Helping Others Helps You.

If you have been reading the blog on a regular basis, and I hope you have, you probably know two things: first, that I strongly believe in the transformative impact that helping others has on our well-being, and second, that in my most recent blog post "Be Positive About The Future," I wrote that I would revisit some of the scientific studies discussed in the the article "11 scientific studies that will restore your faith in humanity." The first one I want to revisit is "Helping Others Helps You," which is linked to a blog post on the Barking Up The Wrong Tree blog titled "Can you best reach your own potential by helping others reach theirs?" The post details a study where: "Undergrads who wrote letters of encouragement to 'at-risk' middleschoolers advising them to persevere and that intelligence 'is not a finite endowment but rather an expandable capacity' became, themselves, happier and better in school for months afterward. Truth is, there were no middleschoolers. Just writing the letters achieved these results." I'm interested in hearing about your reactions to the study, as well as, any similar studies and/or examples you know of that illustrate how helping others help you, and I hope you will share your thoughts in the Comments section below. Thanks.

(photo - http://mysuccessprinciples.com/general/self-reflection-when-i-endeavor-to-help-others-my-life-flourishes/)