It's Not All About You

R.a.n.t. of week 10/19/14

We are often presented with opportunities to either be selfish or selfless. As a child, are we willing to share our treats with others? As an adult, are we willing to allow someone merge into our lane instead of forcing them into the shoulder? As a sit.com. television character, will we simply stand by laughing as an innocent bystander is car-jacked?

Not only can we be selfish to others, we can be selfish to ourselves as well. Take a slob for instance, he's selfish to himself because he allows his laziness to control his life. So he's robbing from himself a chance to lead a clean life. Quite possibly affecting his health, if not his self respect.

Just because a person is an 'adult' doesn't mean they have the ability to do whatever they want in life. Even on a small scale. For example, excluding others is another rant of mine (for another time), but it's also a form of selfishness. When you have certain associates who refuse to accept your invitations and habitually exclude you, it can be frustrating. Especially if the only time you hear from the person is when they need a favour. Ahhh, there we are, the bit of selfishness I was talking about. There is a quote I found online while doing some research for this article. It goes like this. "Don't ask me to do something for you, that you wouldn't do for me." I'm not sure I agree with this quote 100%, but there is a point here. Perhaps this is something we could ask ourselves before asking another person a favour. "If this person asked me to do this for him, would I do it"? Take something simple like a request to run us to the airport when leaving on a business trip. Would we complain if the question were asked of us? Would we be willing to comply? Again, excluding others means we are selfishly thinking of ourselves "This person is good enough to ask favours from, but not good enough for me to associate with."

So selfishness means we are thinking of our own needs. It's a check we should run constantly. If how we act, deprives others of our selflessness we are being selfish. (Duh) And it's something as individuals we should avoid. I have to admit, I forget this at times. Sometimes I'm so wrapped up in trying to acquire something I want, I forget to make sure I'm not neglecting someone else's feelings. Either currently, or potentially in the future. Certainly some food for thought.

Remember: "If you live your life as if everything is about you. You will be left with just that. Just you."