BE SELFISH

Selfish

Selfish is such an odd word with so many negative connotations attached to it. You’re told that if you are selfish then you are taking from others and being rude.

Well I’m here to destigmatize selfishness.  Life is short; sometimes you gotta be.

I constantly do stuff for others and get nothing in return, half the stuff I do goes unnoticed, so they wouldn’t even know they’re being selfish, but they were. I guess recently I’ve decided to put myself first and I have found no harm in that. Selfishness doesn’t need to be a negative quality to your personality if your smart about when you are selfish.

This one is hard to drill into people, and I’m not suggesting we breakdown all societies boundaries and manners by being a twat. I’m just suggesting that this social contract of ‘selflessness’ is restricting and tiring.

For example, I order food and nobody else wants any, food arrives, everyone starts eating it (classic) ……although you don’t want to and you were the only one who paid for it, god forbid you say no to grabbing hands asking for chips using excuses like ” but I gave you a lift last week”….that’s not how it fucking works, you do something for someone because you want to, not to blackmail them in a few weeks back. Moral of the story, get ur own chips x

No but really, the fear of being called ‘selfish’ shouldn’t obligate us to give ourselves, our money and most importantly our FOOD to other people and society all the time. Being selfish can also mean you’re smart, independent and persistent.

I’m going to confuse you all now by saying that for me ‘selfishness’ is one of the most unattractive qualities in someone, along with liars. I can’t stand it.  However, what I've learnt in selfless 19 (ish) years of my life, I’ve learnt that you can’t please everyone….and why try?

When I was younger I used to get constantly walked all over by people because I hadn’t learnt the word ‘no’ and when it is ok to be selfish. Most cases of selfishness are probably because someone is being a dick but……. pursuing and preserving what makes you happy, may be selfish, but it’s also smart.

Instead of viewing selfishness as rude and taking from others, think about it as preserving your own well-being. If you’re in an equal environment and what comes around goes around, then SHARE. But if this taking start becoming a little one sided, put ya reebok to the floor and tell em no!

You are not bound down by societies rules to do everything one asks of you?

My friends will know that whenever we are persuading someone to do something, I always whack out the classic ‘you might die today, then you’ll regret not coming out’ etc.  (dark but often works x). Thinking about death reminds me constantly how lucky I am and how I should focus my energy on living my life to the fullest.

BE SELFISH, because you only get one life. There’s no resits, no coming back, no chance to start Game of Thrones because someone always wanted to watch something else.  As long as you’re not being an insufferable twat, do what you want and share it with others. Create your own path, don’t follow someone else’s because its ‘selfish’ to do or say what you really want. By all means share your ideas with others but sometimes you can only get these ideas from being selfish in the first place.

This idea that selfishness means you have no regard for others is not always true. When it comes to selfishness, there’s a whole fuckin scale between good and bad. This can mean taking care of your own needs first, before taking plenty of time to help others. 

Lets talk about 'selflessness' ....this term in the dictionary means 'having no concern for self'.... Hmm that sounds very healthy and sustainable ??
Everyone needs a lil selfish recharge if they want to try and be a selfless person in the long term, so don't feel guilty for it.

Finally, a public service announcement; taking care of yourself and your well-being doesn’t affect or impact anyone else in the world but you. Take care of yourself and do things for you, instead of running around after others and giving away yourself because you think that’s what society expects of you.

Be selfish, you might die tomorrow.