Food for the Belly, Food for the Spirit, Food for the Mind

(On the Variety of Ways in Helping Others)

by aLfie vera mella

As what an old Chinese proverb says: 

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

There's a grain of truth in that. Not at all times we do need to spoonfeed needy people.

Every person has his own way of helping others.

Some people help others by literally sharing their wealth—by giving money to charity, by sending poor kids to school by supporting them for their tuition money or daily allowance.

Some people help others by running into a governmental office and, if successful, formulate laws and other ways and guidelines to make the community much more useful for the constituents.

Some people help others by becoming doctors; yes, they earn lots of money, but there are doctors who are compassionate and this makes them skillful in their jobs thus curing more cases and attending to more clients and patients.

Some people help others by becoming really smart, intelligent, and patient teachers—they help mould the minds and attitudes of students who are future leaders or workers of the world.

Some people help others by teaching them how to speak the language better--to make them more understandable by others, to make communication better.

Some people help others by inventing machines, gadgets, and other processes; these are scientists who don't usually go out but stay in their laboratories—actually not much human contact—but their works are very useful to humanity.

Some people help others by writing books, articles, or even commentaries that contain wise insights, good lessons, and mind-opening ideas; some even do this for free.

Some people help others by becoming janitors and street sweepers to make sure the surrounding is clean and free from much causes of diseases and infection.

Some people help others by simply working hard to earn money to support their respective families so they don't become useless citizens of the country they live in.

Yes, people help others in many different ways.

The Last Leaf

Money is not the only tool that we could use in helping others. Knowledge, skills, and insights that we have and are willing to share could be also regarded as powerful tools in helping our fellow humans adapt better in the society in which they live.