I Believe in Living Usefully
by James House

What is a useful life? I believe that there are many forms a useful life can take, all of which have the commonality of bettering society. We are useful to our fellow citizens when we do things that improve their condition. Most religions teach their people to treat others kindly and do good deeds. This is useful. But I believe usefulness also includes creating improvements to the world around us.

Why does being useful make one happy? Consider this question: who wants to be called  "good for nothing"? If seriously meant, there are few terms that bestow less love and value upon a person's life than "good for nothing." To be loved by others is a primal, deep desire.  To be useful to others gives one the knowledge that the love and respect you receive is genuinely deserved and long lasting. What can make a person happier than knowing that the love they receive is deserved? When I was a teen, I was once with my father when he introduced himself to an older gentleman. Upon hearing our uncommon last name, the man asked, are you the son of Adolphus House? When my father replied yes, the man then said,  "Oh, he did so many great things for so many people, I'm sure he taught you to do the same, so I just have to give you a hug." My grandfather had been dead for about 15 years, but still had that much love felt toward him! Surely he must have felt happiness.

How do we achieve usefulness? All of us are engaged in activities with varying degrees of usefulness throughout our lives. However, those who daily seek to identify and meet another's need are bound to be useful. I believe that every human is born with the ability to distinguish which of their actions are beneficial to their fellow beings. Unfortunately, we are also born with the inclination to seek superficial pleasure. To truly be happy, we must spend more time acting usefully. Everyone will find different ways of doing so. Ben Franklin found usefulness through his ideas for societal improvement (such as introducing public libraries) and the inventions which he offered to the world patent-free (such as the bifocal and lightning rod). Not everyone's usefulness will achieve such public renown, but all of us can find ways to make real improvements to the lives in our communities and nation.

I believe that for me, the struggle for the discipline to live more usefully will be lifelong. But I have a responsibility to do so, because I wish to live in a world full of people anxiously engaged in improving the conditions of their fellow men.  I believe that the more effort I put into being useful, the happier everyone, particularly myself, will be.

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