Books on Giving Better: Charitable giving makes you happy

Charitable giving is one of the keys to a happy life, so we’re recommending two books that will make you smile. 

The subtitle of Why Good Things Happen to Good People says it all: “How to Live a Longer, Healthier, Happier Life by the Simple Act of Giving.” Stephen Post, Ph.D., and Jill Neimark explain the science behind the positive effects of giving as they offer guidance on ways to give, along with tips to incorporate compassion for others, loyalty, listening and creativity into your life.

“You wish to be happy? Loved? Safe? Secure?” asks Post, “Then I have one answer: give. Give daily, in small ways, and you will be happier. Give and you will be healthier. Give, and you will even live longer.”

Post sites several studies that show the positive results of giving.

• “Giving reduces mortality significantly in later life, even when you start late,” according to a study at the University of California, Berkley. 
• “A ‘helper’s high,’ occurring when people help others, is credited with making 43 percent of those studied feel stronger and more energetic.”

We can't wait to read Post's newest book, The Hidden Gifts of Helping. It was just published last month and shares how giving can help us get through life's challenges.

Kansas City-raised author Gretchen Rubin sites a study that shows wealth to be one of the positive results of charitable giving: 

• “Charitable giving actually causes higher income” due, in part, to the “positive brain stimulation caused by charitable giving.”

Rubin took a year off to explore ways to be happier. In her book, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle and Generally Have More Fun, she focuses on a different area each month, from vitality, to relationships, to pursuing a passion. Along the way she learned a simple truth: “Do good, feel good.”

For anyone interested in creating a personal experiment in happiness, visit her online toolbox: www.happinessprojecttoolbox.com.

Charitable giving and happiness is a theme echoed by Arthur C. Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, in an article in BYU magazine.
“Charity brings happiness,” he says, “and happiness brings success. You simply can’t find any kind of service that won’t make you happier.”

• People who give to charity are 43 percent more likely than people who don’t give to say they’re very happy people.
• Studies show that when people give, it lowers their levels of stress.
• People who volunteer are happier.

Happiness, health, wealth and a longer life; charitable giving is something to smile about.

Authored by: Debbie Starke, Vice President