Selfish Is the New Selfless

Selfish is the new selfless. Does that sound counter-intuitive to you? How can being selfish translate into selflessness?

It's the way the Universe is set up, but, as often is the case, human beings have mucked it up over the centuries. Everyone arrives here in human form with a nice bag of goodies. We all have gifts--or talents--that are perfectly designed to do two things: 1) make us happy and 2) help others.

Several sayings have grown up around this Universal Law, among them

"If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."
and
"Charity begins at home."

Yes, these famous quotes have other meanings, like "If Mama ain't happy, she's going to make sure nobody else is happy either." But look at it this way: If Mama is sick with the flu, how can she care for the family?

As for "Charity begins at home", we all know where that came from. But it can be extrapolated to mean that if one person has not taken care of himself, he cannot care for others--except possibly at his great expense.

We are not designed to give of ourselves until we are empty. If you are a mom (and dads might hear this too, but moms really hear it everywhere), you have read or heard at least once in your motherhood years that you must take care of yourself in order to care for your family. This is true for all people! Not just moms and their families.

And I am not talking about saying "no", although that is a great place to start. Saying "no" when asked to do more than you think you can handle is great--just be sure you don't allow any guilt to creep in! But I am talking about

• knowing yourself,
• understanding yourself,
• discovering your talents,
• and above all, using your talents!
  

When you find out what is in your goody-bag, and you start using those goodies, you will find your own happiness. Then you will notice that your properly-used energy flows out to help others around you automatically.

The Universe is set up to work like this: Use your talent(s). You benefit. Others benefit. It's very simple, really. The reason it's not happening all over the place, every day? People got it messed up. Most people believe that you have to give tremendously of yourself in order to get a small part back for yourself, or that it is only in giving that you can find happiness. And this "giving till it hurts" seems to mean that you don't get to receive anything. Give, give, give and that's just the name of the game. Too bad for you.

Well, consider that a myth and consider it busted!

Now, to put this Universal Law into action, get happier, and help others:

• Discover/determine your talents/gifts (Yes, you do have them!)
• Do work, play, or other activities that employ these gifts
• Feel happier
• Notice that others are being helped

Need help with this? Well, guess what. I've gone through this process and now my work is all about helping other people. I'm not just sitting around every day, trying to see what I can get for myself. I think of how I can use my talents and when I do, others are helped.

The Universe is an awesome place. Welcome!

Susan K. Morrow
www.SisterMystic.com
512-257-2737
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/sistermystic