Is it Just Me or Is Most People Selfish
Well not you in particular, but I have a discussion that I would like to put forward, now this is not necessarily my opinion, but it is a subject that I would like to hear some different view points on. So let me jump right into the topic at hand.
When we as humans do something, every decision that we make is based on the expectation of getting two results, to make us happy or to avoid pain. Whether it’s blowing up in anger, scratching an itch, or spending years in solitude with prayer and self-sacrifice. The reason we do it is for our own happiness or to avoid pain. The monk spends years of self-deprivation for his eternal reward – heaven. We choose the lesser of two evils to avoid the worst. We allow ourselves to be robbed or raped at gunpoint to avoid being shot. In short, we choose every action we make, and because we’ve decided – we’ve wanted to do whatever it is we’ve done at the time.
I would go as far to say that even when we do something for our loved ones that we wouldn’t have done otherwise, it is because we WANTED to do so – because doing so (sacrificing) in this case makes us Happy..
Is the reason because we are “selfish” or is it just the reptilian portion of our brain being dominant with it’s fight or flight mentality. Pursuing this line of thinking a little further I also have been contemplating why it was that so many of us are unhappy so often and for so long. It seems as though a lot of us (me included) have made very poor decisions in regard to what we thought would make us happy.
An interesting statistic: Suicide is most prevalent in affluent people as opposed to the poor. Depression seems to plague the rich, while people living simple lives don’t seem to suffer as often. So living a simple life from this perspective seems to be the more self fulfilling and happy road to travel.
We as Americans (for the most part), spend the majority of our waking life working at a joyless job making another person wealthy from the sweat of our backs. And we do this for what purpose? So that we will have the money to purchase things that we think will make us ……. You got it! Happy. How about a new car, a 2000 square foot home, a speed boat for the weekends, new designer clothes, fill in the blank. And then once we have all of these things we come home from our stressful jobs and have to maintain all the things we’ve collected. So we clean our house, fix the furnace, get an extra job to put on a new roof, service our car, etc. And at the end of this stressful day, we’re too tired to do much else except collapse in front of a book or the T.V. for a couple of hours before bed.
Can you say poor decision making? We THINK what we’re doing will make us happy – but we’re often times mistaken.
So many enlightened people that have come before us have tried to explain the key to happiness. The Golden Rule, “Do unto others….” appears in most philosophical and religious works. Most people who live their lives trying to spread happiness to others (or alleviate pain) seem to be the happiest themselves. From a physical standpoint, this appears to be counter-intuitive. Yet from a spiritual and emotional perspective, it proves true time and time again.
Now I believe that this is the most simplest lesson of all, but one of the hardest to carry through, and by far it is the most important of all. And it’s funny to find out that when you put this concept into practice, Happiness is soon to follow. As I say Service to Others vs Service to Self is the most noble path to travel, and will lead to untold Happiness and you guessed it Less Pain.
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Mirai
The THINGS which I have, are merely TOOLS to help me DO what I DO, and DO it better every day. The THINGS don’t make me happy, DOING what I DO, makes me happy, and the things that I have, make it easier for me to DO what I DO. If some of the things I have are no longer useful TOOLS for me, I give them away OR sell them to somebody who can use them.
Attachment to THINGS, will only lead you to the dump.
Simple is best.
Norman D.
Very well put Norman
The things you have are not possessions just for the sake of having them. (I know people like this) They buy the newest whatchamacallit just to create envy in others, and that makes them happy.
Obviously we need things in our life, but who needs scuba gear in the Sahara?
See you soon my friend.
This is the craziest thing… but I was Googeling
NEW ROOF and I came to your blog. !!!
HA HA….. Just being fun-knee ~ wink wink
This one should not be so difficult to comment on
but it’s late and I’m going to check back later.
I’ll just add this real quick… The US Air Force Motto:
The US Air Force Core Values
Integrity First – Service Before Self – Excellence In All We Do
Not so sure when this was adopted as the motto…
But maybe you missed your military calling.
No disrespect to the US Navy.
xo xo
Deb ~ in Ohio, thinking more on this
Hmmm maybe it came around in 1997
http://www.usafa.af.mil/core-value/cv-mastr.html
I defiantly choose the wrong branch, I think!!! How come I joined the Navy but ended up in a Marine Uniform? Hmmm!
I realized I had joined the wrong service when I was in Okinawa, Japan. The Airforce members had 2 adjoining rooms each, while I was sleeping in open bay barracks. Can you imagine the snoring and other sounds? Arghhh
Oh Well, No regrets, wouldn’t have met my beautiful wife if it wasn’t for the Navy!
Thanks Deb
This is very interesting post. I feel that only you can make you happy in any situation. No we don’t like work but we have to do we live ina society where you have to work to survive. People need to make the best of the sisuation. There is no getting out of working but by working we make our families happy because they have food and shelter.