Why helping others makes us happier

This morning, I was saddened to read about the death of a man, Lenny B. Robinson, who would dress up as Batman to cheer up kids with life-threatening illnesses in various Maryland hospitals. He drove around in a Batmobile (among the many cars he owned was a black Lamborghini sporting the Batman symbol) and spent thousands of dollars on his costume and memorabilia. Now, he is being mourned by family and fans around the world as a real-life hero.

I came across a comment to the article that included this quote:

"What you do for yourself dies with you. What you do for others lives on."

It reminds me of a line uttered by Katie Holmes' character in, ironically enough, "Batman Begins," starring Christian Bale:

"It's not what you are underneath -- it's what you do that defines you."

These kinds of quotes stand in contrast to the feel-good ones we hear that center around being happy with yourself, not caring what others think of you, and so on.

I'm firmly convinced that no matter how much we think doing things for ourselves makes us happy, it's really doing things for others -- friends, family, the needy, animals -- that brings us the most joy.

I suppose one reason many people opt to have kids is so they can shape a legacy they can then pass do

wn. No one wants to feel as though they've lived selfishly. We all seek purpose in our lives -- we all aim for a greater good.

As an animal lover, nothing brings me a greater sense of fulfillment than feeding a stray dog or cat, giving money to the less fortunate, or giving someone on this blog life-changing advice.

But when I do a good deed, I don't seek recognition for it. The people's smiles or words of gratitude are more than enough to brighten my day.

Still, once I'm gone, I would like to be remembered as a kind, giving individual. But that's not really possible unless you make those efforts known to some degree. Your good deeds have to be visible or else they'll die with you as well.

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