my log

Me first

We are taught to 'share' & be considerate & think of others right from our childhood. 'Don't be selfish' but we are never exactly told what 'selfish' means. Does that mean if I think of myself before others, I am selfish? No, I would say. As far as my understanding goes, if for your own vested interests you disregard someone else's, caring unduly for yourself at the expense of others, this is being selfish. Which by no means is justified, neither do I have any intentions of proving it otherwise.

The only point I would like to drive home is the distinction between self-interest & selfishness. Caring about yourself is no crime. 'Help yourself & then help others.' This is true for now 'n' for eternity. Let me give an illustration to explain my view-point further.

Long ago, a young merchant was travelling through the desert. During his odyssey, a great desert storm struck him & he was seperated from the rest of the caravan. Having lost his track, he got himself in the middle of nowhere. Soon his supplies of food & water began to exhaust. He had no hope of survival & started starving. While trying to somehow escape this ordeal, he found a man lying unconcious in the sand crying for help. The young merchant saw that the man was injured, but had one sip of water left. The young merchant had no strength left for he hadn't had food or water for days. He would die out of thurst & hunger sooner than later. The young merchant drank the water himself & regained some strength. He then carried off the injured man & himself to safety.

Had the young merchant given that water to the man, they both would have died in the desert. He realised that if he had to save the two of them, he must first help himself & be in a position where he could extend a helping hand to others.



Ever wondered why we seek advices on how to study from the toppers or suddenly the guy who gets placed becomes a storehouse of knowledge. Although perhaps he would tell you the same thing as any other guy, but suddenly his words seem to have a bigger meaning for us. If a Narayan Murthy or a Lakshmi Mittal says something we listen, don't argue. Why, because they are proven performers. They can afford to preach now because they helped themselves to attain these dizzy heights.

posted by Shashank Jain @ 9:37 PM