Feel Good by Donating to Charity

By Andrew Scott


Everyone can help the community and feel good by donating to charity at the same time. Donations can be in the form of goods or services. Helping the less fortunate is one way of giving back to the community but the inner peace and the sense of fulfillment that you achieve by doing it is worth more than the donations you have given.

If it's such a good thing, then why so many people don't donate to charity? Well, the first thought of giving away something without the hope of receiving it ever back gives rise to a strange feeling - a feeling of loss. Any sense of loss further gives rise to another strong feeling - fear. When we are uncomfortable with something, we always find out fitting excuses for not doing it. The first negative emotion which prevents people from doing charity is the impulse that "all charities are fraudulent." It is true that some organizations practice fraud in the name of charity, but there are quite some charitable organizations that do a wonderful job. Should we rob these good people of financial help because some are cheating?

A recent study indicated that charity giving makes you feel good. A team of psychologists and economists at Oregon University discovered that making donations to charity activates the parts of the brain that stimulate pleasure. Once a donation to charity has been made, the giver gets a reward reaction that is extremely intense, which causes a warm feeling of pleasure that has got health benefits. The idea of being part of a team that has contributed in providing basic survival for victims is very fulfilling. For instance, by contributing $ 20, some individuals somewhere can benefit from having safe drinking water. Being part of a team that initiates building hospitals, learning institutions, improving basic amenities and distributing supplies of medicine among many others is amazing. All those that donate can testify that charity giving makes you feel good.

Kind deeds that are done to others also inspire other people to do the same thing. This is one of the great advantages of helping the needy. You motivate and encourage other people by doing the same thing. Imagine how the world will be like if each and every one of us is used to lending a hand in our own, little ways. There are a lot of ways we can do to achieve this sense of fulfillment; by helping people to build houses free of charge, teaching the street children, donating old books and clothes or by participating in the community's livelihood programs. Inspiring others will make them participate in these charitable programs and will also make them feel good by donating to charity.

Beyond the above mentioned benefits of charity donations, giving is a mystical quality. This is appreciated when a another persons life has been touched positively. When giving to a good cause, additional benefits can accrue to the person giving. Therefore, it is undeniable that charity giving makes you feel good.




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