How Being Kind To Others Can Encourage The Joy Of Giving

The joy of giving creates a happy person to a greater extent. The good part is that, it also gives a feeling of satisfaction every time you do your bit to help other people in their time of need. The sheer act of offering complements a person's life with happiness and soon his happiness spreads to other people as well. This is the reason why people feel the need to share the joy of giving by donating generously to charity.

The term "joy" itself is an ambiguous one and can mean many things. So the first step to find out the exact meaning of the word before you start giving is to understand why do people feel the need to share this emotion. According to conventional thinking, joy is defined as a feeling of joy when we receive something good or have our needs met. But in reality joy is not a single emotion, rather it comprises of various emotions such as happiness, satisfaction, achievement, affiliation or sympathy and anticipation.

People tend to give in a situation where they are required to reciprocate by getting something in return. Sharing the joy of giving is therefore an act of generosity and puts the recipient of the gift in an uplifted position of gratitude. The more you participate in the joy of giving, the more you will get involved in sharing the feelings of gratitude around you. This process of socialization makes you become sensitive to the suffering of others and hence the tendency to extend a helping hand irrespective of your social status.

Sharing the joy of giving is not a selfish act rather it is an act of kindness which benefits the giver as well as the receiver. It puts the receiver in a position where he or she does not feel bad about the kind deed done towards him. The more you participate in kindness the more you will tend to extend this kindness to others, be it your near or distant relatives, friends, neighbors or workers whom you come in contact with round the year. The act of kindness extended by you to others creates a network of like minded people who share similar sentiments of generosity around you, thereby creating awareness about diseases like diabetes, obesity and heart ailments prevalent in the neighborhood.

The other important aspect of sharing the joy of giving is to understand the effect of the same on the giver. Sharing the feeling of gratitude or happiness created in us by acts of generosity encourages the joy of giving in others. This is because when we share the happiness that others feel by doing acts of kindness we also experience a sense of contentment which lifts up our spirits and makes us want to do good deeds.

It can be perceived from this that the act of sharing the good feelings with others can actually inspire others to behave similarly. For instance, if you know that your neighbor is having trouble with his diabetes, you may want to help him overcome his disease through your own act of kindness. If you share the joy of giving by assisting him in his diabetes program then you would motivate him to continue with the program. You can also share the happiness and gratitude you feel for someone who shares your hobby of gardening with you by being kind to them and showing them that you appreciate their hobby.