What makes life worth living? Having a passion for humanity and helping others in need is one of the most fulfilling things a person can do. The beautiful thing about altruism is that you don't need to be a high profile civil servant, a founder of an international nonprofit, or an owner of a milti-million dollar business to do this. One grain of rice may not fill a sac, but it helps.
More often than not, we postpone the help we can give others mainly because we believe we don't have enough for ourselves or we think we can render aid at some later time. I laughed when I heard this old Economics joke that says, "The marginal utility of money is constant". So if you're waiting to be 100% financially stable before you look to help others, you might be waiting a long time my friend. Indeed, the importance of effectively managing our budget cannot be over emphasized, but there is always something we can to do shed a positive light on those within our sphere of influence.
It helps if we understand our budget as a stream. If you dam up your stream, in an attempt to save all the water you possibly could for yourself, it becomes stagnant and ends up stinking. One the other hand, a river or stream that is left undamed has the opportunity of renewing itself, abrasing its bed and becoming bigger and stronger.
I'm not talking about karma or doing this just for show, but it helps to put this responsibility in perspective. Helping others in need teaches us empathy and helps us understand how others handle crisis and we never know when we would need this knowledge to save ourselves someday. Random acts of kindness really do go a long way to living a fulfilling life. The reverberations of such actions go on long after you could ever imagine.
One day, I was having coffee with a friend and a homeless woman approached us. She was carrying a child and she asked us for some change. I felt obligated to help her but my friend immediately chided me for "falling for" such a classic con. Saying, "These are professional beggars and no matter how much you give them today, they will be back tomorrow". Of course we are not all so naive to believe that those who are on the look out for unsuspecting, altruistic individuals do not exist. We went on to discuss this dilemma and I decided that I would rather help a "professional beggar" who was pretending, than ignore someone who was genuinely in need of help because I thought they were spoofing.
Some people believe that true altruism does not exist. The only reason someone will want to help another is for their own self interest. To feel good about themselves and get the compliments and fame they deserve. I respect their opinion and everyone has a blanket principle concerning how much of their resources they can give to others. Never the less, remember, there are two sides to the story. You're not being altruistic alone. The beneficiary of such actions has an entirely different perspective on how you've impacted their life. That intangible, "warm glow" feeling you've provided by supporting them and doing this act independent of future benefits is the essence of life.
Here are a couple of quotes that enlighten us on living a life of service:
- "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you can". John Wesley
- "I shall pass through this life but once. Any good therefore that I can do, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it. For I shall never pass this way again". Etienne de Grellet
- "We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love". Mother Theresa
- "If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things". Albert Einstein
- "I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver". Maya Angelou
- "The giving of love is an education in itself". Eleanor Roosevelt
- "I don't think you ever stop giving. I really don't. I think it's an on-going process. And it's not just about being able to write a check. It's being able to touch somebody's life". Oprah Winfrey
- "When I chased after money, I never had enough. When I got my life on purpose and focused on giving of myself and everything that arrived into my life, then I was prosperous". Wayne Dyer
- "Time and money spent in helping men to do more for themselves is far better than mere giving". Henry Ford
