Supposedly, we are a very religious society, one that is based on an altruist doctrine of helping your neighbor and kindest to all. But, we very, very rarely actually practice this.
It is not a bad thing that we do not practice this, but it is bad that we claim to believe this and then do not practice it. It is not a real belief if we do not practice it. Most people profess a belief that they do not practice or hold, because they want to be “good people.” It comes back to self worth.
It is sad to think how many people try to force themselves to believe something other than what they really believe. They are trying so hard to be good people, to accepted people, that they do not take a moment for themselves to stop and live. For most, self worth is reflected in others. If you look and act good, then you must be good. And then you can go home and delve into whatever dirty pleasures you might have.
I seem to be rambling a bit, so let me go into a story.
Yaay.
Saturday night, I was driving home from hanging out with some friends late into the night. It was about an hour long drive, and I got back to my area around 5 am. When I was exiting the freeway, I saw a car stopped semi-perpendicular in the lane, with emergency flashers on and the hood up. Being me, I pulled over to see if they needed some help. And they did.
As I was working to help them, two younger women, out (by the way, I have limited knowledge on cars… and I found out, even less at 5am after a long night and a lot of driving, heh… I found out that 10 people had stopped, rolled down their window and asked
“Hey, are you allright?”
“No, we’re not… we need some help.”
The stopped person would look kind of surprised, mumble something about not being able to help them, and drive off.
Wow.
So, they had not really intended to stop and help. They just wanted to make it look like they did (or, maybe, just get news and stick their nose in.. but not actually do anything). Most likely, they drove home, crawled into bed, and said “Hey, look at what a great person I am. I stopped to make sure they were okay.”
Here is the bottom line:
Your self worth is not affected, truly, by how you look to others. It’s an empty feeling and eventually, you’ll stack enough of it on to equal nothing. Do not try to look good for others… be good for yourself.
If you are going to stop and ask if someone needs help, be prepared to help! If you cannot help, then do not waste anyone’s time.