Short cut for happiness

Today I was watering the plants in front of my house, when a young Latino guy came and gave me an advertisement about some gardening service. He then started asking something in Mexican. I tried to brush him off by saying I already have a gardner. He repeated talking, and pointed to the garden hose on the ground which was still running water. It took me a few seconds to realize that the poor guy was asking for a drink from it. (It was a warm morning). I gestured O.K., and he drank and left muttering something like a 'Thank you'. I felt quite good about making the day of that poor immigrant a little easier. I think this 'mood elevation’ about ones good deed happens to most of us. The scale of this joy and happiness is almost proportional to ones effort in making someone happy. This is something to be pointed to the many who seek happiness by acquiring money, fame etc. Helping others may be an easy short cut.