Turn Selfishness into Selflessness

In the age of pandemic life, we have seen with our very own eyes what selfishness looks like and on the flip side we have seen time and time again what it looks like to be selfless and think of the needs of others above your own needs.

We have seen both sides.

Those who do not wear masks, who do not respect people’s space and maintain good social distancing, those who have no respect for the safety and needs of others. We have seen this happening a lot since this crisis started, but we have also seen the opposite of the selfishness of people not following the health rules and wanting to reopen amid the chaos.

That opposite is selflessness.

We have seen numerous acts of selflessness from our fellow Americans since this virus cam into our lives too and these acts of selflessness have given us hope in humanity once again and have shown us that we can be kind and compassionate towards one another in the most trying times and this crisis has shown that.

People delivering groceries to the sick and elderly, people paying it forward and paying for people’s meals, people, helping out the homeless and needy, and so much more. We have seen all of these things too and these acts of kindness have shown us that we do have selflessness in our society, even amongst the selfishness that currently exists with so many who are only out for themselves.

Out for self or out to be selfless?

The latter is the goal and the right thing to do.

When we are selfless, then we are being in God’s will or the will of the universe, but when we are full of self, then we are out for ourselves and what we can gain from the situation and that can never be the will of God or the will of the universe or anything higher than us.

The goal is to be selfless in all that we do. The way that we do that is by always asking ourselves how we can be of maximum service to God/universe, to our fellows, and to the world. This is the first act of selflessness and doing what is right for others and this is the way that we get out of our own way and into the way of the light.

One way that we can be selfless is to be absence of self and to not only think of others but act in a way that puts the needs of others above our own needs and be of service the our fellow citizen. It is by doing this that we become of service to the world and to our creator and when we are able to be of service to the world, we show others that this way of behaving makes for a better America and a better planet.

I would simply ask yourself this, how can you be more selfless in a selfish world like that we live in today?

How can you be of service to everyone and everything including those who you do not like or care for?

How can you add instead of taking away to this country and to this life?

These are all legitimate and on point questions that we should ask ourselves during all times, especially a national and global crisis like the one that we find ourselves in now. These are questions that need answering both on a personal level and on a broader level as far as our country and our world goes in the midst of such a crisis.

How can we do better and be better and think of others is a question that we all should be asking ourselves. This is a question that should cause all of us to pause and think, to think about who we are and what we want to do in this area of being selfless and thinking of others over ourselves.

It is when we think of others that we get that relief that we seek from all of the problems that we personally deal with and it is when we do that selfless act that puts others first and do what is helpful and for fun and for free, without any expectation of anything in return.

This is what happens when we are truly selfless and do not act selfishly like we once did and this is what those who are acting full of self during the pandemic that we are going through as we speak of should do. These people should be absence of self and act with the thought of others in mind and do the next right thing, as we say in Alcoholics Anonymous.

Be SELFLESS.

Those who refuse to wear masks, who refuse to social distance, who refuse to follow the expert’s advice to keep us safe are acting out of self and being completely selfish when they should be selfless. We see it a lot today with the pandemic, but we have been a selfish society for some time now, for years and years in many senses.

Acts of selflessness include the following.

-Buy a homeless person a meal.

-Hold the door open for a disabled or elderly person.

-Volunteer with animals or the poor.

-Help out at a children’s hospital.

-Thank somebody for their service — Military, a nurse, a grocery store worker.

-Bring someone who cannot get out food.

This is what it means to be selfless and this includes staying home and being absence of self during the current pandemic by wearing that mask, by keeping your distance when you go out for essentials, thinking of public health above thinking about doing what you feel like doing and what is most important to you.

Selflessness before this pandemic and during it is important. Doing things with the thought of how you can be helpful to others and what is best for them instead of what is best for you and what makes YOU feel good is what this life is all about and what life should be about.

I am speaking of me too. I get no relief and peace when I am full of self and what matters to me. I get that peace when I pray for the bondage of self to be removed and when I am service to others. “How may I be useful to you and to my fellows.” is what I find it to be all about and what helps me to get out of self and stop acting selfishly and start thinking of others and thinking of what I can add to the world, instead of what I can take.

Be of maximum service to others!

This is what we do as humans. This is not to say that we never do things that give us personal happiness, but the vast majority of the time we must be useful to others and to serve others and our world above serving ourselves if we are to find true happiness and true peace and this, this is what I find the key to it all — the key to the life and to the kingdom!