Random Acts of Kindness

I've been posed with this question numerous times - what do you want to do in life?

At the mere age of 16, I was expected to figure out  which career I wanted to pursue, when I was barely getting to know more about the world and the wide range of things I could choose to do in life. I was expected to sort out the course my life would take.

As for the answer to the question - what I want to do in life, there's plenty of things that I'd like to do. I want to be able to change someone's life for the good. I want to help in enhancing my society. I want to help in educating more people, since I believe that is the way to advance our society. I want to live a happy and contented life, and for me, happiness is not synonymous to being rich and having more than I need. Happiness is being surrounded by people who love me, and happiness is being respected and adored by others. It is being able to put a smile on someone else's face.

Does having a lot of money make you happy? I'd say it depends on the way you use it. There will never be an end to needs; the more money you have, the more things you want. Consider buying a new dress which you've wanted since a while. It will certainly make you contented for a few days, or a week, or probably a month. After that, it is just another dress in your pile of clothes. 

Consider another situation, where you gift new shoes to a person who lives on the streets. Possessing shoes is probably a luxury for them, and you let them have it. Imagine the gratified look on their face and their sparkling eyes, it is sure to make you feel contented within. That is the kind of happiness that doesn't go away anytime soon. You can always think back to how you made a random person happy. If you keep on doing these little acts of kindness to help others around you, it will always keep you blissful.

A deed of goodness goes a long way in giving you peace of mind. There are so many underprivileged people in need of the basics. If you can't help financially, there are more ways to make someone's day. Lending an ear to someone in distress, spending time with someone who feels lonely, talking to someone who's feeling depressed, comforting someone who is in a tough situation - there are a number of acts to help people. I have personally experienced how helpful it is when someone just listens to what you have to say, since more people just care about what they need to say and don't bother listening. 

Benevolence isn't something beyond anyone's capacity, you just have to care enough about other creatures, be it a human or an animal or a plant. In course of time, you realize that helping others is, in a way, helping yourself too.

"We rise by lifting others."

                        -Robert Ingersoll