If you are feeling depressed or sad, here is a great remedy…be kind to someone else. How does it work? Well, it gets you focused on someone else rather than just on yourself. It’s really hard to be depressed when you’re helping someone else. And, ironically, when you are helping someone else, you start to feel good about yourself too. It’s a win-win!
I love these lines from, “The Man Nobody Knows,” by Bruce Barton, which helps to illustrate the point:
There are two seas in Palestine. One is fresh, and fish are in it. Splashes of green adorn its banks. Trees spread their branches over it and stretch out their thirsty roots to sip of its healing waters.
The River Jordan makes this sea with sparkling water from the hills. So it laughs in the sunshine. And men build their houses near to it, and birds their nests; and every kind of life is happier because it is there.
The River Jordan flows on out into another sea. Here there is no splash of fish, no fluttering leaf, no song of birds, no children’s laughter. Travelers choose another route, unless on urgent business. The air hangs heavy above its water, and neither man nor beast nor fowl will drink.
What makes this mighty difference in these neighbor seas? Not the River Jordan. It empties the same good water into both. Not the soil in which they lie; not in the country round about.
This is the difference.
The Sea of Galilee receives but does not keep the Jordan. For every drop that flows into it another drop flows out. The giving and receiving go on in equal measure.
The other sea is shrewder, hoarding its income jealously. It will not be tempted into any generous impulse. Every drop it gets, it keeps.
The Sea of Galilee gives and lives. This other sea gives nothing. It is named Dead.
There are two kinds of people in this world. There are two seas in Palestine.
Don’t be like the Dead Sea. Give of yourself. You are awesome. You have so many talents, so much wisdom and so much to give, don’t keep it to yourself. Let others around you benefit from what you have to give. It doesn’t have to be huge acts of kindness. Write a thank-you note to a loved-one, friend or mentor. Pay for the person in front of you in the store’s groceries, or simply be there for someone in their time of need.
There is so much you can do, so go out there and do it!
Your friend,
Raynor Boreham