Selflessness: The Balance Between Being Selfless And Selfish | The Odyssey Online
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Selflessness: The Balance Between Being Selfless And Selfish

here's strength in a healthy kind of selflessness.

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Selflessness: The Balance Between Being Selfless And Selfish
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Selflessness, something that I would advocate for. One of the qualities I think everyone should obtain. As humans, it is our innate nature to be selfish. Being selfless is something you must learn. Personally I am all about helping others and giving myself to others. Help others without expectations. Be sincere and offer without expecting something back. Most people nowadays only offer with hopes of something in return. If we could do things for others without anything in return, imagine the world we would live in. Being in a world with sincere care for each other. Family, friends, or strangers the smallest acts of selflessness can make a difference. Go out of your way to do deeds for others.

There's a fine line when it comes to selflessness. Be self less, but don't be self less to the point you are not aware of what you want and need yourself. It's okay to be selfish sometimes, know when to say no and take care of yourself. Coming from a girl that has lost her ways trying to be there for everyone. I would always make sure others were doing well before myself. “One must assure their cup is full before pouring into others” I have a way of always wanting to help others, but not making sure my cup is full before. What help can you be to others if you aren't helping yourself. The thing about that, it also gives me a sense of self fulfillment when I do help others. It is endless pouring into others and filling my own cup. I pour into theirs as they pour back into me.

Let me tell you where being selfless has taken me and brought me to today. It's taken me to a dark place of not knowing who I was. It took me to a place of helping others so much, I didn't know how to help myself. I didn't know what made me happy because I was fulfilling everyone's needs. I would take so much time out of my day to help others with their needs and it would drain me out of energy for doing things I needed to do to keep me at peace.That was a stage of selflessness you don't want to get to. That is the kind of selflessness I do not advocate for. As much as you want to be selfless ALL the time, don’t. Know your limit.

There's strength in a healthy kind of selflessness. Daisaku Ikeda says "'Our real strength lies in our capacity for empathy with others and the action we take on their behalf.” This is the selflessness of putting kind thoughts into your actions. We are all here together, why not move about this Earth with thoughts of others in our minds. Being selfless when I can, it brings an undeniable pleasure of bringing happiness to people. There was a time that I was having a terrible day at work, and I could just feel myself being dragged down by every little unfortunate thing that happened through it. My coworker was having an even worse day, and he is the type to brush things off easily, to see someone thats very happy-go-lucky, be in a bad mood, it does something to you. It makes you think about how bad can things really be. Instead of being selfish and letting my bad energy spread and create more negative, I decided to be selfless. My day was not as bad as it seemed and I knew I had the power to turn mine around and my coworker’s. Being selfless in even just the smallest of acts like turning someone’s day around with a little gesture can make a difference.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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