If being rich is being happy, can helping others be a super-happiness? The resounding answer is
yes. The rich would feel even a higher degree of happiness, particularly when they are giving for
causes that they are passionate about.
Generally, those who are happiest are those who give the most to others, according to ancient
wisdom and new research. It makes conventional sense that helping other people in need is a path to
everlasting happiness. As the Chinese saying goes: "If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap.
If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody." Scientific experiments also show that
altruism, or selfless concern for the well-being of others, is hard-wired in the brain, and it is
pleasurable. In view of all this information, helping others may be just the secret to living a
life that is both happy and meaningful.
However, it is important to remember that helping others does not always make the rich feel the
happiness they deserve. In some cases, giving can make the rich feel taken advantage of, even
though it is the right thing to do. Therefore, to be really happy in helping others, the rich can
choose the causes they love. Meanwhile, giving to a cause that specifies where their money is going
can lead to a positive feeling of everlasting happiness rather than a negative feeling of
resentment. Understandably, it is not only how much money they give, but also how much love they
put into giving.
In giving, rich people can choose the causes that fit them to achieve a high degree of happiness.
The best thing the rich can do with their money, therefore, is not just being able to help others,
or even how much they can help, but being able to help for the right causes.