The path to happiness: it is better to give than receive

The path to happiness: it is better to give than receive
James Randerson, science correspondent
The Guardian,
Friday March 21 2008
Article history

Money may not buy you love but it might buy you happiness if you spend it in the right way, US researchers say. In studies they found that the old adage "it's better to give than to receive" is correct: spending money on others or giving to charity puts a bigger smile on your face than buying things for yourself.
"Most people would think that if you make more money you are going to be a lot happier," said Michael Norton, a professor at Harvard Business School. "Our results, and a lot of other people's results, show that making more money makes you a little bit happier, but doesn't really have a huge impact on you. Our studies suggest maybe that little changes in how you spend it make a difference."
The researchers' work is published today in the journal Science. Norton and his colleagues questioned 632 Americans about how much they earned and how they spent their cash. They also asked them to rate their own happiness.
Regardless of income level, those people who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not.
In a second study, the team questioned 16 employees in line for a company bonus of $3,000-$8,000. The team asked the subjects about their happiness before and six to eight weeks after the bonus, and how they spent the money.
The size of the bonus did not determine how much happiness grew. Instead, the amount spent on others or given to charity was correlated with how much individuals' happiness levels had risen.
The team also gave 46 volunteers either $5 (£2.50) or $20 to spend. They instructed the participants to spend the money on themselves or someone else. Again, the altruistic group reported feeling happier whatever the size of their gift.
Norton said: "So instead of buying yourself a coffee buy your friend a coffee and that might actually make you a happier person."
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/mar/21/medicalresearch.usa

It isn't just money that makes people happy when they give it away. It isn't just gifts they buy. It's what they share. When veterans help other veterans, they feel better, feel more connected and feed the need to be of service. There is always an underlining need to be of service in everyone who enlists in the military. They may have the reason on financial goals, like paying for college, but under that, there is the call to serve. This type of person will join the military, the police force, become firefighters or enter into public service in other ways.

Other people will take on causes they feel called to provide. While going through Chaplain training, the entire group of us had felt called to serve different sectors of the population. Prison ministry, Hospice, police, fire department, nursing homes, hospitals, each one in a different direction yet all equally worthy and needed. It is not what you give but that you give it for the right reasons. To help others, to make someone else happy, or the willingness to lay down your life for the sake of another comes from people who love.

When the Bible addressed Christ's willingness, it was not just talking about his physical life. He laid down what he could have done for himself in order to take care of others. Think about the Son of God who could have done anything he wanted walking around dusty villages. Do you think he would have enjoyed a vacation in Hawaii relaxing on the beach? This is what I mean by laying down your life by laying aside your own desires, your own time and give to others. Most of us have a hard enough time putting food on the table and paying our bills. It costs us nothing to give our time.