Making Other People Happy During Holiday Season (and Always)

If your way of making people happy only consists of buying them presents, even buying very expensive presents, and you are happy with that, please stop reading here. This article won’t enlighten you any further on the topic of gifts buying.

There is nothing wrong in buying gifts, but there is more to giving and there is even more to making others happy.

My intention is to emphasise the ways of making people genuinely happy mostly through simple acts of kindness, acts where you share the unique you, your unique energy and your precious time with them. When we talk about Christmas, we usually talk about sharing. Is there anything more precious to share than your energy and your time? I can hardly imagine anyone not appreciating that type of kindness.

I notice that givers rather than receivers surround me. It took me a big part of my life to recognize the importance of receiving, but giving comes to me perfectly naturally.

When people themselves are happy, they experience positive feelings that they attribute as being something good. But when people make others happy, it elevates those positive feelings even further. There is no doubt that people love to make others happy. In fact, if you are ever feeling down yourself, one way to bring yourself up is to find ways to make others happy. This will give you the most needed boost.

When you strive to make others happy, they notice. They will get a boost in their mood. You will see that reaction on their face immediately. It may even be returned to you in kind way, either immediately, or sometime in the future.

Listening is one of the biggest gifts you can give to another person. You would be amazed at how effective this is. People aren’t usually good listeners so if you stand out as a rare patient listener, this too will get noticed by people and it will make them happy.

The great part about making others happy is that it is relatively easy to do. It can be as simple as paying someone a compliment. Or it can be helping out a colleague whose workload is overextended. Letting parents with little kids skip the queue and go to a checkout before you can make their day.

Sometimes, simply thanking someone can lift up their spirits no matter how small the task that you are thanking them for is. It can matter even more if you explain why their actions or words mean so much to you.

One really easy way to make people happy is to smile. Smiling is a warm and friendly act that most people will respond to positively by smiling back. A smile is a form of welcoming and shows that you are opening yourself up to those people. It gives people an invitation to approach you.

If you want to go a step further in making others happy, try to learn more about the people that you want to make happy. Be interested in what they do even when you have no interest in the same things / topics / activities. Then, if you see something related to their interests, either bring it to their attention or give them something related that shows you were paying attention. You were observing and listening! Everyone likes being noticed and heard. And acknowledged. Triple appreciation!

It’s important to be genuine when making others happy and not use it as a form of manipulation. People will pick right up on that tactic and it is sure to backfire on you. People will appreciate you much more and will respond positively to your efforts to make them happy instead of trying to get something out of it for yourself.

They will also be more willing to make you happy when the effort is real. Your acts of giving will result in your receiving, not necessarily from the same people.

I hope it doesn’t matter to you. It certainly doesn’t matter to me.

I wish you a Christmas full of giving and receiving and joyful and prosperous New Year!