This is the last paragraph of Sharon Salzberg’s book, Real Happiness. I think it’s so powerful, I want to share it:

“I often ask my students, ‘If you learned that there’s a simple, safe activity you could do for twenty minutes a day to help a friend in need, would you do it?’ They answer, of course they would, eagerly and without question. Spending that same twenty minutes to help ourselves, however, seems to make us uncomfortable; we worry that it’s self-indulgent, egocentric. But helping ourselves is helping our friends. Our own real happiness is the wellspring out of which our ability to give to others flows. As Thich Nhat Hanh once said, ‘Happiness is available … please help yourself.’ “