If you needed someone with a PhD to confirm what you already suspected, here it is: Studies show charitable giving boosts happiness and reduces stress. Anyone who has given to someone in need or has created a personal gift with love for a friend or family member knows that special feeling one gets from giving, but that feeling isn't just an emotional boost, it's a physical game changer as well.
Lara Aknin, an assistant professor of psychology at Simon Fraser University says giving simply makes you happy. But her studies are a bit more complicated than that. The links between giving and well-being include a bounty of benefits.
Giving apparently reduces the stress hormone in our blood. And your body and mind can apparently even differentiate between giving someone a pair of socks who probably doesn't need them to giving as a social activity.
Imagine the mental and physical benefits of volunteering at, for example, a food bank. Aknin doesn't say if one still benefits as much if one is volunteering at least for a partially selfish motive. But we suspect that even those who sought to give in the hopes of lowering their blood pressure would get in the spirit and enjoy some collateral benefits.
Bob Erb, a Terrace resident, won the $25-million lottery last year. Since then he has been giving away hundreds of thousands of dollars to people in need in his community. Apparently Erb was always known as a guy with a big heart, and now he's grateful that he can actually help his neighbours and community. We don't know if Erb's blood chemistry is a medical journal miracle - but we do know he looks like a happy guy.
You may not have won a lottery, and maybe you don't have two dimes left at the end of the month - but you, like many of us, have a couple of hours to spare. How about helping the senior down the block, or walking a dog at the local animal shelter? Your neighbours, and your blood pressure, will be better for it.
