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Category: Service

  • How Serving Others Boosts Your Mood

    How Serving Others Boosts Your Mood

    This post on serving others is sponsored by The Good Stuff and Coupons.com. All opinions are my own.

    Giving service to others can really boost your own mood. See how here!

    Related Content: The Power of a Smile

    “Whenever you are having a bad day, go out and serve someone else.”

    These words were like a mantra from my mom. When we seek to focus our attention on others problems – we soon find what was bothering us really wasn’t that big a deal.

    The Good Stuff has a great article listing 10 simple ways to be happier, but I’d venture to add a number 11 – Serve Others! It’s almost impossible to serve others and walk away feeling worse.

    Serving Others Equals More Happiness

    Serving others will equal more happiness in our own life.

    Wonder why that is? Science. Our brains are wired to feel better when acting selflessly. I dare you to go out and do some kind of service without a smile. When we are truly out serving others, you can’t.

    Now, can you give service without a smile? Absolutely, people in customer service do it all the time. But is that really service at that point? If you go into serving others grudgingly, you won’t get anything out of it.

    Next time you are feeling a little blue, or out of sorts, find some small act of service. A random act of kindness will do the trick even.

    Gives You a Greater sense of Purpose

    Get involved! Volunteer somewhere new this month.

    Have you ever wondered if you had anything to give? Or if there was any purpose to your life? Perhaps you feel disconnected from life altogether?

    Going out to serve others will help you find a greater purpose to your own life. Whether it is delivering meals to shut ins, reading books with the under privileged, or genuinely smiling at the cashier and thanking them for what they do.

    Allowing others to feel loved through us – I’m telling you right now, that it just doesn’t get much better than that.

    Removes the Focus from Our selves

    Take the focus off your self.

    Focusing on our selves can lead to many problems. For one, it goes back to that selfish brain science. A selfish attitude decreases our happiness. When we search to always get what we want, and make our lives perfect, we may find ourselves on a wild goose chase – there will always be something “better” on the other side of the fence.

    However, when we remove that focus and give it to serving others, and improving the lives of others, we will naturally find that our life gets better too. And when our life is naturally better, we are better.

    Giving service doesn’t have to be some huge production. In fact, it’s really quite easy. My favorite place to look for service opportunities is on JustServe.org. You’ll find a lot of local organizations looking for volunteers here.

    For those local to Indianapolis, check out my fellow influencer on Instagram at GiveBackIndy. We’ve had the opportunity to give service together, and she’s always sharing ways to get involved!

    If you don’t have time to volunteer, then simply taking the time to wish someone a good day, to offer a genuine smile, or share a compliment will go a long way in boosting your own mood.

  • Look for the Helpers {Think About It}

    Look for the Helpers {Think About It}

    Look for the Helpers

    I’m sure you have all seen this quote spreading around the Internet this week. I really fell in love with this sage advice.  It mostly reminded me of my mother and wisdom she would have imparted to me.

    Actually it’s very similar to the one piece of advice I’m always holding on to from my mom

    When you’re having a bad day – go serve. Find someone in need or pick a neighbor, and serve them.  Take them cookies, give a smile, but lose yourself in serving others.

    I would consider my mom to be one of the helpers Mrs. Rogers talks about. She was always helping. Always giving back, and always always teaching us to do the same.

    Think About It!

     
    When we are having a bad day, what are we focusing on? Ourselves, right?
    So what would be a sure way to get out of that bad day? Focus on someone else.
    I think that’s pretty self explanatory right there, on why serving others works.
     

    Think About It!

     
    This week has been an especially bad week for our nation. Beginning with the Boston Bombing Monday, followed by a fire at the JFK library, and then the explosion at the fertilizer plant yesterday. Not much seems to be happy right now. In fact, it’s down right depressing and soul wrenching bad.
     
    This weeks events effected me in a way I’ve never felt quite so deeply about. I was getting easily depressed, but I didn’t have that label for it at first. All I knew was I felt bad. I felt anxious, and I was getting the beginning feelings of nothing matters. Have you ever felt that way?
     
    Before going to bed, Mark had it figured out for me. I had told him I wasn’t feeling good. I even fell asleep in his lap way before we normally go to bed.  When he got me up to bed, he said “I think it’s just this week, and all the events. They’ve drained you emotionally” (ok maybe not those exact words, but something similar).  He was right. I hadn’t figured it out yet, but he did for me. I was drained emotionally, and when we have no emotions left to feel, it starts draining us physically.
     
    Think About It!
    I’m a girl of action. Once I know what’s wrong, I do what I can to fix/change it. Since I had a clear answer of why I was feeling the way I was, it was time to take action. I started with sleep. I got a good nights sleep before doing anything else (this obviously I don’t have much control over, it just worked out in my favor last night!) 
     
    Once I was up and going this morning, I made a decision. I was going to look for the helpers, and I was going to be a helper. Besides donating to different funds in Boston (read more about those and get links here), there’s not much I can do to help those effected by this weeks tragedies. There is however, things I can do right here in my own home and community to be a helper.
     
    1 – I can take some treats to a new friend who is feeling overwhelmed.
    2 – I can take dinner to my friend who is sick and pregnant.
    3 – I can stop yelling at my kids, and try to understand them better
    4 – I can turn off electronics and get on the floor, or outside for some quality playtime with my kids
    5 – I can support different causes monetarily, or just by word of mouth awareness
    6 – I can send a hand written letter to a friend -just because.
     
     
    Think About It!
    I must not be the only one inspired by this quote, because just this morning I saw a few posts looking at the good.  The first came in my email from one of my favorite home bloggers – Lisa at Shine Your Light. Her post “Boston You’re My Home” includes links to photos of helpers throughout the Boston Bombing, and other reasons to love Boston.
     
    A friend then posted as her facebook status “Wouldn’t it be nice if the headlines in the newspaper and on the TV featured people doing good things? Show the good first I say!”
     
    That would be nice wouldn’t it?  Actually the first I heard about the Waco explosion was from a friend who’s husband was called in as an emergency responder. I didn’t know what happened exactly just that I knew someone was helping with some kind of explosion in Texas.
     
    Will you look for the helpers? Will you be a helper today?
    Share your story with us!
     
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    Are you struggling to find Happiness?  Come join the community at Happify.com  If you leave me a comment with your email I will send you a personal invite (limited to the first 4 requests).  Happify is a community based on spreading happiness, and sharing in the joys of each others lives.