Comments on: Why Selfishness is a Good Thing

By: Haider

Haider — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 15:22:39 +0000

Hi Sandra,

Welcome to my humble blog.

People think within a false dichotomy that caring for yourself means that you must give up caring for others. To give means to lose. Either you win, or someone else wins (at your expense).

We can lead happier, more fulfilling lives when we recognize the role giving plays for our own well-being, and to truly respect our own needs and wants.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

By: Sandra Hendricks

Sandra Hendricks — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:53:45 +0000

I like how you distinguished “bad selfish” and “good selfish”. There is a definite difference in being selfish and self-centered. You did a wonderful job separating the two. I believe that to whatever degree, we are truly selfish that we are equally giving. If we are 100% selfish we are 100% giving. 20% selfish equals 20% giving. We can only give to other people what we give to ourselves. Thank you for posting such an awesome distinction.
Sandra Hendricks´s last blog ..I Wish I Could Have Discovered the Fine Lines in Living Sooner

By: Haider

Haider — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:15:50 +0000

Hi Lonna, thank you for pointing out the connection between selfishness and making others happy. The danger is when we expect (or even demand) that helping others becomes a duty for us that we shouldn’t enjoy (pretty much what Immanuel Kant teaches). It’s important to recognize our individuality, but there remains a connection that binds all human beings together. We can experience the joy of receiving by giving.

By: Lonna

Lonna — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 05:35:10 +0000

The mere fact that we have flesh, which distinguishes you from I, as living human beings gives birth to selfishness. Making someone else Happy-makes me Happy. I take care of myself and make sure I get want and I need to survive, I don’t need much I am quite happy and very thrifty. The real Joy I seek is when I am truly helping others-which goes right back to selfishness because when I help others I am also helping myself, and making myself Happy. Maybe is should be called selfish-Oneness. We are separate by flesh by one of Heart

By: Haider

Haider — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:47:00 +0000

Ifat, thanks for passing by and sharing links to your posts.

I just saw your post on selfishness in relationships, which I hadn’t read before. I’ll hopefully be writing a blog post on our obsession with sacrifice and compromise in relationships, which I don’t believe is healthy at all!

I hope to see more writers offering a positive perspective on selfishness, and I’m glad you’re a contributor to this trend!