It's no secret that doing good makes others happy - but did you know it can make you happy as well? According to a study, people participating in meaningful activities were happier and felt that their lives had more purpose than people who only engaged in pleasure-seeking behaviors. Try giving these four things to others to start your journey to a happier and healthier lifestyle. 1. Your Time With a busy life, it can be hard to find any time to give away. However, volunteering your time has great benefits, including making new friends and connections, learning new skills and even advancing your career. According to a paper about the link between health and volunteering, volunteering is connected with lower instances of depression and reduces the risk of dying by 22 percent. 2. Your Attention Most of us think we're good listeners, but according to psychologist Paul Donoghue, most people are aware that others don't listen as well as they could. In addition, they're not fully aware that they themselves aren't listening. When practicing mindfulness meditation , you focus on what you experience in the moment and let your thoughts and emotions pass through without judgment. Did you know that giving someone your undivided attention helps you also? When done well, active listening strengthens your focus-which is a major part of good meditation. 3. Your Compassion The psychological meaning of compassion is the ability to understand another person's emotional state. Compassion differs from empathy  in that those who experience compassion not only put themselves in another person's shoes, but also want to reduce that person's suffering. A brain-imaging study showed that the brain's pleasure centers are equally active when we give money to the poor as when we receive money ourselves. 4. Your Money According to an experiment, those who spend money on other people are significantly happier than those who spend the same quantity of money on themselves. Whether or not you can offer other gifts, donating money helps make real change happen. It represents time spent, compassion and careful attention to the needs of others. Which of the four gifts matters most according to the author?
Time. Money. Attention. Compassion.