What I See with Peter Fiorenza: Being altruistic is a life goal we should all strive to achieve

Do you know what the word altruism means? According to the Oxford Dictionary, altruism is “the fact of caring about the needs and happiness of other people and being willing to do things to help them, even if it brings no advantage to yourself.” Ever since I was a little fella, I have always got far more satisfaction from giving than taking. And I reckon I’m not unusual in that regard. In fact, I believe it is part and parcel of just being human. Everyone has the same feelings inside, but circumstances dictate to the extent people can be and are, indeed, altruistic. There is no doubt that, if we let it, life can be quite a selfish existence. When you think about it, many of us have been conditioned to attain material wealth, meaning building a nice house, driving the latest car possible and wearing designer clothes and shoes. And the more money we make, the more we plough back into such commodities. Now, I’m not saying for one minute that living like this is wrong — people who know me know that I am very partial to some of the finer things in life. And I don’t apologise for that, but I am often reminded that you get so more satisfaction out of life by giving. A great example of this is the organisation of Rotary. Another is APEX, the Country Woman’s Association (CWA) and sporting clubs where your kids learn to play football, netball, hockey and cricket. There are also a multitude of different church groups too, that work together in the community to assist others. As an educator for a reasonable length of time, I believe students should remember, at least, two things when they go out into the big, bad, world. These include, don’t spend more than you earn and be a good citizen. The first gem is self-explanatory, but the second takes a bit of work. And what does it mean to be a good citizen? For me, it’s, simply, about being altruistic. It’s about caring for the needs and happiness of other people. Our young people need to learn what it means to have humility. Recently, more than ever, this side of human nature has really come to the fore in the wake of fire and flood, and in our own backyard, in respect to the damage caused by cyclone Seroja Various media have carried stories of endless bravery, and selflessness, especially of individuals who were, themselves, suffering. It is circumstances like these that, at the end of the day, reiterate the words of Ben Lee’s song, After all, “we are all in this together”. Peter Fiorenza hosts Fiorenza on Sunday between 10am and noon on Radio MAMA