In our society today, many tend to focus on themselves. In the me-centered world we live in, it can be very easy to think that the more we focus on ourselves, the more content we will be with our lives. Commercials are constantly telling you how to improve yourself, workout videos are constantly telling you to improve yourself, spa treatments are constantly telling you how you can make yourself more beautiful.
And by no means am I saying it is bad to focus on yourself. It is not bad to want to improve by any means, but it's the root of that improvement that can be the problem. If you are improving just for the sake of getting praise from other people, I promise you that praise will not last long. You will mess up, and there is no way you will be able to get everyone in this world to like you.
Real change happens when we take that improvement and use it to encourage others. If we use our gifts only for our own benefit, the world will definitely be lacking.
When something doesn't work out in our lives, we tend to walk around all mopey and woe-is-me. However, during stressful/heartbreaking times in our lives, studies show that helping others can actually benefit us. Can you believe that? This goes to show how we were meant to live our lives. Not me-centered, but others-centered.
Before you think I am crazy for thinking this, here are some of the scientific benefits of helping others.
1. Helping Others Prolongs Your Time On This Earth
Studies show that volunteers have better stress management, reduced rates of depression, and had a sense of deep life satisfaction. This could be a factor of being around others while volunteering, which lessons feelings of loneliness and makes you feel included in a greater cause.
2. Service Spreads
When one person does something for another, it most likely always leads to a chain reaction of others making a difference as well.
3. Helping Others Makes Us Happy
During a study, a team of sociologists researched 2000 people and they found that those who were "very happy" had volunteered almost 6 hours every month. Volunteering gets us off of our bums and causes us to work, which can improve our physical health. And by constantly being around others, this can improve our mental health as well. Furthermore, neurologists say that after doing things for others, people feel like they have a sense of reward, leaving them with a feeling of contentment.
4. Helping Others May Help With Chronic Pain
In a study, those who had issues with chronic pain volunteered, and afterwards their symptoms were lessoned.
5. Service Lowers Our Blood Pressure
There has been a study conducted that showed that older individuals that volunteered for at least 200 hours a year had a 40 percent decreased risk of hypertension. This might be a factor of being around people more, which lessons feelings of loneliness.
6. Helping Others Positively Affects Your Brain
Psychology Today writes that as a result of service there is "Reduced stress-related activity in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, right anterior insular, and right amygdala, greater reward-related activity in left and right ventral striatum, and greater caregiving-related activity in septal area."
It is obvious that helping others is much healthier than helping ourselves. I don't know about you, but when all of the focus is on myself I feel pretty miserable. However, when I focus on others and how I can benefit them in some way shape or form, I feel incredible.
You don't have to help others by winning the lottery or going on a big mission trip, you can start small. An act of kindness, no matter how small, goes a long way. Use the gifts you have been given to make the world a better place, for either 1,000 people or just one person.
You can start today.
