How You Benefit from Doing Good
In 2015, Archbishop Desmond Tutu traveled to the Dalai Lama’s home in Dharamsala, India to celebrate His Holiness’s 80th birthday and share perspectives on finding joy in the midst of suffering. The Book of Joy chronicles their conversations and their agreement that our greatest joy comes from doing good for others.
Taking the Focus Off Ourselves
The Dalai Lama pointed out that we cannot survive without other people so we must build trust by showing genuine concern for their well-being. Research suggests that cultivating joy by taking the focus off our own suffering helps us to be available to others. In a wonderful circle, the more we turn toward others, the more joy we experience, and the more joy we can bring to others.
Meaningful Ways to Do Good
We are individually and collectively experiencing suffering beyond what most of us could ever have imagined. I am challenging myself and you to find more meaningful ways to do good, consider the other person’s perspective when we’re feeling sorry for ourselves, and spread joy. That might be speaking up as an ally for someone who is treated unfairly or listening without judgement to understand opinions different from our own.
As Archbishop Tutu said, “We grow in kindness when our kindness is tested.”
