Have you heard of the Happiness Experiment involving balloons?
There are various versions of this experiment, or “lesson,” found all over the internet. (At the end of this post are links to 3 such versions.) The experiment varies depending on who is telling it but it generally goes something like this:
A teacher gives a balloon to each of 100 or more students and has them write their name on it. They put the balloons into a room or, in some versions, drop them from an overhead netting into a space where they are all jumbled up. The teacher tells the students to find the balloon with their name on it. Well, as you might imagine, in the chaos and frantic searching by the students, it takes quite a while before everyone finds the specific balloon with their unique name. The teacher then suggests a different approach: hand the first balloon they find to the person whose name is on the balloon. In less than 2 minutes, every student is holding the balloon with their name on it.
If you think of the balloons as symbols for “happiness,” the lesson is obvious: Helping others find their balloon first will ultimately lead to you receiving your’s.
Everyone wants to be happy. Our thoughts usually prioritize ourselves first and others second. We find ourselves unhappy with one particular area of our lives and it overshadows other areas. Or maybe we wonder why we don’t feel happy. What is the path to happiness? How does one find it and begin to walk it? An online search reveals dozens of books and videos published on this topic, each with their own unique prescription for how to find “happiness.”
Jesus didn't have balloons. He fed the hungry, cured the sick and washed his disciple’s feet. He preached a message of love and taught that we should put the needs of others ahead of our own, especially those less fortunate. Jesus taught that it was more important in the eyes of God to be selfless, to take pity on others, to serve rather than looking to be served, to give rather than looking to receive, and to help those in need rather than selfishly pursuing our own desires.
I sometimes wonder what the world might look like if more people thought like this... if I thought like this. What if I cared less about my own happiness and more about helping other people find their’s. What if I cared more about the name on the balloon— the person it represented— than finding my own balloon.
To date, I’ve not been good at this. But I’m trying to get better. I've changed my priorities. I'm trying to act on Jesus' teachings and put the needs of others ahead of my own. I want to bring a little light & hope into the world. If I find your balloon, you can count on me to track you down.
This is great! I appreciate your transperancy and vulnerablity in this. This is a hard thing. As you noted, this experiment is pretty well-known before but it bears repeating. In our culture today, we are obsessed with happiness and well-being. It's almost like we are forcing it. Yet we are more depressed, anxious, and lonely than ever before. When will people wake up and realize that it's not working? Every "self-help" and personal development book out there claims to have the secret or a way to fix it all. But the problem with their approach is self-focus, self-love, self-esteem. I don't know about you, but all l I hear from that is selfishness. No wonder this doesn't work when the…