Trading in human suffering

When we set out to give someone a voice or to create a platform for them, we create a crutch for them.

Just like our voice is ours to claim, so is theirs.

When we slip into silence, usually from self-pity, we allow others to speak on our behalf, and then complain if they don’t do justice to our plight or if they abandon our cause, creating room for more self-pity.

Empowerment should not be a cliché that creates an opportunity for us to shine as beacons of hope for others.

Empowering or uplifting others is an act of charity, and charity is not supposed to benefit its giver because then it becomes a business transaction.

Charity is also supposed to be done so secretly that your left hand should not know what your right hand is doing.

Not because of the importance of secrecy, but to protect the dignity of the beneficiary of your charity, and to protect your intentions from being tarnished by trading with someone’s dignity to improve your social standing.

More than all this, when someone is given something as opposed to being enabled to create it for themselves, they develop a sense of entitlement to receive what is being given and have no reason to connect with the innate ability that they have to create.

This denies them the sense of fulfilment and accomplishment which is critical towards establishing self-esteem and should subsequently allow them to claim their dignity.

A bleeding heart isn’t always a generous one.

Most often, it’s a selfish one with good intentions.

Be mindful of the consequences of your good actions that may be intended to uplift while creating reliance and disempowerment instead.

And for this reason, please don’t use the pitiful state of the weak and destitute as marketing collateral to raise money to supposedly restore their dignity.

That is the most horrible contradiction of them all.

#hope #expectation #sincerity #selfworth #selfawareness #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #lifecoaching #zaidismail #theegosystem #ownyourlife #charity #destitute