Living with Courage in a Discouraging World

some needy person. There are many ways to help others – being the well-wisher of others, giving good advice to others, speaking only good of others, never taking revenge, living in society as a civic-minded person – all these are ways of being of help to others. Helping others is, in reality, helping oneself. This is because activity of this kind inspires positive thinking in the one who performs it and results in the better development of one’s personality. It makes one a giver-member of society. Good behaviour towards individuals helps one to behave well towards society at large. It is a law of nature that everyone is born with his own interests at heart. But, self-interest has its minus as well as its plus points. On the plus side, it is self-interest that works as a motivating force in the human world. Without self-interest all activities would come to a halt. This is the contributing aspect of self-interest. But there is a minus point of self-interest. When a person does something purely out of self-interest, it is but natural that he would at all events very much like to take credit for whatever it is that he has done. It is this phenomenon of human nature, which is good for himself but bad for the recipient of his good deed. The fact is that this phenomenon is due to the law of nature, and when it comes to the law of nature, one has no option but to accept it. One has to accept that this is the immutable reality. If one adopts a realistic approach to this problem, it will give an instant benefit. That is, it will make one tension-free and positive. In contrast to this, if a person reacts, he will have to pay a double price: first, in terms of the sad experience he will have