Helping others makes us happier, but it matters HOW we do it
Check out this TEDtalk where Elizabeth Dunn focuses on how "Helping others makes us happier".Now, this seems straightforward, but to some this is controversial and this topic can actually get quite heated. I've recently had discussions where people have said that helping others should be done, for no other reason, than it is the right thing to do.
But I pose this to you...what if a person has good intentions to help others, but the driving force or the most important WHY to them is that it makes them happy and it feels good...is that wrong?
Imagine a person saying: "Can you believe this guy? He saw an elderly woman struggling with her groceries, so he helped her carry them and now he's walking away with a smile on his face. The nerve! How dare he feel joy or happiness from helping her; he should simply be doing it because it's the right thing to do."
As we approach this topic, I think it's important that we be careful not to judge. There's a quote that stands out from Chris Anderson's book Infectious Generosity: "We need not discount the generosity of others just because they may have additional motives for doing what they do… We should be encouraging each other, not finding reasons to tear each other down."
So, if you have the time, watch the video and hear out Elizabeth Dunn as she says "Let's stop thinking about giving as just this moral obligation and start thinking of it as a source of pleasure".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUKhMUZnLuw