CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN OF ALTRUISM

Life is made of climbing mountains, each one being a representation of a major achievement or step in our journey. We allegedly all have climbed the mountain of self-realization or ideal, where we develop an appetite for success, power, recognition or money. This specific journey is fueled by our political and economic environment, which fosters individualism. However, is this the life we want for ourselves?

Looking at historical data in the past 1,000 years, society first valued a sense of religious reach for eternity (mediaval times), then a need for liberty (societal revolutions, renaissance, etc). Individualism – in its current form – only came as a movement in the 1960. Individualism means setting your own sense of value system, achieving personal success, prioritizing the self versus the community, and making self-imposed-choices about life.

This individualistic life comes at a hard contrast with the need to climb a second mountain, the one of altruism. Today, individualism is at the core of three major crisis: An extreme sense of solitude (despite the rise of “social” medias), a lack of trust and confidence in others, and a decline of respect of societal contrats. Our society today is at a crossroad whereas we feel that we have climbed, and then descended rapidly, the mountain of self-realization, and we are faced with a choice. Facing the mountain of altruism is a difficult, painful, marking prospect. There are great paradoxes between individualism and altruism. The first one promoted autonomy and independence, the second one attachment and relations; the first one thinks consumerism and consumption, the second one giving to others; the first one looks for self-love, the second one reaches for love for others. But once you have set your eyes on the second mountain, you can only but realize that the first one was a failure in its core.

Altruism can generate joy, at the physical, emotional, spiritual, transcendental and moral levels. Unlike happiness, joy never extinguishes itself. Helping others now appears not as a duty, but as a natural reach. It is not about charity any longer, it is about compassion, empathy, and helping others to help oneself.

Will you find your mountain of altruism? The world needs you to do so today! 

Bertrand Petyt