Helping others is beneficial, it gives meaning to our life, it brings us closer to each other and can do wonders for our health. We can all probably remember the kind smile and the warm thank-you we received when we last helped a friend or a total stranger. Helping others can bring up new opportunities in life and your actions will never be forgotten.
It makes you happy and gives meaning to your life.
As we are all wondering what is the meaning of our life, helping someone in need can be the answer that you are looking for. The meaning of life might be right in front of our eyes. There have been a few studies done and scientists have discovered the so-called "helper's high". They have discovered that endorphins get released in our brains when we help others. Endorphins are a group of hormones that improve mood and boost our self-esteem.
So now, next time you decide to help someone, remember that your brain will produce one of the happiness hormone called endorphins. The other happiness hormones are dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin.
When we help others and listen to their problems, their life stories, you get a perspective of how other's people life are and what they are going through. By seeing what is happening in someone else's life, you are able to see the world from a different light, a different perspective. You then might realise that what you consider difficult and stressful is nothing opposed to what others are going through. By helping others and hearing to what they have to say, you can understand that life is not all about money and fame and that without the main important things in life, health and family, you have nothing.
A study directed by Dr Suzanne Richards at the University of Exeter Medical School reviews 40 studies from the past 20 years on the link between volunteering and health. The article observes that volunteering is linked with lower depression, improved well-being, and a 22% reduction in the later risk of dying. Social interactions, getting outside the house and doing something meaningful and rewarding can have a positive impact on lowering depression and anxiety levels. The more you interact with others, the more you challenge yourself, face your fears and thins in return can help you understand that we are all humans and that we can all use help from all the available we can get.
Helping others brings us closer to each other.
When we help other people, a connection is being created at that moment between you and the person you are offering your help. A bond is created and in some cases, it can change someone's life. Two strange people can help each other one day and in a year or two, you can attend their wedding.
Or, think about how much you can change the day of someone who is homeless by buying them some food or simply stopping for a minute and talking with them, showing them kindness and listen to what they might want to say. Some of them probably didn't have a human connection in quite some time and showing them that people out there still care can give them hope and attention they miss so much.
When you help others with an advice, with a piece of valuable information or when you spend your time and effort on helping a person, a charity or a business, they won't forget about you. You will be their go-to person for the future and this might open new doors for you, give you new opportunities, recommendations, and without realising, by helping others you have carved a new path in your life. When you help someone achieve their goals, he or she will help you in return – it's a bit like Karma, what comes around goes around.
You never know how people will reward your willingness to help. You might receive the most sincere and honest smile and thank you, given from the heart, by someone who you were of real help. You might get a chance to visit a location you always wanted to go to, a place you always wanted to see.
People help each other by sharing a spare bed in their house, their car, even their home if you do the same thing for them. Not everyone wants to take advantage of you in this world. There is hope for everyone as there is a multitude of genuine, kind and loveable people out there in the world.
I hope you can now realize how important helping others is and why we should incorporate this into our daily life. No matter how big or small your contribution is, taking steps in this direction is very important and will have an impact on you and others as well.
You do not have to sign up for all the volunteering opportunities you hear about, as this can become difficult to sustain and from pleasure, it can quickly transform into a burden and that is not the path you want to follow.
Give all the time you can spare from your daily life so that everything you do comes from the heart and is filled with love. 10 minutes of pure and unconditional help is more valuable than ten hours of "forced" help.