The side-effects of charity

Making a donation has an effect on your life and behaviour as well. You may not even realise it, but it will change the way you feel about the world. Have you ever had any of these reactions? Find out below!

• You feel good: You start to realise that you are not helpless and can actually play a part in bringing about some change. It feels good take action about something that is important to you. This sparks a feeling that is not happiness, but a feeling of positivity about yourself and your action. This is especially true of people who donate blood.
• You may even feel happier: But this is not the kind of happiness you get when buy something at the mall. Psychologists gave money to two groups of people. One of them was asked to spend it on themselves, the others were told to buy something for someone else. When surveyed later, those that had spent the money on others were happier! Turns out that sometimes doing something for others can make us happier than spending on more things for ourselves. This was even true for women in Uganda who had very little money of their own, but felt happier after helping others.
• You feel less selfish: We are trained to conserve our money, time and our energy for ourselves, our families or things that matter only to us. This sentiment is understandable if you are going through difficult times. However, in the long run, it makes one narrow-minded and focused on the money-value of everything. After you donate, you start to lose a little of the scarcity mindset with which we usually view the world. You may realise you actually have enough resources, be it time or money. You are able to look beyond the concerns of everyday life.
• You learn a little more about the world: We all have mental models of the world and we operate according to those. Our theories about other people’s lives change after we hear stories of those in need. You put yourself into the shoes of elderly mothers abandoned for being a burden to their children. You wonder why a woman who lost her only daughter is volunteering at the cancer wing where her daughter died. You start to realise that the world is not as predictable as you thought it was, and not as black-and-white either.
• You rethink your own values: The media wrote a story about the man who downsized his daughter’s wedding to save farmer’s lives instead. Here is an ordinary, middle-class person who probably put aside some part of his salary each month for years to save for his daughter’s wedding. As it turns out, when his daughter is to get married, farmers who have been struggling with drought are dying for want of a few thousand rupees. Should he do something? Isn’t it the government’s job? After all, he didn’t cause the drought, and he had planned for his daughter’s wedding years ago. Yet there is something about the plight of the farmers and his own money that lights a spark in him. He cuts down the unnecessary expenses and manages to donate Rs6 lakh to charity. What’s more important than the money is the fact that he gave up something important to him to focus on someone else. He has acquired a new value of his life’s priorities, his money and his relationship to others in society. This happens to many people who sacrifice something of their own to give someone else. You orient your priorities in a way that is more meaningful to others, and not just yourself.

It's something to keep in mind the next time you want to help out someone else. The rewards you get from acts of charity are not material, but it is surprising what a high value they will have for you!