Don’t let your yearning for what you might have overshadow the gratitude you should feel for what you do have.  Just look at the severely impoverished, the friendless, those with a debilitating illness, or those living in a Third World country.  You are more fortunate than most.  Good for you!

I read this in an interesting article the other day:

Human beings appear to be genetically engineered to be happiest and healthiest when we spend a lot of time selflessly helping others—and unhealthy when we’re mostly devoted to self-gratification. That’s the eye-opening conclusion of University of North Carolina researchers, based on a study of 80 volunteers. The study subjects were asked how often they felt hedonic pleasure—the kind of happiness brought about by enjoying a tasty meal or buying themselves something. They were also asked how often they contributed something important to society that gave them a deeper sense of purpose. The researchers then drew the subjects’ blood, and found that the genes of the volunteers whose lives contained lots of pleasure but little meaning were priming cells to express high levels of inflammation—which is linked to cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease—and a weaker anti-viral response to infections. “Their daily activities provide short-term happiness yet result in negative physical consequences long-term,” psychophysiologist Barbara Fredrickson tells ScienceDaily.com. People who emphasize service to others and a connection to community, on the other hand, showed a pattern of gene expression linked to less inflammation and stronger immunity. There are two distinct kinds of happiness, says study co-author Steven Cole, and “our genes can tell the difference.”

I frequently emphasize doing good deeds. It appears that science also verifies the purpose for doing so. So what are you waiting for? Perform a good deed today, tomorrow and the next day. Not only will another benefit from your actions, your soul AND your body will be healthier for it.

Things are going really bad for you. Everything you do seems to turn out wrong. Even your friends and associates agree with that assessment. You are in despair.

Then things suddenly change. You wake up to find your life going in a much better direction. You have hope and joy again. You have been witness to a miracle.

Don’t take this for granted. Don’t simply give thanks through words. Just as a wonderful action was given to you, show your appreciation of your new life through similar acts of kindness. After all, you have been blessed.