“The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer someone else up.”

There’s a classic Mark Twain that reads “The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer someone else up.” I love the theory of it but I think what’s way more powerful is diving into what this looks like in practice.

Anyone who has been sad before can understand that they’d like to work through it and be happy again. That’s not to say that there isn’t value in allowing yourself to feel sad, there certainly is, but rather that there’s an overarching motivation to transform that sadness into something more pleasant.

When it’s time to make that shift, the best thing you can do to cultivate feelings of happiness and cheerfulness is to instill that feeling in someone else. It’s hard to do because with sadness comes lethargy and low motivation. It makes it more challenging to get yourself to take action in that low-energy state.

But the amazing thing about positivity and cheerfulness is how disproportionate its impact is. Taking 30 minutes to share that you’re grateful for or proud of someone else can change their mood for a day or a week. Positivity is a multiplier and you can add a lot for someone by giving very little.

Now that great part is, that multiplied effect then finds its way back to you. It’s not that you create cheerfulness for someone else you receive the same amount. You share positivity, it multiplies, they receive it, then they share it and it multiplies again. So your initial investment of just a pinch of goodness, that you managed to share despite your own personal darkness, then returns to you exponentially.

This is how energy works and that’s why the same concept applies across the board. You need help? Give help. You need love? Give love. You need an introduction? Make an introduction. This is what makes the world go around and you have the power within you to catalyze it, should you choose to ignite it.

“The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer someone else up.”

I’m proud to be in your corner, cheering you on! You got this. I believe in you. You know why? Because you showed up for yourself and grew today.