BRETT: You know, Rush was right. Happiness. It comes from other people feeling good rather than ourselves. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.” New research published by a team of psychologists at the University of Missouri Columbia suggests that King’s words are as true today as they were a half century ago, that our own happiness is, in large part, is influenced by the kindness and generosity that we show to others.
RUSH: It can be said that some of the greatest feelings of satisfaction that people will ever experience are when they’ve done something for somebody else that that person couldn’t do for themselves. For people that experience that, there’s nothing like it. It is a great, great, great feeling of — I don’t want to belittle it by getting the definition wrong. Satisfaction, achievement. There’s something deeply meaningful about it. So to be able to make a difference in somebody’s life in a way they might not be able to themselves.
Happiness is an expectation that people have. It’s part of being an American. It’s in the Declaration of Independence. We declared that the right to pursue happiness is a right granted by God, that it’s part of the natural yearning of the human spirit. People are constantly seeking happiness. They’re seeking contentment. They’re seeking ways out of misery and malaise. So any time there’s a story that comes along that tells people how to do it, I think it’s fun to recount it and share with you some of the tips that are offered.
But, you know, many people are excellent at giving, as this program is illustrating. But, you know, it is tough to receive, and the older you get, like I, I am lousy at receiving gifts. I’ve gone into deep training to learn how to receive gifts better, because it’s the giving — you know, you don’t want to take away the pleasure of somebody giving you something by being a lousy receiver. I’m not kidding. How many times have you given somebody something and they’ve destroyed your feeling of goodwill by acting, “I don’t want this. I can’t take this. Oh, no, no, no.” Yes, and they make you force it on them. Learn to be a good receiver, folks. We can all give, and it’s, actually it’s fun to give. There’s no question as you get older, and the holiday season, of course, emphasizes this, it’s the giving that’s fun.
BRETT: Absolutely. The joy on a person’s face when they’re receiving something that they didn’t expect you to give them is a wonderful thing, and Rush was 100% right.