Do Small Acts of Kindness

There is a statement said "if you ever feel depressed, the best thing to do is to do something for someone else." The statement is quit strange, isn't it? Helping others can make me feel good? you may asked yourself.

So let me ask you, have you ever done something for your friends? or helping your mom cook dinner? (I mean helping without asking for help or force to do) Did you notice your feeling at that time?

To me, I didn't believe it when I first read this statement. I thought how can I feel good to take my time to do something for others without asking for and  maybe they think I am crazy or something wrong with me.

But after reading the story in the book, I understand what the author mean and how the feeling goes when we do something for others. It's hard for me to explain, but the story may make you understand more easier. And the story goes as bellow:

I remember sitting in an airport one day, waiting for my flight. I was excited because I had been upgraded to a first-class ticket. And in first-class, the seats are bigger, the food is edible, and the flight attendants are actually nice. In fact, I had the best seat on the entire plane. Seat 1A. Before boarding, I noticed a young lady who had several carry-on bags and was holding a crying baby. Having just finished reading a book on doing random acts of kindness, I heard my conscience speak to me, "You scumbag. Let her have your ticket." I fought these prompting for a while but eventually caved in:

   "Excuse me, but you like you could use this first-class ticket more than me. I know how hard it can be flying with kids. Why don't you let me trade you tickets."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Oh yeah. I really don't mind. I'm just going to be working the whole time, anyway."

  "Well, thank you. That's very kind of you," she said, as we swapped tickets. 

As we boarded the plane, I was surprised at how good it made me feel to watch her sit down in seat 1A. In fact, under the circumstances, seat 24B or wherever the heck I was sitting didn't seem that bad at all. At one point during the flight I was so curious to see how she was doing that I could hardly stand it. So I got up out of my seat, walked to the first-class from coach. There she was with her baby, both asleep in big and comfortable seat 1A. And I felt like a million bucks. Cha-ching. I've got to keep doing this kind of thing.

You see? Helping others will make you feel wonderful to yourself.