We tend to look for satisfaction outside of ourselves. We compare ourselves to others and think that if we have what they have, if our physical illusion matches theirs, we'll be as happy as them...and we don't even know if they're truly happy.
If our car is faster than our neighbors and co-workers, if our office is bigger, if our grass is greener, we'll feel like we think they feel, not even knowing if they truly feel the way we think they feel. How incredibly silly of us to think that other people feel the way we think we would feel if we were in their illusion.
What we never stop to consider between cafe lattes, is that we can't possibly be fulfilled by something outside of us. When we're empty inside, nothing outside of us will fill that hole. Too much of anything becomes boring. That's why people need a bigger fix to get the same sensation. We crave continually more money, drugs, sex, violence on tv, faster cars, bigger houses, bigger bonuses, more control over others, bigger deals and yes, even more cafe latte.
What then is the answer? Where then do we find fulfillment? How do we become complete within our selves if nothing in the physical world will satiate us from our craving to be Whole?
It doesn't even matter how much money you have. In fact, people with more money become more desperate for satisfaction because they know that money is not the answer. At least poor people have hope. They think that if only they would get rich, they would at last feel fine. Rich people know better.
Anyone, rich and poor, who have experienced the answer to this dilemma know it as a fact. Regardless of money, some people have discovered the answer to one of Life's great mysteries...the secret to personal fulfillment, the simple solution to incessant craving, the antidote to addiction.
Giving is the best feeling in the world. That's why giving is a selfish act, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Giving makes you feel better than anything else in the world. It is a different kind of amazing sensation that you can't find anywhere else on Earth. It is a kind of, "Wow, am I a great person!" kind of feeling.
Don't believe me? Try it! I guarantee you'll like it. Next chance you get, do something for someone just because it helps them, with absolutely no benefit to you. I guarantee you'll feel amazing about your self.
Giving is the ultimate self-esteem builder because it builds you up from the inside. It is not someone else telling you how great you are. It is you telling yourself how great you are. That is genuine self-esteem, and it lasts.
You're not giving your power away to other people, depending on a stranger's opinion of you, for you to feel good. People are fickle and change their minds without warning. If someone changes their good opinion of you on a whim, your self-esteem can be destroyed in an instant if it relies on their opinion of you. Even if you didn't do anything wrong. That is weak.
When you feel good about your self because you help others just because you can and not to gain personally, no one else can ever take that away from you. People can call you really bad names, yell at you, condescend you, scoff at you, and you will not be phased. To know you helped another person is to have solid self-esteem, regardless of any outside force.
If you give constantly, you will feel good about yourself all the time. If you only give sparingly, external forces can lower your self-esteem. If you are constantly beat-down by people telling you that you suck, you will start to believe them. The defense against this is to give and help others as often as you can because that amazing feeling inside you will not go away. You will have plenty of evidence that you're an amazing person and that is what you will continue to believe.
Go try it and keep at it. You'll make the world a better place and maek your self feel amazing. It will release endorphins and give you the best natural high you can get.
Depressed? Anxious? Go help some people. Give them something they can't give themselves. Giving will destroy your depression.