Some guy by the name of Dane Vandervelden wrote, "I've seen those suffocating under the dual crushing stones of poverty and foul luck. Like trampled daisies, there is no hope in these peoples’ heads as their circumstances have bent and broken them into a doomed shape. Help doesn't come from within them no matter how many desperate mutterings-disguised-as-pleas they utter. Life can be direr than the average human can possibly know." And yet, many of us choose to do nothing. We turn our heads and look away, as if they're not existant.
The fact of the matter is, we all need help from time-to-time. It's often been said that to feel better, we need to help others. It takes our minds off our own small problems. Those invisible, and often ethereal experts, tell us that that helping others has a positive effect on us; a helping hand, especially one from a happier place, can be beneficial to both the beholder, as well as the receiver, and pull us both out of a dark and hostile place. Do you remember the feeling you got when you returned the lost wallet, the lost puppy, or helped carry an older persons's groceries? What about during the holiday's, when you put money in the red bucket of those bell ringers? You feel good, right? Dare I say even great!
The act of giving's potential is well documented in science. Numerous scientific studes have proven that our brains' mesolimbic sytems...the most important reward pathway in the brain's most- dopamine system....becomes activated when we do something nice for someone else. Stress and depression are self-focused ailments. Instead, when we turn our focus outwards, and help those in need, it temporarily shifts the way we perceive our own problems; our "stuff" doesn't seem so important as it did. Yet, many of us don't help. Why? Because we don't want to be accused of helping others solely for our own personal need to feel better.
Humans are emotional lot, and we frogs can be, too, at times. We may think it's wrong to help others simply for the feel good chemicals that doing so, makes flow through our bodies. Others may say, "Well, I'm only doing something nice because I want good karma...I want that help to flow back to me when I might need it." But are these really selfish reasons? When we do good, we get good back. It's a law of nature. In my humble opinion, it shouldn't matter the reason we help, but only that we DO help.
John Bunyan, an English writer and preacher in the 17th century once said, "You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you."
Humans need to help each simply because it's the right thing to do. And if we get something good out of, then so be it. But don't use the excuse of being "selfish" as a reason to not give the help that someone needs.
"Help those who need it, when they need it, and don't question why you should," said this very smart Dane Vandervelden fellow. And I'd like to add this oft-used phrase from an athetic shoe company, "Just Do It!" Don't worry about whether or not your motive is selfish. I can guarantee you that the recipient of your help won't care...and neither should you.
The fact of the matter is, we all need help from time-to-time. It's often been said that to feel better, we need to help others. It takes our minds off our own small problems. Those invisible, and often ethereal experts, tell us that that helping others has a positive effect on us; a helping hand, especially one from a happier place, can be beneficial to both the beholder, as well as the receiver, and pull us both out of a dark and hostile place. Do you remember the feeling you got when you returned the lost wallet, the lost puppy, or helped carry an older persons's groceries? What about during the holiday's, when you put money in the red bucket of those bell ringers? You feel good, right? Dare I say even great!
The act of giving's potential is well documented in science. Numerous scientific studes have proven that our brains' mesolimbic sytems...the most important reward pathway in the brain's most- dopamine system....becomes activated when we do something nice for someone else. Stress and depression are self-focused ailments. Instead, when we turn our focus outwards, and help those in need, it temporarily shifts the way we perceive our own problems; our "stuff" doesn't seem so important as it did. Yet, many of us don't help. Why? Because we don't want to be accused of helping others solely for our own personal need to feel better.
Humans are emotional lot, and we frogs can be, too, at times. We may think it's wrong to help others simply for the feel good chemicals that doing so, makes flow through our bodies. Others may say, "Well, I'm only doing something nice because I want good karma...I want that help to flow back to me when I might need it." But are these really selfish reasons? When we do good, we get good back. It's a law of nature. In my humble opinion, it shouldn't matter the reason we help, but only that we DO help.
John Bunyan, an English writer and preacher in the 17th century once said, "You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you."
Humans need to help each simply because it's the right thing to do. And if we get something good out of, then so be it. But don't use the excuse of being "selfish" as a reason to not give the help that someone needs.
"Help those who need it, when they need it, and don't question why you should," said this very smart Dane Vandervelden fellow. And I'd like to add this oft-used phrase from an athetic shoe company, "Just Do It!" Don't worry about whether or not your motive is selfish. I can guarantee you that the recipient of your help won't care...and neither should you.
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