Helping Others

There's an old Chinese Proverb that says:
"If you want Happiness for a lifetime...help others."
I bet, like myself, you've found that to be true.
Nothing puts a SMILE in yer heart like extending a helping hand to a friend, family member, associate, or a stranger. It builds a fire that radiates through the trillions of cells that compose our bodies.
Like the sands of an hour glass, each grain of sand flows to make-up the hour...much the way each of our deeds, good or bad, flow to make-up our lives.
What we give tells much about who we are. For we can only give from what we are.
Have you ever considered LISTENING to be a treasured gift? An easy way to help others? I'm talking about when we truly listen with far more than just our ears. Giving them our undivided attention. Using our minds, eyes and hearts. It takes skill, practiced skill, to give this sort of gift, but once you've accomplished these listening skills...the gift becomes twofold. You become a much better speaker, just by listening.
Resisting the need to interrupt, unless it's for clarification, takes an unseen strength.
Why college curriculums now offer courses entirely on listening skills.
What makes listening so hard for most is that the the human brain thinks much faster than it can speak. At least four times as fast. So that means if a person talks 125 words per minutes, another person not skilled at listening has already taken several side trips, thus only comprehending a fraction of what was said.
I've found that to genuinely help others you must become a good listener. Don't just anticipate their needs; know them from their own lips, or eyes, or facial expressions, or body twitches or various other forms of communication that only a good listener observes. That's when you can really help a person. Get to the bottom of what they need. What is it that you can give. We're not talking $$ here, but something no amount of money can provide.
Sometimes listening was/is all they needed. Or we may find that a friendly hug or a few words of compassion need to accompany the conclusion of a friendly listening session. Or if there's wisdom to share, don't hesitate - but try to never turn it to fulfill your own personal needs. For if you do, no matter how great a listener you were, you null and void the gift. Helping is about others, not yourself, even though you will receive a blessing all the same.
And though some will welcome a prayer for them, others will squirm with apprehension. Respect their wishes; yet go and silently pray for them. They won't know it, but it could be just the help they needed.
Help Others! Try these for starters: Smiling - Listening - Words of Comfort - a Gentle Embrace - and/or - Having a Word With Jesus.
May God bless you all, regardless of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, or disability.
God made us as one - all branches of the same Tree of Life...