To Give is to Receive

toGIVE is to Receive

BY ADAM BAILEY

Think the whole holiday gift giving thing is completely overdone and a waste of time and money? Think again. Studies show that a little generosity can actually benefit your wellbeing. Need proof? Here are some benefits.

Giving Makes You Feel Happy. Seeing the pure joy on the faces of someone you’ve just helped or given a gift brings you immediate joy as well, right? Right. According to Psychology Today, humans can enjoy something called the “helper’s high,” an instant sense of fulfillment and comfort when you see someone happy with an action you’ve performed. The helper’s high is actually your body’s release of the chemical dopamine, a feel-good neurotransmitter. Your body is chemically telling itself to feel happy. Giving is Good for Your Health. Giving back is obviously a heart-warming affair but it could also do a whole lot more for your heart than warm it. Studies show that giving helps lower your blood pressure and levels of anx-giving helps lower your blood pressure and levels of anx iety—both major contributors to heart disease. There’s even research suggesting that giving can help givers, especially older adults, sleep more soundly. Feeling a little blue? Go out and make someone else’s day, and sleep better at night. Literally!

Giving Enhances Your Social Network and Improves

Relationships. By nature, humans are social creatures, so through giving, you’re building better social connections and contributing to your role in society—leading to tions and contributing to your role in society—leading to increased confidence and a positive self-image and decreased negative emotions. For example, when you vol-creased negative emotions. For example, when you vol unteer or give monetarily, you become part of a caring, unteer or give monetarily, you become part of a caring, united and cohesive group. By becoming part of this community, you will be afforded numerous chances to meet munity, you will be afforded numerous chances to meet new people and to make new friends, where you will have ample opportunity to demonstrate that you care about ample opportunity to demonstrate that you care about others and value those relationships. In so doing, others will reciprocate by drawing closer to you. This dynamic interaction will not only make a difference in someone interaction will not only make a difference in someone else’s life, but it will also improve your social support and else’s life, but it will also improve your social support and strengthen your network—thus giving you a greater feeling of belonging to something greater than yourself. ing of belonging to something greater than yourself. Giving Evokes a Sense of Empathy and Gratitude. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings pathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another—and it is a particularly valuable emotion and a concrete benefit of charitable giving. Specifically, when a concrete benefit of charitable giving. Specifically, when you see others in need, you literally can feel their pain. you see others in need, you literally can feel their pain.

This emotion creates an internal distress, which signals you to take action—most often in the forms of providing assistance or monetary support. In so doing, by helping others you relieve some of the distress that we are experiencing and that makes us feel better. In this glorious cycle of demonstrating empathy and experiencing gratitude, you encounter the very best benefits that charitable giving has to offer. Giving Increases Your Sense of Self-Worth. Adolescents in particular can benefit from giving—it helps them develop a sense of self-worth and community. Those that engage in self-focused behavior rather than social give-back are generally unsuccessful in their quest for happiness and meaning. Giving is Contagious. When you give, you not only help the immediate recipient of your gift, you also spur a ripple effect of generosity through the community. When one person behaves generously, it inspires observers to behave generously later, toward different people. In fact, your generosity is said to have the potential to spread by three degrees—from person-to-person-toperson-to-person. Thus, each person in a network can influence dozens or even

hundreds of people, some of whom they do not know or you to take action—most often in the forms of providing have never met. assistance or monetary support. In so doing, by helping others you relieve some of the distress that we are expe So whether you buy gifts, volunteer your time, or donate money to charity this holiday season, your giving is much more than just a year-end chore. It may help you build tude, you encounter the very best benefits that charitable stronger social connections and even jumpstart a cascade of generosity through the community. And don’t be surprised if you find yourself benefiting from a big dose Giving Increases Your Sense of Self-Worth. of happiness in the process. and community. Those that engage in their quest for happiness and meaning. you not only help the immediate recip munity. When one person behaves gen erously, it inspires observers to behave ple. In fact, your generosity is said to have the potential to spread by three degrees—from person-to-person-tohundreds of people, some of whom they do not know or have never met. So whether you buy gifts, volunteer your time, or donate money to charity this holiday season, your giving is much more than just a year-end chore. It may help you build stronger social connections and even jumpstart a cascade of generosity through the community. And don’t be surprised if you find yourself benefiting from a big dose of happiness in the process.

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We at iShuttle are honored to be awarded Shreveport-Bossier’s Best Limo/Party Bus company! Shreveport-Bossier’s Best Limo/Party Bus company!

This year has been full of challenges for us all, and in the group transportation industry, those challenges have been great. Yet here we are, at the end of the year, having had the best year in our company’s history by so many measures. Our success is the result of a dedicated team effort, from our talented drivers to logistics professionals to administrators. Our amazing staff continues to set the standard for excellent customer service and driver safety. iShuttle began this year still under strict COVID restrictions, reduced staff and service hours. We had no idea what the future had in store. Yet, this year we have expanded services with LSUHS, Ochsner, Caddo Council on the Aging, and have resumed services with all our local partners.

We’re excited to have been part of more than 100 weddings in 2021 and serviced a full schedule of corporate events. This year we have invested almost one-half million dollars in new vehicles, given pay raises to every employee, and managed to keep all our employees healthy and safe. We’ve made sizable investments in driver training, safety and compliance management standard for excellent customer service and driver safety. technologies which will continue giving our team a iShuttle began this year still under strict COVID competitive advantage and ensure that iShuttle drivers and vehicles remain the best on the road! We are looking forward to meeting the transportation needs of our community in 2022. Thank you!