We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.

We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone. – Ronald Reagan

Here a couple of volunteers help rebuild a house in Gulfport Mississippi after Katrina. This is one way to help in one disaster. But there are so many other ways. What can you do?

What does that mean?
This is a simple truism stated with a slight twist. The quote starts by reminding us that we can’t help everyone, as not everyone wants help. There are also those who are beyond help. What can we do for them? Not a lot. That doesn’t even include the difficulties of how many helpers there are, and the numbers of people in need of help.

The quote finishes with another truism, completing the chiastic figure. It reminds us that each and every one of us can find a someone out there to help. We can all do something, even if it is a small thing. For some, that is their job. For others, helping others is the last thing on their minds.

This quote is about raising our awareness, and helping us to see what we can do to help others. Each of us see so small a portion of our cities, and an even smaller part of the world. There are plenty of people who need help, and that can be anything from an encouraging word to a meal or a new friend.

Why is helping others important?  
Helping others is important to them for many reasons, and that’s one of the reasons you should spend some time helping others. They need help, and you can provide it for them, so that’s a pretty good match. They’ll also feel better knowing that someone cares enough to take the time to help.

However, it is also important to each of us, that we provide help to others. It helps us feel useful, it helps to lift our spirits, and it puts a smile on our face. Helping others also helps us, our emotional and mental state is usually so much better after we have helped others. At least that has been my experience.

In short, taking the time, putting forth the effort, spending the money, or however you contribute, helps you as much as it helps the other person. And it doesn’t have to be the hungry or homeless. Adult literary, mentoring of kids, even reading to youngsters on the weekends at the library helps both them and you. There are plenty of ways to help.

Where can I apply this in my life?
Yes, in many countries the Government helps to provide for the needs of the poor or displaced. But how good does it feel to have to wait for a bureaucrat to hand you a check? Is there any love, any warmth, any humanity? Not much, at least in my experience.

That’s part of what you are giving to others when you help them. You are a person who is taking time out of your life for them. You are doing it because you want to, not because it’s your job and you have to. That alone makes a huge difference to many.

For those who need help not related to basic subsistence, the personal touch is still a huge portion of the help. Visiting shut-ins, prisoners, or others who have few friends and little contact can literally be as important as food, as you feed a very powerful need in them.

There are also many people who are missing key skills, which are keeping them from being able to work well in society or at work. The ability to read and write is one. Skill in social situations is another. The ability to learn a trade so that they might support themselves is a critical thing.

These are places where we can help as well. But not everyone has the time. What then? I have yet to see a charity or helping foundation turn away a check. Some people trade almost all their time for money, so at the end of the week, there’s no time, but some money. They can help as well.

Food for the hungry costs money. Shelter for the homeless and displaced costs money. Books for learning to read cost money. Are you starting to see a pattern? Yes, you don’t get quite as much out of a cash donation as you do as an actual volunteer, but it’s close.

After Katrina, I couldn’t go to help out, but my brother did. So I sent a check. At the time, I had more money than time, so I did what I could. But this quote isn’t just about special emergencies. It’s about how we see ourselves, and how we live our lives.

We can all do something to help others. It might not be every day. It might not even be every week or month. But we can help. And I believe that we must help, if not for their good, but for our own. Because in helping others, we also help ourselves.

What can you do to help?

From: Twitter, @YoungCons
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/ronaldreag120491.html
Photo by TheMarque

Happy Birthday to Ronald Reagan, born 6 February, 1911