Posts Tagged ‘Thinking’

Today I was wondering today if there is really such a thing as an unselfish act. While that may sound absurd, I want you to think about it.
Less than two weeks ago, my wife and I rented a hotel room in New York City so we could be with one of our dear friends during his wife’s Jo’s brain surgery. I had just flown in on a delayed flight from Phoenix after giving a talk; my wife had driven into Manhattan during a horrendous storm. We both went to sleep around midnight and, exhausted, appeared at 6:30 AM at the hospital where we remained until around 3:00 PM the following day. Thank God, the surgery went well. A week before the surgery, I had created a 20-minute audio tape involving relaxation and visualization to help lesson Jo’s anxiety and prepare her mentally for her ordeal. Making the recording and delivering it over to their home took both effort and time. After Jo got home from the hospital, Susan spent a number of hours cooking food to deliver to their home. Again, effort and time went in to the preparation.
Do you think I am relating this event because it’s self congratulating and that I’m telling you what great people we are? I don’t think so. I’m writing this to let you know what a gift it was – to us. The payoff was huge; we got to feel really good about ourselves because we know we made a difference. In addition, for a brief period of time we were able to focus on something other than ourselves and our troubles. That’s what giving of your time and energy does – for you.
Here’s something you may not know. When you do a really good deed, one specific area of your brain lights up the same way it does with sex. I’m not kidding. So, if you want to feel good about yourself, reach out and do a good deed for someone today. Then you can make the decision is there is really such a thing as an unselfish act. I suggest you – be selfish.