Helping others can be your purpose

Your post makes me think of my grandmother. She would not have been the target audience of your post. But her life stood in almost complete opposition to your viewpoint.

Not that it’s wrong. And not that I don’t find myself more in alignment with your viewpoint than hers, but she was the epitome of selfless. She found great joy and fulfillment in having that perspective on life.

She helped others before ever considering herself. In a room full of people she always considered herself the least important. Not from a lack of skills, confidence, or self worth. But because she found meaning in serving others. That was what she was exceptional at.

I’m envious of her because for the 30 years I knew her, she was unwavering in that resolve. Never changing.

I’m biased because she was my grandmother, but to me she proved the exact opposite of your thinking. Unless you consider her main purpose to be exceptional at helping others.

As I said, she wouldn’t have been the audience for your post. She had no grand desires to work at a skillset like writing software. She had no ambition to impact millions. She didn’t consider that the “more important” work.

I get your main thought. That you can help others more by helping yourself first. And if my grandmother did that before I existed and she was who I knew because of that, I’m unaware of it.

That said, I cannot agree with the statement that helping others is a flaw. That it diverts you from something more important. That to do so would take away from doing something amazing, to inspire others, or create a legacy.

For someone to go through their whole life, one that included many hardships and many reasons to look inward, her passion to serve others is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. She inspired a lot of people with her unwavering love. And she left a legacy.