orthodoxgladness:

If a person thought carefully about what kind of spiritual benefit and inner pleasure he already feels here in this life from one little good deed that he does to his neighbor, he would not expect gratitude, but he would thank the one to whom he did good. – St. Paisios the Athonite

To give of ourselves to another is an anchor of blessing to us. Every moment spent for the benefit of someone else is a moment where I am forgotten. Where I disappear and just the other is known. And appreciated. And loved.

When I have separated from others, I am the focus. I am the one seen. I am the object of my own desire.

And I die a death from which there is no waking.