Research shows that people become much happier after even the smallest acts of kindness. In an innovavtive study conducted by Elizabeth Dunn from the University of British Coloumbia, participants were given $20 and asked to spend the money thet evening. They were ramdomly assigned to one of two groups. One group was instructed to spend the money on themselves ( perhaps treating themselves to a self-indulgents present) while the second group was asked to spend their unexpected windfall on someone else( perhaps by purchasing a present for a friends or family member). Participants who spent the money on their family and friends ended up feeling sinificantly happier than those who treated themselves to luxury gifts.
Of course, you might argue that you really don't have enough money to donate to others. However, once again, help is at hand. Happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky at the University of California, Riverside,arranged for a group of participants to perform five non-financial acts of kindness each week for six weeks. These were simple things , such as writing a 'thank you' note, giving blood, or helping out a friend. Some of the participants performed one of the acts each day, while other carried out all five on the same day.
Those who performed their kind acts each day showed a small increase in happiness at the end of the experiment. However, those that carried out all their acts of kindness on just one day each week increased their happiness by an incredible 40 per cent.
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