There are so many remedies proffered for sadness, depression, loneliness, and anxiety. Pharmaceutical industries thrive on treating such conditions – to the tune of nearly $100,000,000,000 (that’s $100 billion) in sales each year – making anti-depressants the best-selling class of prescription medications ever. Over half-million licensed mental health professionals help guide patients through their pain. And sufferers spend over $2 billion each year on self-help books.

Clearly we are in a lot of pain.

Yet one little known treatment that is worth considering doesn’t come in a bottle nor in a book. You can’t buy it in a pharmacy nor inject it into your bloodstream. As a matter of fact, it isn’t even something you take. Rather, it is something you give away.

Your help.

Helping another person in need has incredible physiological and emotional health benefits. Studies have shown that volunteering reduces early mortality rates by nearly 25% and dramatically reduces depression!

Why do we feel better when we help others?

For one thing, the sense of being needed and providing value can help us find more meaning in our everyday lives. It also feels good to make a difference in someone else’s life. And, while we are helping another person, we often forget about our own sense of misery.

But, on a metaphysical / spiritual level, the real reason it feels so good to help another person is because the other person is us. What we do for our brother, we do for ourselves.

All your difficulties stem from the fact that you do not recognize your brother as yourself. (T-3.III.2)

By hearing that call for help in others, and providing a helping hand or a listening ear, we practice tuning in to that still, small voice for God within that lovingly guides us beyond our perceived pain to a state of blissful happiness.

So, the next time you are feeling sad or lonely and not sure what to do – try reaching out to a brother in need. You won’t have to look far to find him. You might be amazed at how powerful the impact – both on your brother, and on you.

You understand that you are healed when you give healing. You recognize your brother as yourself, and thus do you perceive that you are whole. There is no miracle you cannot give, for all are given you. Receive them now by opening the storehouse of your mind where they are laid, and giving them away. (W-pI.159.2)

Join us in Monday’s class where we’ll explore this concept of feeling great by helping others. And we’ll discuss practical tips on how to make this happen within your particular comfort zone. I look forward to seeing you then.