I remember reading a statement by a psychiatrist1 who said that if you ever feel depressed, the best thing to do is to do something for someone else. Why? Because it gets you focused outward, not inward. It’s hard to be depressed while serving someone else. Ironically2, a byproduct of helping others is feeling wonderful yourself.
　　 I remember sitting in an airport one day, waiting for my flight. I was excited because I had been upgraded to a first class ticket. And in first class, the seats are bigger, the food is edible3, and the flight attendants4 are actually nice. In fact, I had the best seat on the entire plane, seat lA.
　　 Before boarding, I noticed a young lady who had several carry-on bags and was holding a crying baby. Having just finished reading a book on doing random acts of kindness, I heard my conscience5 speak to me, “You scumbag6. Let her have your ticket.” I fought these promptings7 for a while but eventually caved in.
　　 “Excuse me, but you look like you could use this first class ticket more than me. I know how hard it can be flying with kids. Why don’t you and I trade our tickets?”
　　 “Are you sure?”
　　 “Oh yeah, I really don’t mind. I’m just going to be working the whole time, anyway.”
　　 “Well, thank you. That’s very kind of you,” she said, as we swapped8 tickets.
　　 As we boarded the plane, I was surprised at how good it made me feel to watch her sit down in seat 1A. In fact under the circumstances, seat 24B or wherever the heck I was sit－ting didn’t seem that bad at all. At one point during the flight I was so curious to see how she was doing that I could hardly stand it. So I got up out of my seat, walked to the first class section, and peeked in through the curtain that sepa－rates first class from coach. There she was with her baby, both asleep in big and comfortable seat 1A. And I felt like a million bucks. I’ve got to keep doing this kind of thing.
　　
　　记得读过一位精神病学家这样的一句话:每当情绪低落时，最好的解决办法是为别人做点什么。为什么?因为这样会让你把注意力从自身转到外界。为别人服务时想消沉都难。更有趣的是，你在帮助他人的时候会有额外收获，感觉心情好极了。
　　 记得有一天我坐在机场等飞机，当时我很激动，因为我的机票升到了头等舱。头等舱座椅宽大，食物可口，乘务员态度也特好。事实上，整个飞机就我的座位最好，一排A座。
　　 登机前，我发现一位年轻女士带着好几件随身行李，还抱着个哇哇直哭的婴儿。我刚看完一本有关随时随地做好事的书，只听良心发话道：小子，把票让给她。经过一番思想斗争，最后我还是妥协了。
　　 “对不起，看起来你比我更需要这头等舱票。我知道带孩子坐飞机很不容易，要不我跟你换个票？”
　　 “你真要换？”
　　 “当然是真的，我真的不介意。反正我一路上都要工作。”
　　 “那就谢谢了。你真是个好人。”我们换票时她说。
　　 上了飞机，我看到她在一排A座上坐下来，心里别提有多美，美得让我自己感到惊讶。事实上，此时此刻，24排B座或者随便什么座位我都觉得不错。后来我实在是很好奇，想看看她在头等舱怎么样。我怎么也克制不了自己的好奇心，于是我起身离开座位朝头等舱走去。透过挂在头等舱和经济舱之间的帘子往里瞧。她和她的宝宝在宽大舒适的一排A座上睡着了。我心里高兴得像赚了一百万美元似的。以后我还要坚持这么做。
　　
　　摘自Growing & Gaining