Enjoy more happiness by … helping others!

Enjoy more happiness by … helping others!

Happiness, it’s been noted, is based on the premise that … other people matter.

Happiness isn’t just feeling good, it’s also doing good!

So helping others and adding value to their lives will not just benefit them, but also you…

via the Ladders by Christoper D Connors

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” — Mahatma Gandhi

A young woman brought her boy from their small Indian village to travel to see the great Mahatma Gandhi. From far and wide, she heard of his open-mindedness, wisdom and generosity. She was in search of knowledge, looking for answers that would help her with a problem she hoped to solve for her son. She was looking for guidance to help solve her son’s addiction.

An addiction to chocolate.

So she was willing to make the quest. Miles and miles, under the searing Indian sun, the woman and her son journeyed to see the wise sage. Days later, she arrived. She mustered up the courage to walk to the great Gandhi’s ashram. Her son stood there, shyly waiting, and the woman opened her mouth and the words flowed out from her lips:

“Wise leader, my son has an addiction to chocolate — and I don’t know what to do. We’ve tried everything and getting him to stop has been unsuccessful. Would you please tell him — you will know, wise one — please tell him to stop and that this is bad for his health?”

Gandhi sat there and listened patiently and with an open mind. He said that he would not give the woman advice about how to break her son’s chocolate addiction. He simply told her to return in two weeks.

The woman was stunned. Nothing? This wise man whose legend she had heard about for years — he offered nothing? And why two weeks? She was baffled, but decided to return to her village with her son. Over days and nights, they traveled back home. The addiction persisted. The woman did not know what to do.

Finally, after two weeks, the woman and child braved the sizzling, humid Indian sun and traveled back to Gandhi’s ashram. She hoped that Gandhi would direct her son to stop. Her wish was granted. Gandhi said:

“Boy, please, stop eating chocolate. It is bad for your health. Listen to your mother and stop at once.”

Hearing Gandhi dispense the directive, the boy dropped his head and with a sullen expression, he nodded. The mother was relieved and she thanked the old sage. They turned to leave and make the trek back to their village. But the woman couldn’t help shake her curiosity. Why did it take him two weeks to tell my son to stop eating chocolate? What did he have to think about?

So she turned back around, faced Gandhi and asked him, “Why did it take you two weeks, oh wise one?

Gandhi offered her a warm smile, looked up and said, “I needed to overcome my own addiction to chocolate.”

…keep reading the full & original article HERE