Please, Go Ahead and Be Selfish!

Maybe I just like to make myself miserable, but once in a while I tune in to a TV evangelist. The last time I did there was the usual ranting on of how selfish and self centered we sinners are. But, you know, I think he has gotten it all wrong. Look at the problems we face. As a society we are grossly overweight and unfit. We watch too much TV. We don't exercise enough. We isolate ourselves from each other, suffer from a very high rate of mental illness and stress. For most of us there is no WE but only a loose collection of I's.

Do these symptoms point to selfishness? I don't think so. Stupidity, perhaps, or ignorance, at least. If we were selfish, wouldn't we be doing what was good for ourselves? If we loved ourselves would we be pushing poisons into our mouths? If we loved our children would we be putting them in front of TVs for six hours per day? Would we be feeding our faces to the point of diabetes and obesity if we desired our best? If we wanted the ultimate for our descendants would we knowingly be kicking the shit out of the world? Of course not! I think that our real problem is that we despise ourselves!

What the world needs now is people who care about themselves. Really! Go ahead and be selfish. Don't apologize. Learn to love yourself. It's what God, the world and the rest of us need. The god of materialism is killing us. The love of self has been abandoned for the love of excess and abuse. If we loved ourselves we wouldn't need beauty aids, fancy cars, face lifts, the latest fashions and fifty dollar hair cuts. We would know enough to not be taken in by the "What Toyota Are You?" adds. We would know who we are and who we aren't, and maybe even, who we could become.

Most of my dearest friends and family simply do not know how to love themselves. They spend most of their time and resources on things which are destructive to their bodies and spirits. According to what we hear and see, that is what we are supposed to do. The religious noise we hear says otherwise but they nor anyone else seems to provide any examples to back us the words. It is all so sad.

But talk about an opportunity! Do you love yourself? I've asked it before and I'll keep it up. Haven't you been given a brain that can tell the difference between life and death? Don't you really know what is good for you and what is not, what is good for your children and what is evil/unhealthy/deadening/stupidening?

God gave us all the reason and free will. If we continue to each stay isolated/stupid/blind and dying, it is simply by our own choice. And don't any of us dare complain, now or later. None of us has anything to complain about. We chose each day to live the way we are. Don't we dare blame the government or corporations or the schools or churches. WE are all of these things. We alone must accept what we will and do not doe. YOU and I perpetuate the lies and pass them on to those around us by our inaction and apathy, by how we spend our money and our time.

Are you what you drive? Is that all you are? If so, fine. But if you aren't, if you would be more and leave a legacy of more, you know what you can do about it. Start with one other person and talk. Ask yourself what you would really do if you really loved yourself. And DO it. Share it with just one other. That is a must. If you start with just doing one thing and sharing it with just one other, the world will become a new place for you. I promise. Even if I'm wrong, what would you lose?

When you say “Take care,” so someone, mean it. Take care of yourself. Really.
As Red Green says, "We're rootin' for you.”

“To get wisdom is to love oneself.” - proverb

“This, above all: refuse to be a victim. Unless I can do that I can do nothing.” - Margaret