SELFISH!!!

This is a word which most of the people interpret to be a negative term. A word which has a lot of negative vibes surrounding it. Well this blog entry is not one intended to whet the interests of lexicographers worldwide but a mere attempt to throw light on the nuances, the shades of grey, that hide behind the blatant black and white.

Let me begin by asking you a very simple question, aren't we all selfish? I know its a million dollar question and the answer to which we can easily find by just contemplating the thought for a minute or two.The term "Selfishness" throughout history has been depicted in its darkest of forms and is amongst one of the evils that came out of Pandorra's box of troubles. At least that is what we have been conditioned to believe. So did I, until I started thinking a bit more about the same.

A careful introspection will actually tell you that all of us are inherently selfish. We do things just because we want to do it. If we didn't want to do it , even if there was a shred of doubt in us, we would have shirked our responsibilities and gone our way. For eg. lets take the case of doing charity, which most of us associate to being an example of being selfless.I believe that we do charity(or any other selfless deed) because we feel content inside for having gone out of our way to help someone else.But this is also a selfish act as the motive behind helping others was to feel good for ourselves. Whatever the world perceives as an act of kindness , is actually a selfish act to appease our own conscience. So why is it always associated in the negative context?

More often than not, the reason behind being termed greedy is again a matter of perception. When one person is deprived something and another gets it. it sort of springs jealousy in the first person. It may or may not be shared and the second person usually could end up being labeled as selfish. I guess like any coin which has 2 sides, like good and evil, it is the verdict given by the society or even individuals judging your action that gives your action a negative connotation, even if your intentions and reasons are pure and positive. Its like someone giving you a nickname to make fun of you whether you like it or not. Even if someone calls you selfish, just evaluate yourself whether it has any truth in it or is a baseless allegation thrown at you and take necessary steps to remedy yourself if required.

In a nutshell, being selfish isn't bad but take care about the level to which you take your selfishness. As long as you don't end up hurting people in the process and your conscience is clean , you ought to be alright.