Developing an Addiction to Public Service

“Make sure you’re not made ‘Emperor,’ avoid that imperial stain. It can happen to you, so keep yourself simple, good, pure, saintly… Life is short — the fruit of this life is a good character and acts for the common good.”
— Marcus Aurelius, (Emperor of Rome, circa 161–180 AD)

We all understand that public service, even at its most basic level, is useful to the most vulnerable populations in our society. But what about the person volunteering their time to the service of others? Does public service help the individual live a more meaningful and happy life? I’d answer a resounding and unequivocal YES! A man who once had every pleasure of life at the tips of his fingers wrote the quotation above. If he desired more money, drinks, food, sex, clothes, chariots, palaces it was all possible with a simple command. Yet, he tells us (or really we just read his diary after he died) that happiness or fulfillment in life does not come from anointing ourselves ‘emperors’, i.e. by feeding our every desire. Happiness comes through acts of kindness and public service to others. Now, is he right? As I said, YES! For one, public service channels our extra energy to a public good instead of a personal habit or worse… vice. Second, it pushes us toward a set of universal virtues that have been recognized throughout ancient Western & Eastern philosophies and by today’s major religions. Last but not least, it substitutes the deceitful short-term stimulation of pleasure for a long-term fulfillment to a commitment bigger than ourselves…