Wednesday, September 26, 2001

Give selflessness a ‘little’ try
Fighting pessimism must occur on a daily basis
By Emily Ward
Skiff Staff

Imagine that you are late for a class. Rain is pouring down, your homework was due five minutes ago, you woke up too late to eat breakfast and that test you took last week will probably be coming back today with nothing but a big, red F. All in all, it is not a good day.

Now imagine the only other person around is a little ways behind you, rushing to class and cursing the hourly TCU chimes that serve only to remind the two of you that class has already begun.

“At least I am not the only late one,” you say to yourself, trying to avoid the ocean-like puddles that always form in various places on the sidewalk. But before you can finish that thought, you hear the person behind you drop her books in the mud. You think to yourself: She has no idea that I heard her drop those books. What do I do now?

It’s the kind of question we face almost daily — the kind of question that puts into perspective selfishness and selflessness — the kind of question that makes you wonder what you are like when nobody is watching.

I used to have that childlike vision of the world where I thought almost everybody’s actions had good intentions. It’s amazing how pure the world looks through the eyes of a die-hard optimist. But as sure as time will stop for no man, childlike points of view shall fade, chip and eventually fall apart.

For some time now, it has been unquestionably clear to me that many people in this world are only looking out for number one. If you take a look around, selfish people are eating lunch near you, driving to work next to you, shopping in the mall with you and sometimes sitting in the same church pew as you.

In fact, are we not all guilty of being selfish at one time or another? Is it not our love for placing blame that drives most of us to think, “it’s not me that is the self-centered one?”

No, nobody is perfect, and if anybody thinks he is, that person is sorely mistaken. But we cannot let our ability to point fingers at each other or our apathy toward making this world a better place keep us from making changes within ourselves. We cannot continue to be the people who say, “she doesn’t know I heard her drop those books, so I will just keep walking to class.”

I am not trying to say that being an optimist is a bad thing. Fighting pessimism is something I try to do on a daily basis.

What I am saying is we cannot keep our eyes closed to the badness in other people and the badness in ourselves. Without facing your enemy, how can you ever hope to defeat him?

My advice to fighting the battle of selfishness is to spot it, admit to it, and try like hell to get rid of it. The golden rule did not get its name from some random selection — it truly is something by which we should all live by.

Don’t be the person who only helps others out when skies are blue, class is 10 minutes from beginning and temperaments are benevolent. Nobody ever said being a good person was easy, but then again, the more you do something, the easier it gets.

Don’t be afraid to try a little.

Emily E. Ward is a senior mathematics and news/editorial major from Springtown.
She can be contacted at (e.e.ward@student.tcu.edu).