True Happiness

True happiness is easy to achieve. You just have to get your attention on serving someone else. The stronger you can attend to the needs of another, the more wonderful you feel. That simple shift of attention, from your self to someone else, releases the chain of worries from your head, and simultaneously releases a 'pharmacy' full of beneficial hormones and natural feel-good drugs into
your system.

Dopamine lightens your mood. Endorphins wash the pain out of your body. Pheromones fly out of your body on a mist of euphoria that attracts loving attention from members of the opposite sex, thus setting in motion wave after wave of ever more pleasurable chemicals and sensations.

The highest state of aliveness you can reach is the natural high that comes from pushing aside the greedy voice in your head for a few days while you give your time and your movements and your attention to an endeavor that makes life better for someone else.

Now, get ready for the paradox: the greatest service you can provide is to get what you want and need.

That simple truth defies conventional wisdom. We are taught to be "unselfish" and to sacrifice our happiness for the sake of others. But think it through. There is no greater pleasure than a baby whose needs are fulfilled. There is no greater disturbance than a baby whose needs are unfulfilled.

Apply that to yourself. Your facade is stronger and your mask is harder now that you are grown. But beneath the appearances, you are a wonderful person who resonates with joy when your needs are met. That harmonious resonance brings great satisfaction and joy to other people. It can also earn you a great living.
The service sector is the fastest growing branch of the new economy. Most people think of service as slavishness - a form of denying your own pleasure so other people can have a good time. But every great entertainer knows that amusing yourself is the key to lighting other people up.

Whatever you love doing can be transformed into a service for others. That is the entrepreneur's version of John Nash?s win-win formula. Give the gift of your pleasure and people will respond with great generosity.

P.T. Barnum famously stated that there is a sucker born every minute. Most people suck energy and aliveness. Sometimes life can feel like a night at the ball of the energy vampires. People don't mean to drain one another of love and energy. Everyone aspires to loving-kindness. It's just that people give away so much without replenishing themselves that they are left depleted and desperate for love and attention.

The great servers are those who have found the balance: take care of yourself so that you can take care of others. Get what you need and you will become a wellspring of vitality for others. What that takes is a series of disciplined actions that quiet your mind while making life better for others. Selfless rituals make you feel good. When your calculating mind can see nothing to lose and nothing to gain, it will grow silent. Your loving heart will take center stage.

--Martin Sage