Happiness often begins with being willing to show appreciation and return kindness. It’s easy to assume that the purpose of life is simply to be happy — yet genuine happiness, the kind that lasts, usually comes through serving others.
When we serve without expectation — not to be seen, rewarded, or remembered, but simply to lessen another person’s burden — we discover a deeper joy. Service shifts attention away from self and toward connection, and in that movement, something changes inside us. We find meaning.
Those who live this way tend to carry less stress, bounce back faster from setbacks, and see their lives through a clearer lens. It isn’t that they avoid difficulty; it’s that service gives their difficulty purpose. The act of helping becomes its own renewal.
Mark Twain said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” The “why” often appears not in moments of personal triumph, but in moments when we make someone else’s path easier.
As I wrote in What Matters, happiness is not a destination but a reflection of the small choices that connect us — gratitude, listening, empathy, and purpose. When we choose to serve, we begin to live our “why” each day.
The good life isn’t about what we gather, but what we give — and the understanding that every act of kindness adds meaning to both lives involved.