… by making someone else happy!

Have you seen the episode of Friends where Phoebe is trying to prove to Joey that there is such a thing as a selfless good deed?

Well she fails, because as soon as you know you’ve influenced someone’s life in a positive way you feel happy and probably a little proud and powerful as well. And that’s an even more fulfilling feeling than being on the receiving end.

We shouldn’t think of an action in terms of what we’ll get back from it for our own person. I understand the logic behind it, protecting ourselves from situations where someone would take advantage of our kindness but aren’t we also preventing ourselves from being kind at all then? By putting these protective barriers aside and dedicating all your thoughtfulness towards someone else, the simple smile on their face or positive impact on their end will be enough to know it was all worth the investment of your efforts, heart, and sometimes even money. And whether they know, acknowledge, or even give you anything back is irrelevant because you’ve given it back to you yourself by doing it.

There are a lot of selfless act opportunities at hand reach every day and I invite you to experiment on the Friday by seizing these opportunities via a pure manifestation of your compassion to someone you know or don’t know and see how it makes you feel.

It can be offering your help to someone who looks lost, helping pick up something for someone who dropped it, smiling to a stranger, saying hello to a bus driver…. Who knows in might be right in front of you!

What did I do today to make someone else happy?

• Smiled to someone who sat next to me on the bus (no they weren’t good looking)
• Wished a good day to the lady who lets you hop off on those new buses by Heatherwick Studios (also felt like I was back in the 60s as I hoped off)
• Brought a flower shaped desk fan for my team to beat the aircon-less London summer heat who is inhabiting our office
• Making you watch the below, if you’re a fervent fan of Friends (who I owe my English to), you’ll love any conversation between Joey and Phoebe “Santa Claus?”

So tell me, what was your selfless gesture of the day and how did it make you feel?