Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The Emotional Void: More on selfishnes and naivete

If I am selfish, then I am also a bit naive. In my work I am often called upon to do favors for my bosses only to then be screwed out of hours, money, and other things that having a job is supposed to help one attain. Others, who selfishly guard their positions by not doing the favors necessary to keep the place running seem to be doing just fine, they keep their hours, their pay, their benefits.

Is a certain level of selfishness something I am going to have to foster in myself in order to get the things I need out of life? And if one level of selfishness is OK, why is another so obviously wrong?

The answers seem clear, but I have to ask myself, am I being naive in thinking that if I lower myself to the same selfish level as my co-workers do I not become them? And, do I want to do that? Become the people I have until now considered part of a greater problem.

Does being selfish in one aspect of my life cause me to overcompensate and become a floor mat in another? Would simply switching where I am selfish be the answer, or is this a means by which the God is telling me I need to remove my ego, my selfishness, and my self centered needs out of the equation.

The Delphic Maxim which reads "γνωθι σεαυτόν", which translates as "know yourself" is generally thought of as an Apollonian kind of precept, and as such I have to consider if this is all he is saying to me right now. Know myself before I am so presumptuous as to think I can know him.

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