“As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.”
–George Bernard Shaw
Some people believe that if they could just have everything they want, life would be wonderful. But they are very wrong. If a person were to obtain everything he wanted, there wouldn’t be much reason to continue living, because there would be nothing left to look forward to. It is very important for all of us to set long term goals and try to reach them. Many people get more pleasure from looking forward to things and working hard to acquire them than they actually get from having the items once they are acquired.
If our focus is on the entire world and its inhabitants, we can never become satisfied. As long as war, hunger, homelessness, pain and other suffering exist anywhere on this earth, all of us should be dissatisfied. The world as we know it today has enormous room for improvement, and I think we should all want to participate in activities that will result in a better one.
If every individual just did his part, the world would be so different that we would hardly recognize it. But, unfortunately, not everyone is willing to have a positive impact on the world and its people. Some people are so selfish that they focus exclusively on themselves and what they can get from this world. Since some people do nothing to make the world better, and still others actually have a negative impact on it, it is necessary for the rest of us to do as much as we possibly can to spread sunshine wherever we go.
It is difficult for some of us to understand why some people are so selfish while others are so generous. There is not much we can do about the selfish, but we have control over our own behavior. It seems to me that it is a part of human nature to want to concern ourselves about others as well as ourselves. There is nothing wrong with looking out for ourselves as long as we don’t do so to the exclusion of others. How much emphasis we place on others relative to the focus we place on ourselves differs from person to person, but as long as we are doing something to help others, we are making a positive contribution.
Those who willingly and lovingly look out for others find a special kind of happiness not experienced by the selfish. We should not be motivated to help others out of a selfish desire to find happiness, but when we help others for the right reasons, we will experience that special kind of happiness. In the words of Ray L. Wilbur, “Unless we think of others and do something for them, we miss one of the greatest sources of happiness.”
Think about it.
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Copyright 2025
Allen W. Smith
