I am...

I am a very altruistic person...is that a good thing? I guess in some weird alternate universe where people make you happy, or rather meeting people's needs makes you happy, then maybe my altruistic personality can have a positive effect.

The basis of altruism, I believe, is selflessness. To do things for the benefit of other people. I find myself in this dilemma every day, here I am extremely unhappy with my own life and circumstances and yet I'm constantly helping others with their own or else going out of my way for someone else's benefit; why do we do these things? Why do we portray ourselves as nothing more than empty vessels, wallowing in our misery, appropriated in another's life?

I think it's imperative to instil in ourselves a sense of reflective altruistism where what we do for other's not only benefits them but also ourselves...see there I go again saying I want to help others...why can't I just say I am only going to help myself, for a change I mean. And though this problem may simply appear to be a commonplace assumption based on the belief that we have an inherent untapped instinctual capacity to provide help to those who seek it, why then do we deny ourselves this capacity when we know we need it the most. The ability to provide help should be first and foremost inherent on providing ourselves with help. We need to provide ourselves with the agency that we so willingly give away to others.

I know this is something a lot of people need to work on, myself included.

Then you have the other end of the spectrum, where you have the narcissistic, egotistical maniacs that derive pleasure from seeing others in pain. Not physical pain, I mean just pain, emotionally. People who put themselves first, constantly. Forgetting to see that they are part of a human race. They unknowingly depend on those they transgress and purposefully walk all over.

So I say we need a balance between working with each other and for ourselves. Is it such a big ask in the grander scheme of things to find a good equilibrium between what we do for others and ourselves, for one cannot live without the other? We all depend on one another for everything. I depend on people that I don't know and have never, and will never, meet. The people who make sure the roads are safe for me to drive on, who build up businesses that I use on a daily basis, who ensure that I get to where I need to get and do what I need to do.

The garbage men, who make sure I never run out of space for all my useless junk. The water and electricity companies who, granted are getting paid for a service, but which without I would have a hard time adjusting. The grocery store. The petrol station. We live in a society that needs each other more than ever, but that acknowledges only itself. We live in a world where we work together only when we have something to gain.

Picture one day in your life, and think for a moment of all the people that are necessary to ensure that you get done what you need to do. Not just the people you actually SEE, but everyone who would have had an impact on your day. Can you count the people? Can you see the effects that the rest of the world has on one person? Now for a moment picture what effect one person may have on the world. What is that one thing that we can do that may make a difference whether we see it or not? Now do it!