Take care of yourself before helping others
Why its a GOOD thing to be selfish
One of my favorite buddhist principles is the need to take care of yourself before you help others.
In Buddhism, when you practice “metta” meditation, you always begin with yourself. You say “May I be happy. May I be free from Anger, hatred, animosity, resentment, and ill will. May I experience real peace, real happiness, real love.”
After you have done this, THEN you can move on to saying the same for friends, family, and eventually strangers and all living creatures.
It seems inherently selfish to begin with yourself — but this is an important principle in life.
If I am not in a good mindset personally, I am not in a good place to help other people. If I am full of anxiety, tension, and stress, I shouldn’t be trying to help others.
Before I can help other people. I need to take care of my own inner demons. I need to make sure that I am in a good mental state. Only THEN, once I am in a good place, should I try to help others.
This is why in Metta we begin with ourselves. Put yourself in a loving mindset first, and then deal with other people.
