Selflessness
Sometimes in life… we just don’t feel like we have the energy to be selfless. I guess that when we’re tired and worn out from a hard day or an especially busy day people tend to feel like they’ve earned a period of time to be less than selfless… or selfish.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the way life works much of the time. People aren’t always perceptive enough to realize that we’ve had that hard day or maybe they see that you’ve been through a lot, but they still have expectations of you.
Realizing this makes me feel like I am beginning to mature some more. I’ve got to see that I need to strive against fatigue, selfishness, and poor communications. I need to strive to be selfless as much as possible, and then I need to push myself to be a little more selfless than even I think I can be. That is how I will grow.
If I ever have children, I will not do well to be selfish. Infant bodies function all over everything, but my pride must not hinder me from loving them. Toddlers scream, run and challenge their parents; their curiosity unhinges a household, a neighborhood, and anything else in the path. I need to be strong for this stage too. I need to be fair, loving, and persistent. Every step of a child’s life requires patience and selflessness from the parent.
My life is the life of a parent, and I have only now realized this. I must deal with the lowest of human qualities along with the greatest… love. Everyone around me is like my child to me, because I must be strong for them, because it is expected and desired. I need to keep my mistakes to a minimum and be strong enough to admit them and apologize each time I fall short. I am like a parent also because a parent is gratified by the little things that a child at any stage does… I too am easily pleased with simple smiles, small gifts, impromptu hugs, and life’s simple tokens of familiarity and love. I am like a parent because I must love, endure, selflessly give of myself, defeat fatigue and strive to meet impossible expectations. I am like a parent because your smiles, laughter, excitement, small victories, shared moments, strange gifts, and impromptu hugs lift me up and last for ages. I am like a parent for these reasons and no more.
Posted by David under Uncategorized |