Brain research shows that giving increases gratitude & happiness. It’s not what we get or how much we get but what we give that counts. It increases dopamine in our brain which is something that we need to feel uplifted from a biological and psychological perspective. It puts a smile on your face and on those of others faces boosting dopamine. We pay it forward and it feels good to us and to others.
Here is an example of how giving increases gratitude & happiness for myself and the woman working in the gas station. I was needing to get my car cleaned because I had parked in a brand new space trying to avoid the bird poop spot that I usually park in. Unfortunately, I parked under the convention of birds that flew in to SD to party in the tree above my car and it was a horrible mess!
I went to the gas station to get gas and a car wash and once the car was finished I still had quite a bit of poop on the hood. I went back into the store and asked the woman working there if could she help me because my car was still not clean. She was a tad cranky but printed me another code to run it through again and did not charge me. I ran my car through again and viola, it was clean! I felt so relieved and happy that I wanted to thank her and pay it forward. I went back in to the store and handed her a $5 starbucks card. I received the biggest smile in return! I think there was some dopamine pumping big time in my brain and in her’s as well.
Ideas for giving in small ways:
1) I keep $5 Starbucks gift cards with me to hand out for thank you’s for good customer service
2) Keep sidewalk chalk in your car and scrawl “Joy”, “Love”, Etc. on the concrete for the next person to see when they park in that spot.
3) Send out hand written thank you notes just for the heck of it to family and friends or even the barrista at the coffee shop.
Sometimes wise people have great quotes to use as affirmations.
Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.
~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
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