“Only those who have learned the power of sincere and selfless contribution experience life’s deepest joy: true fulfillment.” – Anthony Robbins
What was the last truly selfless act you offered to another person?
While you’re sitting there scratching your head trying to come up with one, here’s a refresher of what “selfless” actually means.
To be selfless means, “having little or no concern for oneself, especially with regard to fame, position, money, etc.”
But that’s not the society I know.
We’re selfish with our time, our money, our blessings, our emotions, you name it. That self-serving behavior doesn’t allow much opportunity for bestowing good on anyone else but ourselves. How sad is that?
For those of you still thinking about the last time you were truly selfless, here’s a real-world example taken from the headlines, and it reads:
Couple Carries Baby with Fatal Brain Disorder Full Term to Donate Organs to Newborns in Need.
Read that again, and maybe even a third time so the selflessness of that act truly sinks in to your heart and mind.
Around her 18th week, Krysta received some devastating news that her baby girl, who they named Rylei, had been diagnosed with anencephaly, a fatal neurological defect where some parts of the brain and skull are missing.
“We followed up with another doctor,” Krysta explains, “and we were told that if I carried to term, I could donate Rylei’s organs, and possibly arrange to meet with the kids who get them. At that moment, Derek and I looked at each other and knew what we were going to do. I may have not been able to take my baby home, but I could maybe use her life to give other mothers the chance to.”
When a mother sets aside her own personal grief and loss in order to help other mothers – strangers – struggling through their own circumstances, I’d call that a truly selfless act. Actually, I’d call it something more but there just aren’t words to express it.
Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle once wrote, “Everywhere in life, the true question is not what we gain, BUT WHAT WE DO.”
Life really is that simple.