Nothing has such a positive impact on a person as giving to others. The people who have a giving spirit are some of the most positive people that I know. That is because giving is the highest level of living. These people are the ones who focus their time and energy on what they can give to others rather than what they can get from them. The more a person worries about and gives of his/her time, tallent and all the he/she has been blessed with to others makes his/her attitude better because they love the life they are living.
A lot of successful people don’t understand this concept. They believe that how much people give and their attitude about it are based on how much “stuff” they have. This is not true. In a survey titled “Joys and Dilemma of Wealth” by Boston College, the wealthiest people are unhappy and worried about various things in their lives. They are worried about their friendships and that these relationships are contingent on, their wealth. They are worried about their children being ungrateful. They believe that they will only be secure when they have $1 billion in the bank. They feel they can’t share the problems they have in their lives.
I know many people who have very little but are tremendous givers. I also know people who have been blessed with money, good families, and wonderful careers who are stingy and suspicious of others. In, life it’s not what you have that makes a difference, it’s about what you do with what you have been given or blessed with. Once you truly feel this way and your actions align with your beliefs you will begin to feel good about what you are and your attitude will begin to shine. I think it’s interesting that if you want to improve one area of your life very rarely do you just focus on that area. But once you focus on others around you and give of yourself that is when you find what you were looking for.
So the formula on paper would look like:
Give of yourself +(not worrying about what you will give from it.) = Happiness (or Positivity)
I am always growing and constantly trying to improve. Let me know your thoughts below in the comments. (hint, this post is about giving, give it a try.)
James Hansen 
Nice post James. You & your sweet wife are definitely some of the most giving people I know. Thank you for blessing my family’s life. I hope to be able to pay it forward someday.
My wife just listened to a talk about this and I learned how much I stink in this dept. It starts out with this story,
“Two little children were put early to bed on a winter’s night, for the fire had gone out, and the cold was pouring in at the many cracks of their frail shanty.
The mother strove to eke out the scantiness of the bed-covering by placing clean boards over the children. A pair of bright eyes shone out from under a board, and just before it was hushed in slumber, a sweet voice said, “Mother, how nice this is! How I pity the poor people who don’t have any boards to cover their children with this cold night.”” –more info.
If I was to put those shoes on, I think I would say something like, “how come I don’t have…… Don’t I deserve ……” The talk is good and worth time.
James, thanks for your thoughts. I needed this reminder, for sure.
I know I do. Writing about a subject is similar to a mini talk in church. You learn what you need to be doing because you spent a little time to understand the topic a little more.