365 Ways to Live Happy (4 page)
The greatest gift you can give anyone is the gift of life. Hospitals nationwide provide life-saving blood transfusions every day. Yet, all too often, a shortage of blood prompts blood donation centers, the American Red Cross, and hospitals to call upon citizens to donate and help replenish the nation's blood supply. Blood banks repeatedly call upon their good donors, those who don't mind coming in as frequently as every six weeks, to help them out. Consider donating on a regular basis or even just once a year on your birthday so that someone ill can make it to his or her next birthday. The happiness you feel on your special day thus can be magnified by your generosity.
Want to live a more virtuous life, but you're not the type to do spontaneous acts of kindness and generosity? Then think of your favorite charitable cause, put together a list of charities that work on behalf of that cause, and call to offer what resources you can to help its work. Few charitable organizations would turn away a volunteer. On the contrary, charities generally need people willing to donate their time and expertise. You can live your life focused on yourself or you can choose the higher path and offer part of your life in work for the betterment of others less fortunate. When performing everyday charitable acts, your life takes on meaning and purpose.
You won't be using your body after it's breathed its last breath, so why not save someone's life through donation of your vital organs? How about giving a blind person the gift of sight or a burn patient tissue? You can sign up with the organ registry of your state and by letting the Department of Motor Vehicles know your wishes the next time you renew your license. Registering to be an organ donor is easy and can make a huge difference for an individual fighting for life as well as that person's family. Even though organ donation has long been a taboo topic for cultural and religious reasons, most of the world's great religious traditions accept it. Live happier knowing that at your life's end, the organs you no longer need can give someone else a fighting chance to live.
Pick ripe fruit off your backyard trees and box it up for a local food bank to give to the poor. Giving your surplus fruit and produce to a food bank like Second Harvest will help feed people without resources or options to purchase everything they need. You'll be glad to know you did something nice for someone else and that the excess fruit and vegetables won't be wasted. Even if you live in a city and don't have fruit trees, you could have a small garden and share vegetables and herbs from it with the poor.
Brainstorm with your children and spouse about making a new family tradition. Perhaps something wonderful and spontaneous occurred as you were preparing to leave for summer vacation, the night before Thanksgiving, the afternoon of the first snowfall, or on the way to the pumpkin patch. Or, maybe you had a pillow fight that ended with everyone making popcorn, S'mores, and watching old movies in their pajamas … if it still evokes powerful memories for all of you, make it a tradition. Other ideas might include an annual family cleaning day (when everyone pitches in to tackle the mess in the garage, basement, or attic), an annual family fun day (let a child choose what the family does for the day, even if it's bug hunting), or an annual plant-a-garden day. According to Dr. G. Scott Wooding, best-selling author and leading Canadian authority on parenting teenagers, traditions help to determine family boundaries and help children feel more secure by giving them a sense of belonging to a clearly defined unit.
Your mission statement is a blueprint of your vision for your life. When thinking about writing a mission statement, be specific. If you want to have a happy, meaningful life, ask yourself what actions you will need to take and what values and purposes you must have to drive those actions. What is your raison d'être? What is the focus of your life's work? How do the things you do and the way you treat your family and other people reflect your core values? Maybe you prefer to react as life comes at you. But if not, clarify what you want to do with your life. What will give you lasting peace and happiness, when, at the end of your life, you look back at how you lived?
Don't turn a blind eye or deaf ear to criminal activity or injustice. Stand up for what is right. If you witness an accident, a robbery, abuse of a child (even if it appears the abuser is the parent), dial 911. Fear of reprisal or worry that getting involved may eat up too much of your time or cause you stress seems trivial when you consider that the crime could happen to a member of your family. You'd want others to help, especially if they witnessed what had transpired. Aid someone in distress. Helping another can be gratifying, and even make you happy, whereas doing nothing can cause feelings of guilt and remorse.
One way to make your life more meaningful is to join others in working to save the planet. Sometimes things can be accomplished only when working in concert with other like-minded individuals in groups like the Sierra Club or the Rainforest Action Network. Joining a group of people who share your feelings about a common cause can inspire you to do things you might never do on your own. Plus, there is truth to the saying that there's strength in numbers. Although one person working alone may not be able to save a rainforest, thousands or millions of people rallying around a single goal might just accomplish it.
Join others who want to make their lives count for the greater good. One way to find meaning in your life is by devoting time, money, and expertise to the fight for others who have been unjustly imprisoned. Their voices have been silenced. Amnesty International works hard to expose such human rights abuses. The organization and its supporters have helped save the lives of thousands of victims of torture and execution at the hands of rogue warlords, armed guerillas, and oppressive regimes and governments. Your help is needed and wanted. Contact
www.amnesty.org/en/how-you-can-help.