A Biochemical Answer
Reader comment on: Why Giving Makes You Happy

Submitted by Bren Clayton, Dec 29, 2007 16:20

"You don't do good because you'll go to heaven if you do and hell if you don't. Doing good is its own reward" - heard that from Bradshaw, the tv co-dependency guru. I have spent most of my adult life volunteering and the common refrain that I've heard over the years at all the annual banquets from anyone being honored - "I receive much more than I give". Now that I'm retired I'm able to take care of someone with ALS 3 days a week. People say "Oh, you're a saint". My reply is "Yes, I'm a saint. I give up three days of skiing." However, I'm beginning to see that my body couldn't take much more skiing than I get in. The question that I often ask myself is why do I get such pleasure from volunteering. Is it just an evolutionary trait as the militant atheists would have you believe? I hope not. I've always hoped that the "What you do for the least of my bretheren..." applied. Even if it turns out that there is nothing after we die, now at least I can feel I've already been rewarded.

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Other reader comments on this article

Title	By	Date
The magic of US$1? [14 words]	curt	Feb 11, 2008 14:01
Is this the way it is? [39 words]	Carl C	Feb 4, 2008 20:43
Little gifts or big [114 words]	Ken Emmond	Jan 2, 2008 21:16
more statistics, please :P [87 words]	ariel	Jan 2, 2008 12:25
Gratitude and Giving Go Hand in Hand [358 words]	Daniel Taylor	Dec 31, 2007 20:12
Feeling thankful. . .makes me happy! [46 words]	Kay	Dec 31, 2007 10:19
It's true The meaning of Tzedakah [105 words]	Shalom Freedman	Dec 30, 2007 07:38
⇒ A Biochemical Answer [192 words]	Bren Clayton	Dec 29, 2007 16:20
Giving things not the only giving [57 words]	Karen Ways	Dec 29, 2007 11:55
It's True [30 words]	josag	Dec 29, 2007 10:41
Scrooge and Bentham [106 words]	George J. Leonard	Dec 29, 2007 03:58
↔ Give a gift of a good Gov,t [23 words]	dave	Dec 31, 2007 09:04
Giving always boost your moral,increase your joy, and satification [71 words]	Ramesh Raghuvanshi	Dec 29, 2007 02:07
Making it happen [19 words]	Tony	Dec 28, 2007 18:39

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