Be selfish, by making other people happy

That’s right, you read it correctly the first time. Hear me out though, before disregarding me as a knucklehead. I am a very selfish person. I only care about my happiness in the world, and everything that I do is to be more happy in life. The only difference between me and a clichéd selfish person is the way I try to attain that happiness. Most selfish people tend to make the mistake of either indulging in material possession, like a big house, an expensive car, or try to put other people down so that they get to climb the ladder of success. They only think about themselves (hence selfish), they know what makes them happy and they try and get it. I do agree that this gives you a moderate amount of happiness (albeit for a very short period of time), but there is one thing selfish people don’t realize. There is a much easier way to be happy, and not the transient kind of happiness you get when you get a Lamborghini, no, but happiness that is true and long lasting.

The way I see it, human beings are naturally inclined to feel happy when they are surrounded by happy people, and even more happy when they make a fellow human being happy. I think it comes naturally to everyone. The problem is no one wants to make efforts in going out of their way to help others, because frankly, it means thinking about other people apart from themselves.

But what if you realized that putting that effort was actually a selfish approach? What if it was just another way of self gratification, like buying that expensive car? You care about your happiness right? Then be selfish and get it, and since making other people happy brings happiness, do it through that! So the next time you think before helping someone, think to yourself, you are doing this because of you, and not because you want to help them. Be selfish, think about only your happiness and not theirs when you help someone.

Don’t forget, your ultimate aim is to make people happy so that you become happy as a consequence. And so try really, really hard to make people happy. If your action wasn’t enough to make them happy, don’t give up. It’s like you bought a car and that didn’t make you happy. What do you do? You buy a new one, a better one. So follow the same approach here! If someone didn’t become happy with a certain action of yours, try a different action, a better action.

Next time someone’s sad, wish them all the happiness in the world so that when their wish comes true and they become happy, they infuse that happiness onto you and you become even more happy! Next time someone’s lonely, help them feel better and give them good company, because that will make you feel good. Do it for yourself, and do it sincerely, because after all, you are doing it for yourself and not for them right?