Every week I attend an online forum called, The Miracle Room. The man running it brings comfort and joy to many, and it’s free! People attend from all over the world. Every time I’m done with the call, I feel so good. It got me thinking about how important it is to do something for someone else and how it can change our reality in a very concrete way, and it doesn’t have to cost us money.
Have you ever wondered why doing a good deed for someone else gives you a “zing?” There’s a chemical component to it in the brain; dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins. I call them the “feel good” chemicals in the body.
These beauties are at our disposal anytime we want. We can activate them in simple ways with exercise, like when we go for a run, head to the gym, or take a leisurely walk on the beach. But the higher gift comes when we get this good vibe by looking outside ourselves and share it with others. Whitianga is blessed with many that volunteer; I applaud you all! You get it. You are a true example of Love.
The body is full of mystery, take for example, the pre-frontal cortex in the brain, aka: the amygdala; it can work for us, but also against us.
It’s our “fight or flight” mechanism that can protect us. It gets triggered by fear. When we come from Love instead of fear, the amygdala response lessens and our stress response lowers as well.
And for those of you wanting to lose weight, when the amygdala is triggered, it raises our cortisol levels (due to stress) which is associated with fat retention. It also can cause us to have sleepless nights, make us feel more anxious, irritable and exhausted.
It’s a great feeling to be able to have control over our bodies, rather than the other way around. You can even say it can be empowering! With a spirit of “giving” rather than “getting” we can change our day-to-day experience, physically and emotionally, and get to feel good doing it.
Given all this, why don’t more people do it? We get so wrapped up in our problems that we don’t realize a little lift is there for us, anytime and anywhere. I use any problems that are going on in my life as a quick reminder to go do something for someone else; it has changed my life. So much so that now I do it without needing to have problems to trigger me to do it, and guess what? I have less problems that come up!
The world is insane and we can change how it impacts us, here in our backyard. If you get consumed and depressed by the state of the world – politics, the price of gas, the pain…change it up! When you start thinking negative thoughts, that is another trigger to go do a RAOK. Instead of sitting down for the evening news at 6:00 pm, pick up the phone and ask a neighbour over for dinner. Chances are that you will feel a lot better at the end of the night than if you had watched the news.
So, this week, try doing a RAOK (or two) in the community – a compliment to someone, picking a flower and delivering it to an elderly neighbour, baking a hot soup for that friend that is under the weather. The options are endless. Afterwards, close your eyes and take in how it feels in your body. You can even start a journal of RAOKs that you can read to remind yourself of the good deeds you have done for people in your community and how it made you feel.
Write in to us about the RAOKs you’ve experienced or watched someone else do and how it affected you. Write to ananda.laberge@gmail.com.
Kindness goes a long way… Not only to those around you, but to you!
Hi everyone! I’m Ananda Laberge
I feel incredibly lucky to have called the idyllic town of Whitianga home for over four years (thanks to my wonderful husband for bringing me here!). Although I’m Canadian, people often assume I’m American – no offense taken – the US treated me very well. I enjoyed a dynamic thirty-year career in sales, leadership and consulting within the competitive healthcare sector, and raised our two daughters in beautiful California.
Having grown deeply fond of Whitianga, I wanted to give something back to this special community-and indulge my love of freelance writing at the same time. Above is my first weekly column for The Informer, titled Inspiration Alley. Drawing on a lifetime of global travel for both work and pleasure, I’ve developed a zest for seeing life as “glass half full”. I look forward to sharing that perspective with you each week.
◼︎ ananda.laberge@gmail.com
