Humans are inherently interdependent, and, as such, we would need and/or offer help from time to time to one another. Since the very act of helping generally involves more than one party, I think it is relevant to consider how it might be perceived from 2-different angles or POVs; the helpee POV and the helper POV.
What does the term ‘help‘ mean? I think a reasonable definition from a helper POV would be that ‘help‘ refers to the act or circumstance of offering up one’s self, resources, etc. in service of others, and, usually, without the expectation of any sort of repayment. In like manner, from a helpee POV, ‘help‘ would mean the situation or condition of receiving assistance in the form of service and/or resources in a largely non-transactional manner from another being and/or group of beings.
So, in essence, if I offer a bottle of water to Person-A because Person-A does not have theirs, then I have essentially helped them. In like manner, if I offer a similar bottle of water to Person-B because Person-B also doesn’t have theirs, then I have also helped Person-B. In both scenarios, I have offered help in a somewhat similar manner, but are the two presentations of help equal and the same?
Most people, in response to this question, would quickly say, “Yes! Both presentations of help are equal.” This is because, to most people, there is no apparent difference in the presentation of help that was offered to both Person-A and Person-B. However, while this thought process is definitely very understandable, it is, altogether, not accurate. The value of help depends on the context of the circumstance in which the help was needed. How? I would provide more context.
In the first scenario, let us assume Person-A is suffering from severe dehydration and has no money and/or energy to reconcile this situation and Person-B is mildly thirsty, has a full wallet and a bottle of water stashed in their car, just a few feet feet away from where they are sitting. All of a sudden, the presentation of help offered to Person-A becomes largely more significant when compared to the presentation of help offered to Person-B. Even though it was the same bottle of water that was offered to both persons.
Based on this, it becomes clear that the degree of significance of the assistance offered by a helper is directly proportional to how much of a need this assistance is to the helpee. In other words, to offer help that might be perceived as more valuable to the helpee, we need to be addressing a more pressing need. Does this mean we should stop offering help, unless there is an obviously discernable pressing need? No. By learning to offer help (as necessary) even when it isn’t overly significant, we prepare ourselves to be able to offer help when it might be more significant. That being said, while we may consider it more optional to help when there isn’t a significant need, we should be more intentional to help as the significance of the need rises (especially because more significant needs for help could also require a significant level of sacrifice on the side of the helper). The key, here, is empathy. With empathy, we are able to both discern how significant the help we might be able to offer could be and be selfless enough to desire to provide the help.
What do you think about this topic? Putting yourself in the position of a helpee, do you think the POV is relatable? Do you not? Are there more aspects you feel could be considered under this topic?
Be the first to know about any content published on this blog-site by subscribing at the bottom of this page!
Experiences of journeying humans 