Why Do We Reward Being Happy, Not Being Miserable?

When it is our birthday we get birthday presents, when we get engaged we get an engagement present, when we get married we get a wedding present and when we get a promotion we get congratulated. Life is funny, we reward good things happening but when bad things happen to good people, we abandon them and/or do the exact opposite.

_{He looks sad, maybe you should get him a present.
image source pixabay}

Say you're getting married, it's one of the happiest days of your life. People come, they celebrate with you and bestow you with useless presents you won't need for your future home. But you've been married a few years and the marriage isn't working, so you get divorced.

What do you get for getting divorced besides a, "I'm sorry it didn't work out"? It seems to me that when something bad happens in your life, is the time when you would want people around you giving you gifts and cheering you up.

When you start a new job someone might get you a nice bottle of scotch or you might be treated to a congratulatory dinner, but what do you get when you lose your job? If you haven't got something else lined up, it's stressful, how are you going to pay your bills? Once again, this is when I would rather someone give me a nice gift.

Human beings are funny creatures. Is it time we started looking at what we reward and celebrate? The next time someone loses their job, maybe gifting them a hamper of food so they don't have to worry about spending money they don't have on food would be nice. Do you know someone going through a divorce? Cheer them up with a present.

Let's start giving when people really need it most.