Selfishness

 Hello again on a great Monday morning. I hope you are ready for a great last week of January. Today we will talk about selfishness. This might seem very common sensical but I wanted to give you a different perspective and why being selfish can be seen as bad or good as opposed to what we have been taught. 

Let’s start with the negative view of selfishness. For many years we have been taught that we got here because of the idea of survival of the fittest. This means competition and every person for themselves. Selfishness is a trait that we used to survive in harsh times. When we see others who have more than we do we become selfish, but not understanding what the other person has done in order to obtain what he or she has. Many times we forget the hard work people have put in to earn what they have now. We might see that we are lacking which triggers selfish tendencies. Some people may give gifts or perform activities to help others while secretly expecting praise or something in return. This is still a subtle form of selfishness. We all are a little selfish because many times when given a choice we would rather choose our own problems rather than others. So don’t feel bad that you have been selfish because we have been conditioned to have this trait. Let’s now see how selfishness can be good.

Is there a positive side of selfishness?  When we overly try to help and give to others without respecting our own selves, we inevitably become overburdened and more of a debt to society. We weaken ourselves so much that we now need help to carry on. This is why being selfish at times is what is needed. When we care for others at the cost of our own health and well being, then we are at risk of illness. Being selfish or you could say giving generosity to ourselves allows us to be better able to give the best version of ourselves to others. We have been conditioned again to think that selfishness is a bad thing and this has caused many people to take care of others at the expense of their own health. When we give ourselves the needed care that we deserve then we are more joyful and now we can share that joy with others. 

We are starting to realize that the old model of competition is falling away and the idea of cooperation is now becoming more prevalent. Cooperation helps us realize that we are all in this together and we are only as strong as the weakest link. So we must take care of ourselves so that we can better serve others. As we work together more and more we will come to the understanding that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Thank you for reading. 

- Dr. Chip