Your Happiness May Lie in Helping Others

Your happiness may lie in helping others

People have different problems in their lives, many of which are not known by others around them. Have you ever felt depressed, but just put on a smile because you thought that was the right thing to do? Well, you are not the only one and those smiles around you are not all real. Human beings are strange in the sense that they prefer hiding emotions.

Many of us have at times been through dark moments, and only those who had a helping hand will know the significance of it. In this world full of selfish people, you can be that helping hand and transform someone’s dark moment into a colourful one, but you will never know this until you actually try!

Charity begins at home

Start by being kind with your own family members, and close friends around you. Let yourself think about this, “If I were to die today, what will the people who are close to me think about me? Will they just bury me and forget, or will they remember me for the rest of their lives as that person who had a positive impact on their lives.” Help can come in many forms, be it financial assistance, sharing knowledge or using your skills. Even just kind words and a big heart can make a huge impact on someone’s life, and you may not immediately notice it, but eventually you will see the results.

Charity should not end at home

Even those who are not very close to you need that little bit of help that you can offer. Some individuals just need a small push to get their lives in order. Help you colleague by doing something for them that they could otherwise not do. Teach your classmate a new skill that you learnt. Feed that homeless man on the road, even if it means giving him 1 dollar, and I assure you that that 1 dollar will come back to you as a thousand, I mean who wouldn’t want to invest with such huge returns? As I mentioned above, you will not notice immediately the impact and change you are having on society as a whole, but eventually you will feel the happiness.

You may be their only one

Roy T. Bennet once said, “Always have a willing hand to help someone, you may be the only one that does” and this statement cannot be more true. Some people just want a listening ear, why not be that ear? All you have to do is listen to them, and in return their day becomes brighter. I remember a phase of my life where everything was dark, and it was as if colour had been stripped away from the world. It just took one person to bring back all that colour, just because the person was attentive and I felt heard for the first time in years. After getting out of that phase, I made it a goal to be as helpful as I could to others. Helping others is a bit like a drug, once you help someone and see the results, you just want to help even more.

Imagine this situation, your candle is lit and others around you are not. However you are selfish and you keep your own candle lit in the darkness, at some point a gust of wind will blow your candle out and now you have no one to ask for a flame from. Now imagine if you used your candle to light the ones around you, your candle wouldn’t have lost anything, but in the future if yours went out, the others would gladly light yours back.

Criticism is sometimes good

Everyone is built different, and some people require criticism to grow, also known as constructive criticism. You can make a little fun of your friends, your main goal being to help out in some way indirectly. However, make sure you are not too harsh and do not cut into their sensitive side. Remember, criticism should be like light rain falling in very fine drops. It should be gentle enough to nourish someone’s life but not too harsh to destroy their roots.

Be humble

Always remember, you are helping someone not for the world to notice, but for your own contentment. Be humble and donate in secret, and never expect any favours in return. If the person that you helped ends up becoming more successful than you, do not be jealous, rather be proud that you got him there.

Your own happiness comes first

You must love yourself before you love another. By accepting who you are, and fully being yourself, your simple presence will make others happy. Remember that just like everybody else, you yourself deserve your own love and affection. If you feel drained whilst helping someone else, you have to stop and recharge. Help those who are willing to be helped, as you cannot push someone up a ladder unless he is willing to climb himself.

Be someone’s strength. Be someone’s inspiration. Be someone’s reason to never give up!

Hamdaan Ibrahim

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