Over the weekend, I re-read Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom. It’s a true story about Mitch paying weekly visits to his old college professor, Morrie Schwartz, who is dying from Lou Gehrig’s disease.

During these visits, Morrie passes on some wonderful life lessons from the perspective of a dying man. At one point, he said, “Why do you think it’s so important for me to hear other people’s problems? Don’t I have enough pain and suffering of my own?

Of course, I do. But giving to other people is what makes me feel alive. Not my car or my house. Not what I look like in the mirror. When I give my time, when I can make someone smile after they were feeling sad, it’s as close to healthy as I ever feel. Do the kinds of things that come from the heart. When you do, you won’t be dissatisfied, you won’t be envious, you won’t be longing for somebody else’s things. On the contrary, you’ll be overwhelmed with what comes back.”