“To have made even one person’s life a little better, that is to succeed (Henry David Thoreau).”
Being connected and contributing to each other’s happiness is central to living a good life. When we’re connected to each other and contribute in a positive way to each other we enrich the other and ourselves as well.
“When it comes to cultivating a bright outlook, our sense of community is more important than our material possessions or even our career status, Having close relationships and interacting with people are terrific sources of happiness,” explains Simon-Thomas.”
I have a friend Bob, a widower, who walks around with a dark cloud over his head. When I see Bob as I walk by his house. I stop and chat with him. Bob complains he hasn’t any friends. He told me he is an introvert and it’s hard for him to meet people. It’s something I can’t do for Bob. He has to move against his isolation tendencies and broaden his circle of relationships. If you know someone like Bob, stop by every once in a while and engage him/her in a conversation. It will mean a lot to him/her and you’ll feel good for doing a kindness.
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'” (Martin Luther King, Jr.). Dr. King’s question is a challenge to move out of an ego-centered world into an other-centered world. It challenges us to move away from thinking solely about our self toward thinking about others. When we move into an other-centered world we begin to see the importance of connecting with each other. The more we connect, the more we recognize our survival is grounded in our working together for each other’s benefit.
When we move away from I we move to WE. When we move to WE, we connect with those closest and near to us. The small WE we connect to opens our eyes to a larger WE. Our eyes and minds gradually open to those further from us. We discover how much we are alike and how we benefit each other and our WE continues to grow. How large is your WE? Do you dare open the door to your WE and let more people in and experience their richness and diversity? We need each other. We all inhabit the same home, planet Earth. We need each other’s WE.
When we’re helping each other, it feels better. We move out of our isolated sphere and discover there’s a wonderful world full of people wanting to invite us into their lives. By helping each other, we discover the world is not so big, we’re much alike, and we’re all together on this journey.
