Would you ever like to help somebody at your own cost?

Done that multiple times. It’s called altruism and If I think they deserve my help they’ll usually get it within reason.

I don’t understand what you mean by “your own stake”. Not expecting anything back in return?

At your own cost!!! Not expecting anything in return or maybe being at a loss by helping them.
That is English, I guess.

Every time I volunteer, or donate blood (I don’t tend to donate money since I don’t have much). I have no expectation of some sort of return.

Yes and I hope I will become even more sensitive in future as I see the futility of life from an even closer angle.

It depends what the cost is. There are very few I would give my life for, there are many I would give a few pounds to or a few minutes of my time.

Sure.

I can’t predict what I will do in the future but recently I got an unexpected cash windfall from the surprisingly successful sale at auction of my mother’s jewelry after her death. I gave my share to a friend who was facing several unexpected very expensive root canal and dental crowns. I did not suffer financially from this and felt secretly pretty full of myself.

Usually I do this on a much smaller scale. Right now my landscape guy is recovering from several broken ribs and works for me, on my day, in only a very limited way and w. far fewer hours than normal. I pay him his full wages, knowing that his ribs will knit in 4 more weeks. In the past he has bailed me out of pickles, like the time I ran out of gas.

I do help people with no expectation of anything in return. I think if we can help without inflicting hardship on ourselves (in most cases) others, we should.

The word “like” is irritating in this question. And my reason for feeling this way is because life conspires to force you despite all resistance to help others, like it or not. It was this depressing realization that finally brought me understanding of the parable of the camel, the needle, the rich man and heaven. After endless lessons it finally dawned on me that the only way one could die a rich man was by ignoring the enormous and desperate need around him. More to the point, since there’s little chance of me running the rich man risk, it is impossible to get through the day without encountering blatant need. Even hiding in the house as I’m doing now is no real escape.

Why not? What terrible thing is going to happen to me if I lose some money, some time, some peace of mind when someone else needs that stuff more than I do? Good lord. What a question.

That’s called “charity”. I might do a bit for strangers, a bit more for people I might know, even more for relatives.

It’s also called “altruism.”

I would so love to do that kind of thing all the time. I don’t do it enough. It makes me feel wrong that I have a limit after which I don’t feel like I can.

Since I first started working, I’ve been deliberately doing things like carrying money around in case anyone asks me for spare change, covering costs for customers who can’t from time to time, and that’s all well and good, but there have still been times when after a certain point I’ll think “that’s too much money”, and find a way not to donate (which may be normal but is arguably still wrong) :(

But it feels so worth it when I do (I just gave a driver $10 who accidentally spent $20 on the pump instead of $10. So worth it!).