For the wrong reasons

All of your actions are selfish, but this does not void their effect. The good that you did is real. Every time you help somebody out of a difficult situation, you tell yourself that you do it for the other person, that they need it.

In truth, you need to do this for yourself. The way helping makes you feel is the motivation. You help because you want to be seen, and you want to be appreciated. Even if these are not the right reasons for your actions, you are still doing good.

Don’t be a hypocrite, and admit to yourself that you like how doing good, and helping others, makes you feel. Most of us tell ourselves that we want to be good people out of principle because it is the right thing to do. That’s not really true, we do it because we are addicted to the way it feels and how it makes people look at us.

We are all weak people in need of validation. Just like some of us are chasing material gain to make them feel good, so are we chasing doing the right thing. We just want to feel good and are willing to do all kinds of things to achieve that, but please consider that there is always a choice.

For yourself, and for the world, take your validation through doing good. Even if done for the wrong reasons, it’s still good. Maybe in time, you will learn how to do good just because you can. Until then, just do good, and use any reason you need.

People are wonderful and they are beautiful and smart. They are also mean, hateful, envious, and lost. People are whoever they are, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Sometime during your life, you have decided to stay away from all people, because some of them hurt you.

This is working against you, because it locks the world outside, leaving you alone in your little box. If you think about it, you like people, you like seeing them succeed and seeing them laugh, but you still stay away from them.

Why not try something different? Start meeting new people, and this time, focus on the good in them. You’ll still be able to see the bad but don’t focus on that.

Every one of us has a box that we live in, and this makes it hard to understand what is outside that box. Luckily, the box can be expanded infinitely. But for that to happen, you need to expose yourself to opinions that are different than yours, to accept and understand other people’s perspectives.

In short, you need to accept that you don’t know everything, and that fear should never stop you. From now on, go into the world with the intention to cherish what is good and beautiful in people. Pay attention to how they flourish every time you point out these parts in them.

With time, you will become good at this, and you’ll find joy in seeing and nurturing what is good in people. When you’re ready, you’ll notice the good and beauty inside yourself.