The best way to cheer yourself up is to cheer somebody else up. – Mark Twain
Sometimes all it takes to cheer you up are some friends. They can help lift your spirits, especially if they bring some spirits for you to lift, if you know what I mean!
What does that mean?
This is another misattributed quote. I try to be extra cautious when dealing with quotes attributed to Mark Twain, as he is one of the most often attributed people, even when he didn’t say it. In this case, I found a fair number of reputable sites, so I’m not too worried.
This quote seems fairly straight forward. I don’t know about you, but I have found it difficult at times to cheer myself up. Sometimes it can seem extremely difficult to escape the doldrums. Nothing I try seems to work. I guess it’s like tickling yourself. If you know it’s coming, it doesn’t work.
However, the quote suggests a way around that difficulty. You cheer someone else up instead. And it’s hard not to be of good cheer in the presence of others who are in good cheer. In that manner, you help yourself by first helping another. And I would dare say that it applies to more than just getting cheered up.
Why is helping others important?
Helping others is one of the most significant gifts you can give to them, and at the same time give yourself. It may sound counter-intuitive to those who haven’t tried it before, but it really is a great way to feel better about yourself.
There is something refreshing and enlivening about the act of giving on yourself. It is doubly so when what you need is what you are giving. It has a tendency to come back to you, like the feeling of good cheer, mentioned in the quote.
Even if you don’t get an immediate return from your investment of time, effort, money, and self, I remain firmly convinced that what you give you will receive (eventually) many times over. Whether you consider it blessings, Karma, or you call it by some other name, it seems to work for me. And even if it didn’t, I believe it’s still worth the effort.
Where can I apply this in my life?
Let’s start with the quote. How would you go about cheering up someone else? It might help to know why they are un-cheerful, so that you can focus on that aspect, or at least not cause more un-cheer. If someone is having romantic difficulties (and are therefore un-cheerful), staying away from certain jokes might be a good idea, right?
Sometimes they might just need to talk it out, discuss it with someone else. Can you be a sympathetic ear for them, or a shoulder for them to cry on? Sometimes that is all the more that is needed, for a person to unburden themselves, to begin the journey back to cheerfulness.
Consider that the same may apply to you. If you are feeling less than cheerful, do you know why? What can you do to start on the path back to cheerfulness? Do you need someone to listen while you talk? Do you need someone to try to do silly things to help cheer you up? How about a card or a flower or some other small gift?
Can you see how this can apply to other aspects of your life (or other people’s lives)? What other ways can your life seem to go sideways, with no real obvious way out? In the present economy, there are all kinds of insecurities and nervousness, which can lead to massive amounts of un-cheer.
What can you do to help others out? What can you do beyond a simple handout, especially if you are not doing much better? Can you help out in a soup kitchen, to help feed them? Can you donate a little to the local food bank? Do you know a skill you could teach them to help better their lives?
The list of possibilities are nearly endless, as are the number of people who are in need of some kind of assistance in regaining their cheerfulness (or whatever their personal challenge happens to be). So be of good cheer, by cheering others up first, if need be.
Going back to the quote, sometimes there isn’t anyone around for you to cheer up. It then is up to you to cheer yourself up. This is the only technique of which I am familiar that works in isolation, without someone else to help out. It ties motion with emotion, and requires you to remember what feeling cheerful feels like. Let’s give it a quick try, shall we?
Think of how you feel when you are not feeling cheerful. How do you move your body? How do you sit? How do you breathe? How does that feel? Did you just get a bit un-cheerful just thinking about it? Did you actually move your body that way a little bit?
Now change how you are sitting (or standing). Change how you are breathing. Change how you move your body. Banish the image of you being less than cheerful and replace it with an image of you being at least a little bit cheerful. Sit, move, breathe and just be the way you would be if you were feeling cheerful. Are you feeling a little more cheerful now? I know I am.
From: Twitter, @AR_Foundation
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marktwain100631.html
Photo by Jacrews7
