(Andy Rooney)
Some people dream of being rich and famous, believing that all their heart’s desire will come to fruition. But does great wealth bring true happiness and contentment? One only has to scan the latest headlines here in Australia to find that great wealth and fame do not bring happiness -far from it - families can be torn apart by disputes about who should ‘have what’ in controversial and hotly contested wills and family trusts.
History’s pages reveal a litany of woes that have descended upon families of great wealth – everything from depression, suicide, murder and loss of fortune by careless or misguided spending or investments. It seems that having great wealth does not necessarily bring happiness like the fairytale life we dream about. While many of you may concede this point, I’m sure that one or two of you are thinking that ‘money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with’.
Most of us are lucky enough to have enough money to live comfortably without wanting for too much in our lives. Our happiness stems from our family and friends, our work and our leisure time and while we may still dream of winning that elusive Gold Lotto, or inheriting some fortune from a very distant relative, the reality is that we are happy enough with what we have.
Unfortunately, not everyone is in this fortunate position. It may surprise you to know that there are some people who live not far from us on the Sunshine Coast who are disadvantaged in very real terms. These people may be disadvantaged by one or more of the following factors: low income, no car, no family, physical disability, limited access to transport or health services or educational opportunities.
Of the 300,000 or so people living on the Sunshine Coast, there are according to the 2010 report from Uniting Care, Centre for Social Justice, around 20 percent of householders on the Sunshine Coast receiving less than $500 per week. One parent explained in her own words what this is like:
“We can’t support ourselves. Where I live cost $250 a fortnight. I only get $420 in unemployment benefit. How am I suppose to support myself and my kids in a house with that amount of money? I struggle to eat.”
On the Sunshine Coast, approximately 15 percent of families suffer unemployment. Children are often caught in desperate situations because of their parents’ circumstances and often these children live in single parent families. One person explained how they coped growing up as a child in poverty:
“I hid my poverty by never telling anyone where I lived and by never inviting anyone home.”
The elderly living on a pension are often caught in poverty. They worry about money constantly and coping is very stressful for them. They wonder whether they will have enough to get by each week. As one elderly man put it:
“I can afford ‘basics’ but I can’t afford new clothing. I don’t have enough money to go out. I worry about how I’m going to cope in the future.”
The really sad part of growing old, one man said, was that you become invisible.
“You are no longer worth anything when you are old. People don’t even see you anymore. When I walk down the street, no-one ever says ‘hello’. Some days I wait out the front of my flat, until the postman comes to the letterbox, so I can talk to him. He may be the only person I talk to some weeks.”
The people who are most disadvantaged are the elderly, the disabled, those on a pension, the unemployed, single parents and the very young born into families who are disadvantaged. Some of these families live in rented houses, but many others live in temporary accommodation – moving from one flat to another, or live in caravans, or cars, homeless shelters or at worse, on the streets and in parks.
On the Sunshine Coast, according to a specially commissioned Sunshine Coast Regional Council 2006 report, about 1700 people or more are homeless. About 1000 of these homeless people, live in caravan parks.
Disadvantaged people can live in desperate circumstances – some of their own making - but often in many other cases, it’s a result of loss of income, mental illness, or physical disabilities which makes it difficult to find or keep work and in some very sad cases, a combination of many of these factors. Despair, depression, worry, anxiety, hopelessness, hunger and stress are the emotional struggles of the disadvantaged.
There are certain times of the year, when poverty and disadvantage are more painful and stressful. Christmas and Easter are particularly difficult for disadvantaged families, where children are the ones who feel it more deeply. Many parents may try and protect children from their dire financial circumstances. One parent wrote:
“At Christmas, we came home with $14 in our pocket. We sat around and made a game of cutting out decorations to put on the Christmas tree. We always tried to hide our poverty from the kids.”
No matter what your faith or religion, Easter is a time when families have holidays but not everyone can celebrate Easter with family celebrations – not everyone can afford it. As a community we are very fortunate by every measure, and it’s important that our young people understand how lucky they are in comparison to many other children and families here on the Sunshine Coast as well as in other parts of the world.
Easter is a time when we can do something to help others less fortunate. As John Templeton once said:
"Happiness comes from spiritual wealth, not material wealth... Happiness comes from giving, not getting. If we try hard to bring happiness to others, we cannot stop it from coming to us also. To get joy, we must give it, and to keep joy, we must scatter it."
So what can you do to make the life of someone less fortunate than you a little better at Easter?
- Donate food items to the Salvation Army for distribution
- Volunteer to help some charities and your local church distribute food or simply offer some help to someone who might need it
- Get involved in the work of Rotary, Lions, Zonta or some other organisation that commits to helping others in need
There are many ways that we can get involved and make a difference to someone else's life. A little kindness and a little time can go a long way to helping others in need. What will you do to make a difference? It doesn't need to be a big or grand gesture, it could be a simple act of random kindness. Whether it's big or small donation, all of us can make a difference if we set our minds and hearts to it.
Karon Graham
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