Positivity is Not Selfish, Is It?
This post contains affiliate banner links. For more info, see my disclosures.
Positivity is not selfish.
I recognize that in the face of the world today, and all the insanity nationally and internationally, seeking out positivity for yourself may seem like a selfish notion. With so many people facing adversity, cruelty, devastation, tangible and intangible bad things, doesn’t it make you selfish if you seek positivity and good things?
No, because there are limited things we can all do to help the world at large. We can march in protests, vote in elections, sign petitions, and take other actions to speak out against the bad things. But apart from that, nothing we do can or will change it.
However, we can change ourselves. Most of all, we can change our individual thoughts, feelings, and actions. When we work from this, we open ourselves up to having a greater impact than we realize.
Whether or not you believe in the Law of Attraction, or that consciousness creates reality, or whatever label we give to mindfulness, you are still empowered to control how you think, feel, and act. Seeing as positivity feels good, and negativity feels bad, why would seeking positivity be selfish?
The reason this may feel selfish is the way we often perceive the world at large. There are big names and big personalities who take and take for themselves; yet they are unkind, lacking in empathy, and truly selfish. In their taking, they strive to leave nothing for anyone else, be it money, resources, or what-have-you.
Seeking positivity is not selfish, unless in doing so you deny others the same space and opportunities. Unless you are actively working to keep someone else with less, or otherwise down, you are not selfish.
Finding positivity is not selfish
Selfishness is not finding good for ourselves. It is not selfish to be happy, even when others are not – unless you are happy at the suffering or creation of lack for others. When you take with the intent of leaving nothing for someone or anyone else, THAT is selfishness.
So unless your thoughts, feelings, and actions are intentionally working to take from others, cause hurt and lack and scarcity for other people, you are not being selfish. Despite messages to the contrary, selfishness is not about having what you do for yourself – it is about denying the same for others.
Seeking and finding positivity is not selfish, because it does not take away from anyone else. It is not selfish when you have the opportunity to create a better life to do so. Not unless in doing that, you intend to deny someone else the same.
I can do nothing to change anyone else’s circumstances. Yes, there are actions I can take that will help people along the way, and I can be generous with my time, my money, and my ideas. Seeking and finding positivity gives us all the opportunity to build more.
Positivity is borne from abundance, not lack or scarcity. Finding positivity is finding more abundance, and more abundance is good for everyone.
Those who are selfish tend to turn abundance to lack and scarcity for their own ends. They would rather disempower, because they believe that there isn’t enough, and so they take and take. Watch the news, you’ll see this pretty clearly.
You have a choice. You can decide to choose to be mindful of your thoughts, feelings, and actions, and use that to find and create positivity in the world. Finding positivity is not selfish, because it tends to create more to be found.
Finding positivity is not hard, but it does require action
Knowing that positivity is not selfish, we can seek to find and create more positivity, because doing so creates and finds more abundance. When we recognize that this is not a selfish act, and that doing so makes us feel good, we ultimately empower ourselves. When we feel empowered, we become more aware and mindful, and tend to spread that feeling to others around us. As such, we can build more positive feelings.
We can use the positive feelings this generates to dissolve negative feelings. When we eradicate negative feelings, we open up space to let in more positive feelings, and that is something we can be grateful for.
Gratitude leads to happiness. Happiness is the ultimate positive attitude. An attitude of gratitude is a positive attitude that begets even more good energies, and that is always worthwhile.
This is the two-hundred and sixty-seventh entry of my Positivity series. It is my hope these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog and spread the positivity.
After more than 7 years of weekly blogging, I have launched a Patreon to garner support for these works, and more.
Please take a moment to subscribe to my blog. Fill in the info and click the submit button below and receive a free eBook.
Follow me here!
