Why are we here?

arielaure said:

Thanks for all the answers. I hope they continue...:happy:

Yea, as far as the altruism. Right now I'm kind of in a messed up situation, this one relative hoarded all these cats, and now I'm trying to find them a home, but it's been more difficult that I expected, because I want to find the right home for them, and not just give them to anyone, and my relatives and family members are looking at me like I'm crazy, the fact that I'm trying hard to find a home for these cats. They all tell me how I should just leave them on the street, how they'll find homes on their own. And I'm really starting to think, well who's nuts here me or them? Is it so bad to try and find a home for some helpless animal who can't? It just beyond boggles my mind that they think I'm weird for this, whereas I think they're weird for their emotionlessness and lack of empathy for these animals. Just an example. Sorry for ranting. But yea...they think that life includes finding a job, having money, having a boyfriend, going out, and finding homes for cats is like weird, senseless behavior to them. I don't know. I can go on about this for days. But it's like we're supposed to help those who can't help themselves, and animals especially can't really help themselves...Don't know...:sad::sad::sad:

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I'm glad to hear your altruism isn't directed towards humans, because frankly, humans do best if they move to help themselves.

What really is causing you pain is not your sense of altruism, or wanting to help, it's your need to feel affirmed through those you know. If you are following your truest impulses, that is what will make you happy, not the approval of your friends and relatives. As you go through life you will find that there are always people who do not approve or simply do not understand why you are trying to help. If you stay true to your convictions, some people will eventually see that you are serious (though pleasing even them should not be your first concern).

The kind of people you are describing I would call the "unawakened"...in the political circles I hang in this means that they don't understand the true workings of our goverment and our society, but I extend this to mean any person who is only going through the motions of living. Most people are too afraid to change the world around them, and also ignore their own desires in an effort to be accepted by society and other people. By the time they make it deep into adulthood, many of them seem like zombies. The lucky--or unlucky--few manage to wake up sometime in midlife. You've heard of it, I'm sure, the "midlife crisis." These are the ones who wake up long enough to ask questions...though some of these souls do stupid things in an attempt to find a response.

Questions? Most people eschew them, and will do anything to avoid them.