This week I wish to address the benefits of giving. We have all just been through the Black Friday and Cyber Monday madness—sales everywhere promising price cuts like never before, shouting limited quantities, offering customer testimonials, and using every other motivational and compliance principle—urging us to buy now! Shop early and save; shop early while quantities last; prices slashed on best sellers; and more—those have been the headlines in every sort of media. And if you’re at all like most of us, you were not immune to the pitches. Our wallets all came out and we began to spend.
Why?
Why we spend is no more complicated than it’s that time of year when gifts are expected—when they are both given and received. There are social reasons for this that set up expectations and a large part of that social motivation comes down to what over the years is the net effect of advertising. But—there are very many perks that come as a result of giving and as such, perhaps our giving should be year ‘round.
My late partner, Roy Bey, used to say, “I don’t get all worried about giving at Christmas because I make it a point to give year ‘round,” and that’s exactly how he lived. Research shows us that people who give are happier—indeed, happy people give more. One study demonstrated that happiness increases charitable behavior and further, the researchers also showed “that after experiencing positive events (such as receiving cookies, or finding a dime left in a payphone), participants were more likely to help others. Thus, people who felt good were more likely to provide help.” 1
Mood States
Positive mood states that resulted from giving were also shown to “increase altruism; feelings of competence, for example, have been shown to increase helping and volunteering behavior.” This positive mood state has also been shown to aid in promoting helpful behavior in the work place. (Ibid)
Quoting a paper titled, “Feeling Good About Giving,” by Anik, Aknin, Norton and Dunn, “Dialogue on whether prosocial behavior increases well-being dates as far back as ancient Greece, where Aristotle argued that the goal of life was to achieve “eudaemonia,” which is closely tied to modern conceptions of happiness. According to Aristotle, eudaemonia is more than just a pleasurable hedonic experience; eudaemonia is a state in which an individual experiences happiness from the successful performance of their moral duties.” (Ibid)
The Gift as Love
Sometimes we think more about how much we are spending than on what giving really means to all of us. Taken in totality, giving is good for the soul, so whether your charity is one of exchanging gifts with family and friends, or simply lending a helping hand, or perhaps depositing a few dollars in one of those Salvation Army buckets, we encourage you to feel the gift of giving and relish the joy that comes from the opportunity. Give thanks with each gift that you offer, recognizing that right now, in this moment, you have the opportunity to truly share in the spirit of love. In other words, please see your gifts as an act of love. In this way, you cannot give without expanding your awareness of the wonders life offers all of us each and every day.
Finally, remember that it is a gift to be a good receiver. Very little gives us more pleasure than the joy we experience when a gift is really appreciated. So welcome the opportunity to accept with joy the gifts that come your way realizing that doing so is also a gift.
Thanks for the read,
Eldon Taylor
Provocative Enlightenment
NY Time Bestselling Author of Choices and Illusions
www.eldontaylor.com
Sources:
1 Feeling Good About Giving: The Benefits (and Costs) of Self-Interested Charitable Behavior