I would like to share an unusual experience with you.
In the summer of 2019, an idea came to me: I would try to make one of my friends very happy. I liked this idea very much. But I had to choose someone for this role, and that was the hardest part, because all my other friends would then remain unhappy. In the end, I chose two people, a brother and a sister. I chose them so that I could understand what a woman experiences and what happens to a man when someone begins thinking about their happiness and doing something to promote it.
Then, before beginning this process, I decided not to carry out this experiment alone, so I invited my friends Arthur and Arsen to support me in this endeavor. They agreed.
As a result, we formed a coalition devoted to making people happy and called it “AAA: Happiness in Every Home.”
And so the team came together. We began discussing our strategy of attack and devising different ways to bring happiness from the outside into the life of the neighbor we had chosen—something that would interest that person, meet a need, and bring joy. This was an entirely new period in our lives, and we were searching for the best approaches. Another difficulty was that I was the only one who personally knew the brother we had chosen, and we did not know how he would respond to such actions.
We decided to pray earnestly for these people every day, contact them and tell them about our undertaking, ask their permission, and then begin looking for the beautiful qualities within them and doing something unusual for them that could bring joy to their hearts.
We were pioneers in this endeavor and did not know where it would lead or what would come of it.
But we got up and set out.
First, we contacted our friends, told them what we had decided to do for them, and asked them not to be afraid, but to be patient and attentive toward us. The names of our fortunate recipients were Sergey and Violetta. They were very surprised, but they gave their consent. And the happiness train began to move.
Every day, we prayed for the people we had chosen, contacted them, and told them the good things that came to mind. Then our team met and shared what each of us had experienced.
After that, I decided to approach the friends of our fortunate recipients with a request that sounded approximately like this: “Peace be with you, friend of Violetta. Could you write or record something good about Violetta for me? What kind of person is she? What does she enjoy most in life? Please also tell me what you like about her. And please write something else that is very good. I will explain later why we need this.
Thank you in advance. We truly need this information. Thank you.”
And the friends of our friends began responding, sending letters and voice messages. We shared all of this with one another in our team’s group chat, studied the responses carefully, and used this information to continue building personal communication with those in our care, telling them about all the new discoveries we had made through our research.
The results did not take long to appear. The surprise and bewilderment of our fortunate recipients grew into delight and anticipation of our new messages. We gathered all our messages and all their responses in our group chat and shared new discoveries with one another as a team. When I approached Violetta’s own sister with a similar request, she decided to find out more about why we needed this and for whom we were gathering the information. Once she learned what we had undertaken, Vitalina decided to join our team. We then called ourselves “AVAA.” The endeavor began to gain momentum.
It was no longer clear who among us was becoming happier: we ourselves, or the people whose happiness we thought about every day and for whom we made plans to improve their lives. It was a deeply inspiring endeavor that brought everyone a great deal of joy.
Interestingly, when you ask the friend of someone in your care to tell you something especially good about that person, everyone immediately has many questions: “Why? Why do you need this? Who is it for?” And when you begin explaining your plans, people become even more puzzled about how such a thing could be possible. Yet we succeeded.
Most interesting of all is hearing the fortunate recipients describe how they see and understand everything and what is happening within them. And something beautiful is happening—something they have never experienced before.
For example, answer this question: “Which of the people close to you continually thinks about your happiness and does everything possible to promote it, acting on every idea that comes to mind?” I do not think the answer needs to be spoken aloud.
But we lived through this experience and tasted a little piece of Eternity, imagining how we would ceaselessly devise ways to bring good to all our friends, how we would engage in this forever, inventing new plans of attack.
And when you later hear the fortunate recipients themselves describe their experience, your heart fills with joy because you did something very, very good and kind, and it filled your neighbor’s heart with joy, light, and some new and unusual experience. This makes you feel very good as well. And when you know what it is to feel good, you know how to bring good to others too.
After some time, Arthur proposed two more candidates for us to make happy. Then another two people were added as recipients, and we supported the idea and poured an avalanche of kind words and good wishes into their lives as well. It was fascinating to see how simple words of friendliness, love, happiness, admiration, and sincere delight gladdened the hearts of our friends and filled their lives with light. And you too feel very warm and joyful because someone has become happier through you.
But to make their happiness complete, I shared in my messages the laws of blessedness that we are now studying and discovering, understanding that emotions cannot be a firm foundation for happiness and that a more solid foundation is needed.
Yet the joy of our relationships did not disappear. Instead, it beautifully enriched our common endeavor and inspired us to devise new methods of attack and ways of winning hearts.
An experience like this does not pass without leaving a mark. All these people are inscribed upon my heart as special friends toward whom I have a special affection. The relationships themselves changed, and we became still closer and dearer to one another. And this brings such joy!
I can only tell others about experiences like these and show that they are possible and that the results will exceed every expectation. Yet all of this must remain within the bounds of love and friendship in Christ and must not cross over into carnal pleasures. Without such boundaries, Satan can turn every blessing into a curse, especially in relationships between men and women. But the Lord protects us and gives pure thoughts and ideas to those whose hearts are pure.
Experiences like these are worth having within your family and among your friends. They will add much joy and happiness.
As for me, I will say that it is deeply pleasant to think from morning until evening about the happiness of my friends, devising new ways to bless them and praying for those whom you love. Love for these people arises naturally, and you begin to long for their lives to become even better. And I simply love.
Bible verses for this chapter:
Proverbs 17:17; 27:9; Ecclesiastes 3:12; Galatians 6:10; James 4:17; Romans 12:10; Isaiah 65:13, 18–19; John 13:34–35; 15:12–13; Ephesians 5:25–28; 1 Peter 1:22; 2 Corinthians 8:6; Philippians 4:8; 1 John 3:11, 18