Make a Difference in Your Life by Making a Difference to someone else’s.
What can be more enjoyable than sitting around a table with great friends, having a nice meal, talking and laughing, maybe dancing, listening to your favorite music and just enjoying each other? Doing good to others and spending time with loved ones is very enriching and satisfying.
Study after study shows that every time we do something good to someone else, we feel good about ourselves. So really, you might say, a secret to feeling good is to interact positively with others.
Have you noticed that financially successful people and famous singers and movie stars often get involved in charities of one sort or another that consists of work focused on helping people? Man is not an island. Wealth may give us some sense of satisfaction. However, we need to live for others and do good deeds for the benefit of our fellow man and woman to feel fully accomplished and content.
People Who Care
Try this simple quiz…
Name the…
- …five wealthiest people in the world.
- …last five Heisman trophy winners.
- …previous five winners of the Miss America contest.
- …people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.
- …last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
- …last decade’s worth of World Cup winners.
How did you do?
The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These people are not second-rate achievers; they are the best in their fields. But, the applause dies. Life goes on. Achievements are forgotten.
Here’s another quiz – See how you do on this one.
- List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
- Name three friends who have helped you through a tough time.
- Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
- Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
- Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
- Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.
Easier? The lesson?
The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.
Be in Control of Your Thoughts
Another key to happiness has a lot to do with what and how we think! You may have heard that happiness is something we create in our mind. The problem is that our minds are accustomed to asking questions that will cause a negative answer. We are usually looking for what is wrong with a situation and who is to blame. We need to start training our mind to ask ourselves questions that will demand positive replies such as:
What can I learn from this challenging situation? What can I do to endure while maintaining peace of mind and heart? What am I thankful for today?
Support One Another
Sharing our fears and concerns is healthy and should be encouraged. David Spiegel, a Stanford University psychiatrist, along with renowned group psychotherapist Irvin Yalom, MD, led support groups in the 1970s for women with advanced stages of breast cancer. “The groups used a technique Yalom developed called supportive-expressive group therapy. It involves the patients simply expressing their emotions related to their cancer in the context of group support.”
Spiegel decided a decade later to review the women’s records and found that they survived twice as long, on average, after starting the therapy as a comparative group of patients who received no such treatment. His findings drew substantial attention from the medical community, and sparked new interest in the use of structured support groups as part of treatment for serious illness.”
The support group allowed the patients to relieve some of their mental and emotional stress, this, in turn, helped with the healing of the body.
Emotional healing should be one of the vital healing tools in any clinic, as it is at the Budwig Center.
For more information, contact us.