Have you felt really good lately?
Satisfied, may be. Competent, yes. But really good?
No? Then read on. It may help you reinvent the way to feel good.
Do you know what gives a human being immense pleasure? Sorry. I misframed the question. I should have used ‘remember’ in place of ‘know’, because you surely know it, though it might have slipped out of your mind. Can’t remember? Ok, here’s the answer: “Doing Good.” Doing good gives you a pleasure nothing else does or can.
Recall times and instances when you did something good. Small or big is not the issue. Good is enough. May be a good deed, big or small. Like, say, picking up a child who has stumbled. Or like picking up potatoes and onions scattered on the road after a bag’s handle snapped. Maybe helping your little sister with her craft home work, which was quite beyond her. Brings smile to your face, doesn’t it? Makes you feel good, doesn’t it? That’s it. Q. E. D.
Every day there are plenty of opportunities for us to do good. Opportunities to help. Opportunities to use our physical resources to make somebody’s life a bit easy. Opportunities to solve someone’s problem – big or small – using our mental faculties or professional expertise. As life becomes faster and faster, these opportunities get passed by, many times not even noticed.
Performing our duty well gives us satisfaction. Successfully using our professional expertise gives us a feeling of confidence. But they seldom make us feel good.
But doing good makes us feel good. Every time. Without fail. Guaranteed.
You know why?
Every person has an innate desire to be of help – to fellow humans, to other living creatures and even to inanimate things around. Its intensity does vary, but it is there. Want proof? Observe children. Or, better, recall you as a child.
But we grow. Become more self-centered. We also become cynical. What difference my helping is going to make, we ask. In physical, quantifiable or monetary terms it may not. There’s no head or sub-head for such things in the profit and loss account statement, or in the cash flow. But it flows directly to your heart.
So, grab opportunities to do good. Better still, snoop around for opportunities to do good.
Do good even if nobody notices.
Do good even if nobody thanks you.
Do good even if you look like an idiot to others.
Do good even if it wouldn’t be noticed.
Do good even if you wouldn’t be blamed for not doing good.
Do good just because it is good to do good.
Do good because it never goes waste.
Do good just because you are capable of doing good.
Do good because you will never regret it.
Do good because it can cure you of cynicism.
Do good just to do good.
What’s your plan of action? Want to share it with me? Welcome!
R C Kathale's Blog 