All these weeks you have explored the ways and means of enriching your life by focussing on giving yourself the utmost priority.

It’s time this week to turn the vision outwards in order to strengthen your inner vision.

In your daily lives, all of you encounter other people struggling with adversity. In truth, how you respond to this experience is about you and not about them.

Do you reach out with empathy to those who are in need or in pain? Or do you turn away – not wanting to be distracted from your ‘to-do’ lists and objectives, with the attitude that “God helps those who help themselves” .

Altruism, charity, generosity, service and kindness are not just philosophical terms; they are the keys to a more meaningful, satisfying, healthier and longer life.

Doing good to others not only feels good, it is also good for your personal well being. A regular weekly habit of helping others may be as important to your health, both physical and mental, as regular exercise and good nutrition.

Helping others also offers value to the health of your community and to the world at large.

Focussing on others can help you get out of the common state of gridlock, from self-centredness, family, career and financial worries or stresses.

Helping others tends to improve mood, deepen optimism and nourish you with a sense of genuine satisfaction.

Helping someone less capable can enhance your appreciation of your own skills, knowledge and competence.

Contrary to popular opinion, helping others doesn’t require a huge commitment of time.

All you need is a personal plan of action that can range from doing work with a voluntary organisation, to spontaneous acts of generosity and kindness throughout the week.

You need to choose a kind of helping activity that will heighten good feelings and tend to keep you helping every week. Personal contacts with the people you reach out to help (especially strangers in need) will help enhance your own feeling of well being.

Here are some suggestions to propel you on the road to helping others.

Practice random acts of kindness – Spontaneous acts of kindness and consideration are opportunities that exist anytime, anyplace.

They give you the chance to help others without expecting anything in return.

Help your neighbour carry heavy packages, say a kind word, clean up your surroundings, hold open a door, say a polite “Thank you” to your doorman. Stand up and give your seat in a bus to someone who needs it more.

Offer to pick up your neighbour’s children from school, if you find she is too busy.

Pack a meal and send it across to your night watchman.

Such unexpected thoughtfulness has a ripple effect and encourages people to help others, too.

If you love animals, consider adopting a pet – If there is room in your heart and place for a pet, go to the nearby shelter for animals and pick up a stray. Pets can divert our attention from our own problems and help us feel more connected to Nature and the rest of the world. Moreover, pets such as dogs and cats can offer you unconditional love and affection.

Choose one-to-one volunteer activities. These could include tutoring children, reading to the blind, bringing food and clothes to the elderly or sponsoring the education of destitute children.

These activities increase your self-esteem and reduce distress in your own life.

Make helping others a weekly habit. The more frequent the helping, the more likely you will experience the feeling of an enriched life.

Remember, service with a smile!