28 March 2012

selfishness

Gordon B. Hinckley
last night i was in a complainy mood. nothing seemed like it was working. studying was lame. my friends were ignoring me. basically i was being dramatic. and i was confused. last week i was so happy and yet nothing particularly good had happened. i was just happy, because. . . i was! so, why am i unhappy now? well i've been thinking about this. life requires a lot of unselfishness. at least if you want to be happy. if you want momentary happiness then sure, do whatever you want, buy stuff for you, do everything for you. but if you want the best things in life- the things that make you truly happy- you have to be unselfish!
being at a university, and being a single person, makes you selfish if you aren't careful. and i think i may have fallen in the selfishness hole a little without even noticing. i realize i think about me an awful lot. this semester i have been focusing on internships, future schooling, my grades, my graduation, making me happy, doing things for fun for me. these things are not necessarily bad. in fact, school, recreational activities, and work are all very important. i realized yesterday that one of my biggest downfalls is that i often think about myself, my future, my job, my grades, and i don't stop to think about those around me. relationships- all of them- require a lot of unselfishness. and since relationships are one of the few things we get to take with us when we die, how important is it that we build strong relationships with those around us?
selfishness is essentially a sin of pride. we think we deserve everything and so we start thinking about what we "need" and think everyone's lives should involve around us getting that. when we let go of our pride, see our short comings, and serve others, selfishness slowly goes away. i'm going to try to be more selfless this week. even the realization of my selfishness last night and today has made my heart lighter! i know i can be more selfless and i am ready to do it!

1 comment:

  1. good thoughts...and good goal. I love that quote by the way. :)

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