Anxious , Depressed, Job Not Inspiring?

Question from a reader: I feel low, anxious, depressed, job not inspiring, what should I do?

My reply:

1) Look for the high points in your job: co-workers? customers? whatever is uplifting.

2) Consider a different job or becoming self-employed. Those may or may not be viable options, but think seriously about it.

3) Look to get your true satisfaction from sources outside your job. Appreciate your family. Volunteer in your community. Help someone less fortunate than yourself - perhaps volunteer at a food bank or soup kitchen.

As we work to create light for others,
we naturally light our own way.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Life's most persistent and urgent question is,
'What are you doing for others?'
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you don't like something, change it.
If you can't change it, change your attitude.
- Maya Angelou

The best way to find yourself
is to lose yourself
in the service of others.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

The more we care for the happiness of others,
the greater is our own sense of well-being.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

The best cure for our own self-inflicted suffering
is often service to others.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
      

What To Do When You Feel Lonely

A reader writes: Sir, I don't know why I feel lonely always, I can't change this attitude. Please suggest me some tips to come away from this.

My Reply:

My suggestion is for you to think more about helping/comforting other people, and less about yourself and your own troubles.

The best way to cheer yourself
is to try to cheer someone else up.
- Mark Twain

As we work to create light for others,
we naturally light our own way.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

One thing I know: the only ones among you
who will be really happy are those
who will have sought and found how to serve.
- Albert Schweitzer

What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?
- George Eliot

For those who are bored with life,
the path to happiness almost always comes
through service to the less-fortunate.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie


May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
 

How Helping Others Helps You

A reader's question: Dear Jonathan, Can you please explain in simple words what this quote is trying to convey?

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life,
that no man can sincerely try
to help another without helping himself.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

My answer:

If you help other people, your life becomes happier and more fulfilling.

There are three reasons for this:

1. Most immediately, the act of helping another provides a sense of your own value, which directly makes you happier and more fulfilled.

2. Other people will see you as a worthwhile and moral person, and will be more likely to help you get what you want.

3. If you believe in a kind and compassionate God, or in a universal intelligence, or in karma, you know that there is a force that rewards good actions.

As we work to create light for others,
we naturally light our own way.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

See more quotes about service