I told my children that I was going to introduce a tiny piece of Chinese proverbs or sayings this year.
Recently I talked with my family about volunteer work. One of them asked, what's the good of volunteering? You can't bring food on the table with this. Who will bring food on the table?
That sounds reasonable. Before offering our free services to others, it is essential that we secure the means for our own existence.
At the same time, I thought of a related Chinese saying, 但行好事，莫问前程 (Dàn xíng hǎo-shì, mò wèn qián-chéng) Go ahead doing good deeds; Ask not what the reward will be. I first heard of it from movie 无问西东 Asking not west or east.
Sometime, after we attend to our well-being and we don't have a clear goals ahead, instead of wasting time, we might as well extend our service free of charge to those who need it. Why not?
I'm not preaching altruism or even kindness here. My understanding of doing good is like this, while volunteering or doing good deeds may appear to be altruistic, it actually benefits both sides. Because dispensing kindness rather than seeking personal reward or gain is in line with our intrinsic value, it makes us happy when our actions harmonize with our value system.
但行好事，莫问前程 Seeing the smiles on other people's face because of you, this is rewarding enough for you.