each of our actions - kind or unkind - ripple our and affect others around us, and so result in reactions that affect us in ways we can't even imagine. When we make another life better, we make our own life better. We are our own - and each other's - savior, if we choose to step up to the role. You more you extend yourself in service, the more you will cease feeling alone and insignificant.
Influence on Health
Giving ourselves to others makes us feel better in the body. A rush of euphoria, followed by a sense of calmness and fulfillment, is experienced. This rush is accompanied by a release of endorphins, which provide a sense of emotional well-being. A simple act of kindness directed toward another improves the functioning of the immune system and stimulates the production of serotonin in both the recipient of the kindness and the person extending the kindness. Even more amazing is that those observing the act of kindness have similar beneficial effects (Dyer, 2008). So everyone involved, the giver, the receiver, and the observer are engaged in positive ways when kindness is extended.
References
Dyer, W. (2008). The power of intention. Carlsbad, Calif.: Hay House.
Kahneman, D. and Deaton, A. (2010). High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(38), pp.16489-16493.
Kahneman, D. and Deaton, A. (2010). High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(38), pp.16489-16493.