WHY DO WE TEND TO SEE SELFISHNESS AS A STRICTLY NEGATIVE TRAIT?

It's not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It's necessary. Mandy Hale

Concern for oneself enables one to show concern for others. Yet most of us tend to consider self-concern as a negative thing.

But does it really make any sense to never have any care or concern for your own needs and well-being? You may have heard it said before, "You have to love yourself before you can love others." There is much truth in this, for if we wish to be of any use to others in our life, we need to take care of ourselves first. Additionally, if we cannot love ourselves, we will have no love in our bucket to give to others. As Mandy points out, it is necessary to show ourselves love and concern, to work on improving our potential and abilities. If we are worn down and tired, we really are only able to achieve part of our potential, and we most likely will be lacking when it comes to giving or receiving love. When I give to others, I want to be able to give to the best of my abilities--to give all that I am and all that I can--and I really cannot do this very well if I am not happy and filled with love.

When we take care of ourselves, we go out into the world each day with abundance, not with lacking, and our happiness and experience in life is directly correlated with this abundance.

Love yourself each day, find contentment and happiness, put away your anger and hate, build upon your knowledge and abilities, and ensure that you are well prepared to contribute positively to the world around you. What you put into your life... is the same thing that will come out of it. Today's Challenge:

Ensure that your needs are taken care of today so that you are able to effectively tend to the needs of others.

Questions to consider:

Why do we tend to see selfishness as a strictly negative trait? When was the last time that you made it a priority to take care of yourself and your happiness? How might your contribution to the world change if you were to take good care of yourself and treat yourself as you deserve?

For further thought:

You owe no one as much as you owe yourself. You owe yourself the action that opens for you the doors of goodness, the variety, and the excitement of effort and success, of battle and victory. Making payment on this debt to yourself is the exact opposite of selfishness. You can best pay your debt to society, that has made you what you are, by being just yourself with all your might and as a matter of course.... You fulfill the promise that lies latent within you by keeping your promises to yourself. David Harold Fink