Lo vs Selfless

Being the youngest in my family I have had... well lets just say that I get away with murder compared   to my sister. 95% of the time get my own way and yes my mother usually sides with me and as far as punishment goes, I can generally get myself out of anything. I have this philosophy that if people don't expect much from me then I don't have to do/give much, and it has worked like a charm my whole life. Let me give you an example. I have this habit of not putting my dishes in the dishwasher and just leaving them in the sink. This drives my mother crazy and years of asking me to put my dishes all the way in the dishwasher gets tiresome so she just does it for me. Now if I randomly put my dishes in the dishwasher without being asked, even though I should be doing so anyway, my mother sings high praises to me. Case and point.
I would like to think that I have other redeeming qualities that make of for my youngest child syndrom but that aside, some may say that I am selfish and over the past few years my eyes have been opened and I realized that I really have been quite selfish.

There was a guy on Opra that once said giving is the key to lasting happiness, that true happiness is not found in new cloths, vacations, or over priced dinners but is found in helping others. Live outside yourself, stop looking at what you can do for yourself and look at what you can do to make someone else's life better. God has blessed us with these wonderful gifts and talents and He hasn't given us these gifts and talents to use them to make the individual happy but for that individual to use those talents to help others.
Charity: Love of humankind.  It is the highest, noblest, and strongest kind of love and the most joyous to the soul. Charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things

So today I shared a little talent I have with an elderly lady in my church. I used my "hipster tech savvy know-how" and taught her how to use pinterest. Such a simple thing that really didn't take much effort from my part but she was so appreciative! It brightened up the rest of my day. I felt better about myself, I was kinder and more patient with my family, and I went out of my way to help others for the rest of the day.
What's the lesson I have learnt? While it feels great to be lazy and focus on fulfilling my wants first, that only last temporarily and soon enough that happiness goes away and I am needing something else to make me happy. Giving charity and taking the time to put others before myself is lasting happiness and makes me feel better about myself than any new pair of shoes ever could. Not only that but it helps to strength bonds with the people who matter to me and helps me to make new friends, and whats going to last longer a new pair of shoes or a new friendship?