be less selfish

I am not sure what this goal means to me yet. I just look at my list of goals and they look pretty selfish. I can come up with lots of unselfish things I do. But, somehow when I can do nothing I prefer to spend time alone, doing things for myself. This goal needs more thought, but there is something here for me to explore.

I want to share a story/senario that made me realize the importance of selflessness.

One Monday morning when Rob and Janet arrived at school, they noticed that their teacher, Mr. May, had an interesting smile on his face. “I wonder what Mr. May is going to do today,” Janet whispered to Rob. The other students in the class also seemed curious about what was behind Mr. May’s intriguing smile.

It seemed to take forever for class to begin. When the bell signaled the start of class, Mr. May said, “Today I am going to give each of you three gifts. You may do whatever you wish with the gifts. But the object of receiving these gifts is to get more of them by the end of the week.”

With that short explanation, Mr. May gave each student three small pieces of paper. Rob quickly looked at each one. On one piece of paper was the word “Smile.” A second piece of paper read “Sincere compliment.” The third simply read “Help.”

A student raised her hand and asked, “What are we supposed to do with these?”

Mr. May smiled again. “You can figure it out,” he said.

Determined to get more gifts, Rob stuffed the pieces of paper into his pocket so no one would be able to take them from him. Then he spent the rest of the week trying to get gifts from other people. He poked fun at one of the students in the class and then looked around to see how many people had smiled at him. When he got a good grade on a spelling test, he showed his grade to several people, hoping that someone would give him a sincere compliment. And he reminded Tom of a favor he had done for him once, saying, “We’ll be even if you will help me with my book report.” By the end of the week, all Rob had was three crumpled pieces of paper in his pocket and a sick feeling in his stomach.

Janet didn’t really think about Mr. May’s assignment. She just went about her week as she always did. She greeted everyone with a smile. When she noticed that Emily had done especially well on a math quiz, she congratulated her. Later that week she noticed that Loren was having a hard time with his science project. She helped him with the problem that was frustrating him. By the end of the week, Janet was happier than she had been before, even though she had forgotten about Mr. May’s challenge to get more gifts.

Rob was confused. He had tried hard to get more gifts, but he had failed. Mean-while, he noticed that even though Janet had not done anything different, everyone smiled at her. People were always giving her sincere compliments. And when she needed help with something, someone always seemed to notice and offer assistance.

The important thing is that it is more important to think of others before you think of yourself. Selflessness is not a tool to recieve attention. Service will make us happy. Receiving is just a bonus.

I started volunteering with a dog rescue organization here in Memphis, called Good Dog Rescue. I take photos of dogs to be put on their website. It felt very rewarding to help out even just with the little I did.

I don’t believe there is such a thing as a selfless act, so I question my motives for wanting to be less selfish. They contradict the very idea. There’s nothing wrong with a little PR upkeep though. I’ve been told I’m the nicest person – when I’ve been drinking. I want to be a nice person when I’m sober.

Another reason for questioning this goal, is that I may be trying to force what is not naturally me. However, what bad can come from it? So I’ll start small.

this is another one of those really vague goals for me..i need to figure out what i really want out of this goal.

If I’m less selfish then I would feel better about myself. Be a better person.

sponsored a child from tanzania for 32$ a month. my selfish thinking self would not want to do this..because “that’s 32$ I could be using”..but really..32$ is me not going out to eat a few times. Doing things for other people (for the right reasons) will help combat selfishness. haha however..it does make me wonder..is there every truly a selfless good deed?

I have kept this at the front of my mind for a couple of months now. After a heart to heart with my husband, I have been putting forth effort to “build people up” and compliment them for things that would normally go unnoticed. I’m now employed as a school psychologist, where my entire career is helping out the less fortunate. While I am certain that I will occasionally have selfish moments (we all do), and I am aware that this is one goal that is technically never complete, in comparison to where I was at the beginning of the year, I feel that I have made sufficient progress to cross this goal off the list.

i am almost ALWAYS thinking about myself and it makes me sad. one of my best friends tells me i never stop worrying about other people but i dont believe it. i think i do whatever is best for me even if it hurts somebody :( at least i recognize it though i spoze.

i am almost ALWAYS thinking about myself and it makes me sad. one of my best friends tells me i never stop worrying about other people but i dont believe it. i think i do whatever is best for me even if it hurts somebody :( at least i recognize it though i spoze.