*I want to dedicate this post to my mom and dad, some of the most selfless people I've ever met. Thanks for your examples you've been to me. I love you guys.*
I'm in Nevada right now enjoying the beautiful weather in a fairly small city called Elko. You may have heard of it. It's a beautiful place in northern Nevada. There are friendly people and some fun things to do. There's a carnival (that I didn't go to and, frankly, don't have time to attend). There's tumbleweed--that's good stuff. Not to mention the rainstorms that are far more frequent than I thought they would be. It's been nice to be out in the rain a little bit. There's a number of casinos, which I haven't tried my hand at yet. My favorite thing about Elko has been the people though. The people have been really kind to me. I like the people here and I like the atmosphere in small towns like this (though granted, 22,000 people is a good amount).
The lack of Elks here in Elko has been quite a shock to be quite honest. Just thought I'd throw that out there. I'm not sure what the person that named this place Elko was thinking, but he must have been on drugs or something, because all I've seen is rabbits, dogs, and cats.
Being on vacation like this has given me a good amount of time to think. Especially right now, as all of my friends and my brother have gone off to church to do their thing. As most of you can tell from my last couple of posts, I've been thinking heavily about what my life is about. I'm trying to figure out who to be, and that's been weighing heavily on me while I've been in Elko as well. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed my time here, but I'm always thinking, always trying to figure out life as it is. Then again, I think most people are trying to figure out life in one away or another; and if you're not, you're probably dead.
I've been thinking about character and integrity the last couple of days. Now I can't say that I've figured out who I want to be exactly, but the last couple of days has made me realize this: I don't want to be selfish. This kind of follows along the lines of my last post, but it has a lot to do with living to love people. I'm beginning to realize how much I despise selfishness, both in myself and in other people.
To understand where I'm coming from, I think we all need to understand what selflessness is. Selflessness is defined as "concern more with the needs and wishes of others than with one's own." Or, as I like to define it "not being an ass hole." Now, this doesn't mean you're so concerned with others that you don't do things you like, or you don't follow your dreams, etc. Rather, it means that you're concerned about others, about loving them, about helping them grow. When someone asks for help you help them out (granted, you can't always help, but you do your best). When someone needs you there for them, you're there. And I would add, you give your time to people, because the most valuable currency we have is the way we treat others (Jim Carey said that, if you're wondering). Now that doesn't mean you're perfectly patient, perfectly nice to everyone, but you do your best to do those things.
My brother and his girlfriend have been some amazing examples of selflessness to me while I've been hanging out in Nevada. Not only have they been selfless by making me laugh with endless Spongebob references, the way they talk to people and try to help has been quite the example to me. We're staying at my brother's girlfriend's house here, and it's just been wonderful. She's been an awesome host. She made us breakfast, she drove us around town and showed us her "spot," among other things. Some people might call this "being a good host," but I'd just call it being a good, selfless person. Among other things, she's included everyone in the things we've done (had a few parties, etc.), and she's been so... nice. I don't know how to explain it, exactly. I think it's more than her actions as well. The way she talks to people (even people she doesn't exactly know) has been warm and inviting. As for my brother, we were at a church party last night and he just went up and talked to random people to make them feel welcome and to get to know them. It wasn't like he had a responsibility to talk with them, but he did anyway.
Selfishness on the other hand, is an ugly thing. It's the inverse of selflessness: "concern more with the needs and wishes of yourself than with that of others." When you are selfish, you don't care as much about others as you do about yourself. You go out and you do what pleases you, even if it hurts others. There are obviously a lot of things you could do to be selfish, and I see them in myself all the time. You might have made a commitment to help someone, but you back out because you don't feel like it. You promise to do something, but you don't follow through with it. It might even be interrupting people constantly when they talk.
I see selfishness all the time in myself and in others... And it sucks. I hate it. But it's not just about me. Selfishness is bad for the whole human race. Imagine for a minute if people only cared about themselves and didn't help each other. What happens? You've probably had friends like that. I know I have. And it's easy to see what happens. The world can stop. The world will stop if we don't work together, if we don't care about each other's dreams. If we don't help people live, then this world will fail. It's not hard to see. You can easily find headlines in newspapers about people who walk past someone getting murdered on the street. It's heartbreaking. We'd all like to say we wouldn't be the person to sit back and do nothing, but can we actually say that?
Selfishness is, at its core, the belief that the world revolves around yourself. Sorry to break it to you, but that's a load of bull shit. First off, because the world revolves around the sun it can't revolve around you. And secondly, when you die the world keeps on spinning. Things keep on moving without you. I experienced that when I went to Japan for two years and then came back to Utah. To my absolute bewilderment, the world had actually changed. People had grown up. People were different. The city I lived in was different. The world kept on spinning.
I'm not saying you can't have dreams. I'm not saying you can't work on yourself, but what I'm saying is we have to come together. Sometimes this means helping absolute strangers. It means keeping our commitments to friends and family and strangers alike. Selfishness is devastating. It's hurtful to everyone involved in the long run.
I've been asking myself a lot about myself: Am I selfish? How much time do I give to other people? Do I honor my commitments? Do I try to help people when they ask for help? Do I help people if they look like they need help? How can I improve? My friends, my family, and the world needs me o be selfless.
Hopefully this is something I can figure it out. Hopefully you as the reader got something out of this.
-JJ the Raving (Out of College For Summer) Lunatic
I'm in Nevada right now enjoying the beautiful weather in a fairly small city called Elko. You may have heard of it. It's a beautiful place in northern Nevada. There are friendly people and some fun things to do. There's a carnival (that I didn't go to and, frankly, don't have time to attend). There's tumbleweed--that's good stuff. Not to mention the rainstorms that are far more frequent than I thought they would be. It's been nice to be out in the rain a little bit. There's a number of casinos, which I haven't tried my hand at yet. My favorite thing about Elko has been the people though. The people have been really kind to me. I like the people here and I like the atmosphere in small towns like this (though granted, 22,000 people is a good amount).
The lack of Elks here in Elko has been quite a shock to be quite honest. Just thought I'd throw that out there. I'm not sure what the person that named this place Elko was thinking, but he must have been on drugs or something, because all I've seen is rabbits, dogs, and cats.
Being on vacation like this has given me a good amount of time to think. Especially right now, as all of my friends and my brother have gone off to church to do their thing. As most of you can tell from my last couple of posts, I've been thinking heavily about what my life is about. I'm trying to figure out who to be, and that's been weighing heavily on me while I've been in Elko as well. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed my time here, but I'm always thinking, always trying to figure out life as it is. Then again, I think most people are trying to figure out life in one away or another; and if you're not, you're probably dead.
I've been thinking about character and integrity the last couple of days. Now I can't say that I've figured out who I want to be exactly, but the last couple of days has made me realize this: I don't want to be selfish. This kind of follows along the lines of my last post, but it has a lot to do with living to love people. I'm beginning to realize how much I despise selfishness, both in myself and in other people.
To understand where I'm coming from, I think we all need to understand what selflessness is. Selflessness is defined as "concern more with the needs and wishes of others than with one's own." Or, as I like to define it "not being an ass hole." Now, this doesn't mean you're so concerned with others that you don't do things you like, or you don't follow your dreams, etc. Rather, it means that you're concerned about others, about loving them, about helping them grow. When someone asks for help you help them out (granted, you can't always help, but you do your best). When someone needs you there for them, you're there. And I would add, you give your time to people, because the most valuable currency we have is the way we treat others (Jim Carey said that, if you're wondering). Now that doesn't mean you're perfectly patient, perfectly nice to everyone, but you do your best to do those things.
My brother and his girlfriend have been some amazing examples of selflessness to me while I've been hanging out in Nevada. Not only have they been selfless by making me laugh with endless Spongebob references, the way they talk to people and try to help has been quite the example to me. We're staying at my brother's girlfriend's house here, and it's just been wonderful. She's been an awesome host. She made us breakfast, she drove us around town and showed us her "spot," among other things. Some people might call this "being a good host," but I'd just call it being a good, selfless person. Among other things, she's included everyone in the things we've done (had a few parties, etc.), and she's been so... nice. I don't know how to explain it, exactly. I think it's more than her actions as well. The way she talks to people (even people she doesn't exactly know) has been warm and inviting. As for my brother, we were at a church party last night and he just went up and talked to random people to make them feel welcome and to get to know them. It wasn't like he had a responsibility to talk with them, but he did anyway.
Selfishness on the other hand, is an ugly thing. It's the inverse of selflessness: "concern more with the needs and wishes of yourself than with that of others." When you are selfish, you don't care as much about others as you do about yourself. You go out and you do what pleases you, even if it hurts others. There are obviously a lot of things you could do to be selfish, and I see them in myself all the time. You might have made a commitment to help someone, but you back out because you don't feel like it. You promise to do something, but you don't follow through with it. It might even be interrupting people constantly when they talk.
I see selfishness all the time in myself and in others... And it sucks. I hate it. But it's not just about me. Selfishness is bad for the whole human race. Imagine for a minute if people only cared about themselves and didn't help each other. What happens? You've probably had friends like that. I know I have. And it's easy to see what happens. The world can stop. The world will stop if we don't work together, if we don't care about each other's dreams. If we don't help people live, then this world will fail. It's not hard to see. You can easily find headlines in newspapers about people who walk past someone getting murdered on the street. It's heartbreaking. We'd all like to say we wouldn't be the person to sit back and do nothing, but can we actually say that?
Selfishness is, at its core, the belief that the world revolves around yourself. Sorry to break it to you, but that's a load of bull shit. First off, because the world revolves around the sun it can't revolve around you. And secondly, when you die the world keeps on spinning. Things keep on moving without you. I experienced that when I went to Japan for two years and then came back to Utah. To my absolute bewilderment, the world had actually changed. People had grown up. People were different. The city I lived in was different. The world kept on spinning.
I'm not saying you can't have dreams. I'm not saying you can't work on yourself, but what I'm saying is we have to come together. Sometimes this means helping absolute strangers. It means keeping our commitments to friends and family and strangers alike. Selfishness is devastating. It's hurtful to everyone involved in the long run.
I've been asking myself a lot about myself: Am I selfish? How much time do I give to other people? Do I honor my commitments? Do I try to help people when they ask for help? Do I help people if they look like they need help? How can I improve? My friends, my family, and the world needs me o be selfless.
Hopefully this is something I can figure it out. Hopefully you as the reader got something out of this.
-JJ the Raving (Out of College For Summer) Lunatic
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