HAPPINESS IN GIVING

Happiness in Giving

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson. Can you imagine being just yourself without asking for anybody’s help? We people love to give care to others, but are we really obligated to help them? Do we have the responsibilities to assist someone who’s in need?

For me, yes, we are obligated to help them, but not to the point that they are becoming abusive. We can help them like for example in finances, giving foods to unfortunate people and joining such charity events to donate money for their goods. Empathy is the ultimate virtue. When acting out of empathy we do understand other people, meaning that the only way to understand others and our obligation to them is through empathy. When we do empathize with those in need, we can understand their pain and suffering, and so we are obligated to help them.

In modern philosophy, the stress on ‘help’ and ‘cooperation’ is very pronounced, if our goal is to optimize well-being, then this could be a logical course of action. Humans have the desire to help and give, without asking anything in return. I believe that we, people can do good deeds from the bottom of our hearts. Our selfish acts can be set aside when we are eager to help someone. For example in family, you saw that your mother is not feeling well but still managing to wash your clothes, are you going to help her or not? Of course you will because she is your mother. But when it comes to other people, sometimes we feel lazy and sometimes we don’t even care. 

Based on my research, consequentalism says that we must minimize all the suffering and provide help to the greatest number of people in the world. Meaning, helping can reduce suffering so we should help people because it can make joyful society and improved country. Person’s initiative is also important because being a good member of society is what God wants us to be. We have the saying, “It’s better to give than to receive.” We can find happiness in helping and serving and through that, we can inspire others that will make us realize that we are useful, honourable, and compassionate to make a difference in our living.

Virtue ethics says that we should act righteously towards other people so that we can  be complete persons. Of course many people will not help if they think that they may endanger themselves in the process of helping. I admit that sometimes I am not helping other people back then because I am afraid of some consequences, but after studying this topic, I’ve come to realize that helping is not scary, it is actually good and challenging. When I am helping others I felt happy and my heart was pumping real hard when I hear “thank you”. We should not be selfish all the time because someday you will need help too. You are not living by your own, you will always need some people to guide you in life.

According to Martin Luther King Jr., "Somewhere along the way, we must learn that there is nothing greater than to do something for others." Thus, whatever the result of our deeds, the important thing is at least we tried to help even though they give thanks or not. Let us just love one another as Jesus loves us. New day always count after you make someone smile.