If you didn’t know, you're no longer living. At least not on the surface. Everything that meets the human eye is dead—from your freckles to your fingernails, everything people see has passed on. Except for one part. Your eyes. And since your eyes are the only things really living, have them watch closely. I want to show you something.
According to Jane Allyn Piliavin (a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin,) volunteering has positive effects on a person’s psychological well being and their self-reported health. Meaning this: those who volunteer feel better about themselves, both in their mind and body. So if you're not feeling well, you know what might help? Focusing on others, and taking your eyes off of yourself for a while.
Isn’t it strange that the one thing about humans that is both readily visible and actually living is meant to look outward? Unless you’re looking in a mirror, you can’t see yourself. And if you’re looking at others—if you see where they’re hurting and do something to help—you’ll actually be helping yourself. A little backward, maybe. But that depends on how you’re looking at it.
It’s sort of ironic, isn’t it? Possibly the best way to help yourself is to help others. And it runs even deeper than that. Think about it this way: like the individual human, society can look dead on top. What we mostly see are the things—places of employment, grocery stores, restaurants, theatres—but the part that’s really living is the one thing staring back. There’s no such thing as waitresses, valets, or even the homeless. They’re just plain old people; still living, same as you and me.
What I’m getting at is simple. Just like the body relies on cells for support and health, a society relies on individual people in order to function properly. Helping others does more than make you feel good—it really does good, for you and for them. Let's stop living like we’re dead. At the risk of sounding trite: let’s open our eyes and live.