The Simple Act of Giving

The Simple Act of Giving

“We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give” — Winston Churchill.

In a study published in 2017 researchers from the University of Zurich in Switzerland told 50 people they’d be receiving about $100 over a few weeks. Half were told to spend the money on themselves, and the other half were asked to spend it on someone they knew. The researchers wanted to see how their brain behavior differed. They put them all through an MRI scan, and asked them to think about how they would like to spend the money, and who they would spend it on. The lab measured regions of the brain associated with happiness, social behavior, generosity, and decision-making. The participants in the group, who had committed to spending the money on others, showed significantly more generous behavior than the group who had committed to spending it on themselves. They also showed a greater increase in happiness, had more interaction between the parts of the brain associated with altruism and happiness, and they reported higher levels of happiness after the experiment was over. There are countless other experiments to back up the personal profit in giving and how its benefits can help everything from sleep apnea to prolonging life. Psychology Today also reported that people 55 and older who volunteer for two or more organizations have an impressive 44% lower likelihood of dying. That more than matches up to exercising four times a week and it even means that volunteering is nearly as beneficial to our health as quitting smoking!

But surely we don’t we don’t need science to spell out the benefits of giving? For me, there was a personal experience of giving which had a memorable impact on my life, back in 2003. At the time I was living in Balmain, in West Sydney. An affluent suburb similar to a small English village, but just a few kilometers from Sydney’s city centre. At the time I was 30 years old and suffering from a chronic back issue, which consisted of one compressed disc and another protruding; both hitting the spinal nerve. All common issues and anyone who’s experienced disc problems, will be able relate to the pain. I’d had physio, chiro took anti-inflammatory tablets and I even had two epidurals. By this point I was walking with a stick and waiting for an operation – in the end losing 10kgs fixed the issue. But, back to the story. . .Around the same time, there was a homeless guy in Balmain, everyone knew him. A stocky grey haired man, he was around 55 years old, and would push a shopping trolley up and down the street everyday. The trolley was filled with clothes and other items that made up his minimalist existence. But most notable was a 1980’s beat box that was always blaring out tunes. Whenever I passed him, I would wave and say, ‘hello’. He would look down or the other way, and make a point of ignoring me. But I always kept on trying. Hoping one day that I might get a smile. I never did.

On my last night in this small Sydney suburb, I was having a few drinks with friends. Though not prescribed by my doctor, alcohol was one of the best painkillers for my back issue, so I would often have one too many. I hobbled out of the bar at around 11pm, walking stick in hand, and joined the taxi queue, when there was a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see the homeless guy standing behind me, and in a moment of spontaneity I decided to give him a piece of my mind. ‘I’ve been living here for three years and I always say hello to you. . .’ I waffled on from my drunken high horse, ‘and you always ignore me’. Of course he ignored me this time as well. Once I had finished my rant I realized he was standing dead still looking straight at me. He’d been waiting for me to wear myself out. He then pulled a packet of painkillers from his pocket and handed them to me, said nothing and walked back to his trolley. In the packet were his last two painkillers and he had given them to me because he could see the trouble I was having with my back. I moved from this suburb the following day and not long after, from Australia to Asia. Six years later I bumped into this guy again. In 2009 I had a holiday back in Sydney and during the first night I was elated to see this man. This time he was sitting outside MacDonalds in the city centre. I chatted to him, recounting our story and his generosity. As always he didn’t say much, so as we were outside McDonalds, I asked him, ‘Do you want some fries?’ ‘I wouldn’t eat that shit,’ he replied.

We live in a world that’s obsessed with what we can get materially. In many aspects of life this is a vital component. We all need money to pay bills, to put food on the table and to enjoy some quality of life. But, being rich is very different from being wealthy. What this homeless guy, demonstrated to me that day was this; it doesn’t matter how little you have in life, you can always find something to give and with the act of giving you will receive so much pleasure and fulfillment, in return.

The photo is genuine and was taken when I met this friendly chap for the second time back in 2009.

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