The people you love most are those who listen deeply, sacrifice for you, and make you laugh the most. So be that kind of person for others you admire and want to keep company.
In Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut wrote that “a purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.”
Love comes in endless forms. Even for those you’re not close to, simple praise, recognition, and validation can feel like a warm ray of love. Receiving the full attention of someone else, even if brief, is a rare act of generosity.
Compliment people when you see a chance. As Dale Carnegie put it, “Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement.” Just being willing to look for the good in other people, and the way they’ve improved your life, or tilted your day for the better, has a way of sweetening your own life. It’s a painless investment that repays you in joy.
The road to hell is paved with empty “thoughts and prayers.” If you want to be there for someone, really be there. Call. Write a letter. Cook a meal. Knock on their door. Show up for them.
Be selfless for a selfish reason: Loving relationships are the most rewarding facet of life, especially as you age. The richest aspects of life increasingly become those spent in the service of others.
“It took us that long to realize that a purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.”
~Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan (Book)
“Find out what makes you kinder, what opens you up and brings out the most loving, generous, and unafraid version of you — and go after those things as if nothing else matters. Because, actually, nothing else does.”
~George Saunders, Congratulations, by the way (Speech, Pamphlet)
