ishness

Recognition of ishness in self.

• at base, the concept and/or practice of concern with one's own interests in some sort of priority to the interests of others; it is often used to refer to a self-interest that comes in a particular form, or above a certain level _Wikipedia
• concerned chiefly or only with yourself and your advantage to the exclusion of others _{WordWeb Online}
• thinking and acting as if one's own desires and interests are more important than the interests and desires of others _{Word Tutor}

Wikipedia mentions the "Objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand, which focuses on what it calls "rational selfishness" or "rational self-interest." The philosophy holds that individuals should not act on momentary self-interested whims but on what is in their long-term self-interest, which is defined to require respecting the individual liberty of others by refraining from initiating coercion against them" which in a Me generation fits right into rationalized thinking with the goal being to create a logic that supports our desires - the thinking sounds good, but is that what is really taking place. Sometimes the best way of looking at something is seeing the general limitations. Common antonyms are altruistic, caring, generous, kind, selfless, unselfish; as defined and as antonyms they cannot co-exist with selfishness. In other languagues the translation often closely looks like our English word "egotist", a correlation that could bear some reflection.

The diagnosis of selfishness is often overlooked by one's self due to the preservation of self. That preservation makes it hard to not conclude that operating in this manner is the best overall outcome for self as well as others; certainly others profit from the self at its best. So upon inter-reflection at being labeled selfish, the mind seeks to defend its current existence. The extent to which a person, who would like to think their ownself as good is in denial, can be quite amazing to experience. The sadness in this may be that all that remains for self is the self; that may not be the best of company. All of us operate with selfishness to some extent. To be labeled as selfish is for it to be one's base operative which cannot come from good.

Pertinent questions are Who is slighted, at risk, adversely affected in my decision? Would any other decision be more fair, beneficial, profitable to the greater all? Sometimes the answer is hard to see clearly; but more times than not it is as plain as the nose on our face. Speaking of body part idiomisms, we don't generally put one body part at risk over another regardless of the motivation, "to cut one's nose to spite one's face". The problem is when we separate ourself from the body in making our decisions.

If we don't want to be selfish, we need to be willing to accept that we may behave this way; being willing to do so will help us to be open-minded enough to see any activity in that regard. Then we can work against our nature to be the better person. The very crux of the lexmas decisions was the ability to examine one's own selfishness and its effect on one's own life.

Lord, help me to see my own selfishness and, Lord, help me to change for the better.