The Road to Self-Actualization

When I read Loeb's quote "Our most fundamental responsibility as citizens, is to love not only our own children, but other people's as well--including children we will never meet, who grow up in situations we'd prefer to ignore.", I had to physically take a step back and evaluate my own reaction to this quote before taking a look at other peoples' recations.

I think my very first reaction would compare to Jordan's (a few blogs below me) parents responses. "You have to help yourself before you can help others". This is a very true statement, however, how typical is it that I would think about myself first? I guess its an internal conflict for me. One part of me agrees entirely that helping others is my duty in life, while another part of me really wants to take care of me before devoting myself to others. So I guess I am a bit torn in between the two.

To my surprise, I am not the only one who is torn. A lot of people that I shared this quote with felt the same way, however, many believed that helping others is a way to help yourself because you grow from the experiences and eventually begin to "find" yourself in the process of giving to others.

I never considered this concept and realize that it might be the answer to all of my petty problems. (Petty, of course, compared to the problems that other people in the world face.) Through helping others in their time of need, I get to learn what issues really matter in life, and what issues are less important. In our society today, it's pretty easy to get the important and unimportant issues mixed up.

I'm grateful for this quote and exercise because it cleared up some confusion that I had about my future and it, in some ways, assured me that I am on the right path towards self-actualization.