This is a topic vastly approached by our today’s society and whilst all of what it is saying is true, there is a slight different approach to that and I must say, it’s less selfish.
Ok, we all know the phrases “we only have one life” and “we should put ourselves first so we can help others” and all of that, but what if there is something more than this? What if it is our duty to treat ourselves like we matter because the alternative is worse?
In the below video you’ll see Jordan B. Peterson’s take about this matter, and I must admit that the idea number four hit me hard. What if we must treat us like we matter because otherwise we’ll create more suffering around us? What if instead of taking the selfish approach (with which there is nothing wrong, but it’s harder for some of us to act upon it), we do it because we care about the ones around us? What if it’s our moral duty to make the world a better place and the smallest step starts with this idea of treating ourselves like we matter? This might be similar to body hygiene. If you don’t want to shower for yourself because you’re too lazy, you need to shower so you don’t intoxicate the people around you.
My conclusion is that even though we sometimes don’t feel like treating ourselves like we matter, we need to do it because the alternative makes the world a worse place to live. That’s not why we’re here. That’s not why we were born. We were born to contribute in a positive way, not in a negative one by the lack of positive action. As Dwight D. Eisenhower said:
“Unless we progress, we regress.”
How helpful do you think is this approach?