Does Helping Others Work?

There are those on the streets, in the parks, institutionalized and on and on. It may even seem cold just to ask but does it really matter if we react to their needs?

Yes, yes most of us who either are willing to do charity work or not would agree that it is a good deed. For those who are willing, some seek returns, some do it regardless of anything, and people have all kinds of reasons doing so.

What's on your mind when you give a helping hand? What do you want to achieve, and what do you expect? Let's see some examples:

1. A nursing home for the disabled such as low intelligent dementia, and down syndrome.

2. An organization focusing on world poverty, war refugees, and human rights.

3. An individual group targeting the homeless, the addicts, and the rehabilitated.

Do not misunderstand. We absolutely respect people for contributing and help however they can. That said, after a recent visit to a charity, we began to ponder on the notion that whether there's an end to the good deed.

As teaches, our ultimate goal is to teach so we don't have to anymore. However, when going outside the area of education, we cannot help but think "where's the hope here?" Those with disabilities are never going to recover from their conditions because they have become these poor people's reality. As the world progresses, those at the bottom are never going to catch up unless the world stops spinning. We agree that people deserve a second chance but what guarantees that the once convicted wouldn't pick up their old habit and take a chunk off whoever believed in them. No, there's not any hope nor promise in spending time there and taking the risk.

"Hold up. Did you just say that it's a waste of time doing charity?"

"Well, yes. We think it is indeed a waste of time helping the helpless but only with the wrong objectives."

It is highly recommended that if you don't do it right, don't do it at all. More often than not, reaching maximum coverage is the strategy, implying that the more the better; better chance of creating a better future of good people. We disagree with that approach.

With the increase of people who are involved in charitable acts, it decreases the prestige of the good people who are really giving their hearts out in silence. Goodness is inherited in all of us and is something we expect, therefore not paying much attention to. Wickedness, on the other hand, is loud and pulling. One misbehaved pretender doing fake charity work ruins the whole pot. We have all heard of the cases in which big corporates "donate to their own charity" for whatever reasons, namely tax deductibles but we don't hear much about 99 other good deeds being done because "goodness is inherited" and it's boring to be good.

Going back to the question of "what's on your mind", none of us should be expecting much or anything because the essence of helping isn't an exchange but simply to give. It is harsh to comment that some people's conditions are "hopeless" but it isn't far from reality, either. Those in need may not even appreciate what we call "kindness" or not able to realize it due to their conditions but that's not why we don't act. Kindness is sometimes selfish. It isn't about them; our actions in this life defines us.

Kindness is a choice, not a rule and there's no school for it. Do it however at will. We don't tell people what to do; we show them by our actions. Words are redundant and records are randomly made from passersby. In fact, is there a need for big organizations for charity? That's another question for you readers.

#selfreflect