Lately, it seems I have been having lots of conversations about selfishness. I have been forced to think about all of the negative connotations associated with the word. What occurs to me is that in some instances it is almost impossible not to be selfish. Sure, there are people who are totally selfish but they are few as compared to the majority of people we encounter. Children are self-centered, but that is by design. If they weren't it would be very difficult for them to survive. It is up to us as adults to teach children how to be more other-focused.
As I think about it even now, I can't think of any person who with all of their personal sacrifices was without some thought of themselves. How is it possible? We all need to eat, sleep, and be clothed.
It is very important that we think about others. But, how can we take care of someone else when we haven't taken care of ourselves? I am not advocating selfishness. It can be very destructive, in my opinion, for people to think only of themselves. What I am suggesting is we stop pushing against one idea, learn to embrace it, and then move on to something different. We aren't totally selfish nor are we all totally selfless. Something in the middle sounds about right to me. What do you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment