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do you feel good when you do something for someone else?

Submitted by neku in ask

yesterday my mum asked me if i was pleased after giving a small gift to a nurse who had helped me navigate a months long medical process. i was kind of like "uhhhhh... sure...????" the idea of having a personal emotional reaction to doing something that's polite or kind didnt really occur to me. is this something that people feel often? is it just my emotionally stunted brain not dispensing the serotonin that other people have so much of or is it common to not really feel much other than the intellectual understanding that doing something nice for someone else will make them happy and that's Good???

apologies if it sounds like im trying to be self aggrandising it was just something that i hadnt thought about before lol.

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2

Dogmantra wrote

I guess it depends, like if they're a friend and have a really nice positive reaction I might ride the high of gift giving but if it's more of a courtesy thing like it sounds your sitch was, it might not register like that.

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toasthaste wrote

no idea if it's normal or not but I am often also in the same boat where I do things for people out of a pure sense of obligation, of detached "I want to be the kind of person who would do this kind thing," with no real feelings associated with it.

1

ellynu wrote

i try to be nice to people and it makes me feel good when i do. especially if its someone i know im happy to take time to try and be there for them or something