Selfish? Oh am I?

Countless people have accused me of being selfish or promoting selfishness… well, I guess it’s a possibility. Let’s do a little research on the word, shall we? This is how the Word English Dictionary defines it:

1.      chiefly concerned with one's own interest, advantage, etc, esp to the total exclusion of the interests of others 

2.      relating to or characterized by self-interest

Interesting, now how about some synonyms:

Self-interested, Self-indulgent, “Out for Number One” (yes I really did find that one as a synonym for Selfish), Prejudiced (what that has to do with selfishness I don’t really get, but whatever)

Now it appears to me that it’s much more “popular” in society to take the first definition and run with it. Selfish is damn near (oh yes I did go there) the worst thing ever, the root of all horribleness and evil in the world. Basically, it is popular belief that to be selfish is bad, bad, bad. But it is my belief that this is an extremist view point.

Personally, I am a believer in moderation and if one remains balanced in their thoughts and actions (which they will of they are always in alignment with source) then selfishness may not be such a bad thing… at least according to definition number two. “Relating to or characterized by self-interest,” to me, sounds pretty normal and even expected. To sum it up, it seems like this definition means that each individual person sees life through his/her own personal perspective. But how is this bad? Who else’s perspective are we supposed to use to observe life? It’s literally impossible to live life from the viewpoint of some else. We can’t experience life through someone else’s body, emotions or thoughts. Even if we can understand them, we still understand them through our own POV. That’s just plain and simple the way it is.

Also, who is going to take care of us if we don’t take care of ourselves? While others are out there sacrificing their very lives in the very name of “doing what’s right” (and what’s right is all a matter of personal perspective based on individual beliefs… so we all use a selfish point of view when deciding on what’s “right”) they are expecting in turn that someone else is going to take care of them. Even worse, they are angry when someone else won’t, and then want to call others “selfish” for not doing for them what they should be doing for themselves. Just keepin’ it real.

Maybe if we worked on ourselves, and tried to have the best lives possible then we would be less angry with others, who don’t want to turn their lives upside down for our causes. Perhaps if we took better care of ourselves we would be able to contribute more effectively, not only to ourselves but to anyone else as well. If we are steeped in unhappiness, how can we pass on happiness? If we are broke and can’t pay our bills, how can we contribute to someone else’s worthy cause? If we are in poor health, how can we take care of our children and other loved ones effectively? If we don’t take care of self first, how can we have anything to offer someone else? Is selfishness a bad thing, well I guess it’s all a matter of perspective, isn’t it? Just a little food for thought.

Love,