HOW TO BE
UP
IN DOWN TIMES

A Mental Health Tip for Difficult Times:
Help Others

Bottom Line: The Way to Be Happy Is to Help Others

I once spent a day at my local library, trying to learn what the great thinkers and leaders have said about happiness. I discovered that throughout history, wise men and women were giving the same answers to the question about happiness, although they each expressed it in different words.

How can this apply to us and getting through the COVID-19 Pandemic? The advice provided by my four favorites are, I think, worthwhile and timeless guides.

Let’s start with Aristotle. A full 2300 years ago, he recommended thinking of others. “The only true success in life,” he said, “is to find yourself in service to the community.”

Jesus gave us one of the wisest words possible: “It’s more blessed to give than to receive.”

Martin Luther King told his listeners and his followers, “We can all be great because we all can serve.”

My mother, Mary Henderson, wasn’t a famous thinker, and honest, I didn’t read about her in while studying in the Wicomico County Public Library. Nevertheless, I do believe she was a wise person.

She taught her children that acting selfishly in the end made people miserable. They’d never have great friendships and they wouldn’t have a lot of deep, satisfying self-respect. The way she phrased it was, “The givers of the world are happy. The takers of the world are miserable.”

Here’s a wonderful example of how the difference between takers and givers plays out in practice.

A little more than 200 years ago, Emperor Napoleon had more of the world’s goodies than has ever happened before or since. He ruled most of Europe. He had palaces and jewels and women and glamour and status and fame and glory to a degree that is almost inconceivable. This is a man whom you’d think had it all.

Mother Theresa’s life was the opposite. Because of her vow of poverty, her physical possessions consisted of three cotton saris and the sandals on her feet. She ate the same food that the poor ate. She ministered to the poorest of the poor, taking care of the lepers as they died.

Which of these two were happier?

At the end of his days, Napoleon, said that when he looked back on his life, he couldn’t count five happy days.

Mother Theresa, on the other hand, described her life as “a feast of unending joy.”

What was the difference between these two? Everything that Napoleon had, he got by taking. Everything Mother Theresa
had— love, approval, fame—she earned by giving.

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How Useful Is This Information? Ok, the idea of giving rather than taking is a bit preachy and it may not be your cup of tea.
However, the information can increase your chances of being happy. What would that be worth to you?