Have you heard the saying, the more you give, the more you get back in return? You’ve heard of celebrities from all walks of life: sport, music, art, and philanthropists all giving back. Fact is, if you look around you will find monuments to philanthropists, and their names going back into history, who gave to people with no return, except to help and lift the lives of the poor and needy. A lot of celebrities give back because they remember where they came from, and how far they have travelled to get there. They remember the people who helped them on the way. They remember the community they grew up in and above all the reason many give back is because they remember having very little; so, they show gratitude to say: out of a little has come a lot. Think on that for a moment, for surely that is the measure of the deepest gratitude.
Thus, the spirit of gratitude that we should be teaching to children is to be happy with what they have while working towards what they want. This may help to relieve children from growing up with anxieties of lack at a younger age. In 2012, I wrote a book called ‘Ready, Steady, Gold: Great Olympians’, to inspire young people in working towards and reaching their goals in life. Most sporting stars within, and outside of this book started their journey with very little, and they certainly started out without a medal, or the accolade, or the wealth – but what they had was a dream and a healthy dose of self-belief.
That is celebrities you may say. When you have a lot, it is easy to give back. But research shows that volunteering is one of the most reliable ways to momentarily increase your well-being. Volunteering is something anyone can do no matter how much money you have in your pocket. Often when people help others less fortunate, they start to become more grateful for things in their lives. Did you know that experiencing the feelings of gratitude daily, helps to re-wire the brain and by creating the habit of gratitude, can lead you to feeling happier?