You're so Selfish!

Something occurred to me the other day that came as quite of a surprise. Whether or not you agree with it really isn't important, as I'm not even sure about how I feel at this point. It just dawned on me and made some sense. With the exception of a few very noble people (think Jesus, the Buddha, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, etc) every single person in the world is selfish.

Now it's obvious that the degrees of selfishness can vary greatly. On the worst end of the spectrum, there are people who are solely looking out for themselves. They do not care who is in their path. Their best interest is the most important thing to them. On the most subtle side, though, it seems as though we are still guilty of being selfish. When it all boils down to it, I would argue that people are still looking out for their best interest.

For example, whereas the aforementioned selfish person may hang out with X because they have a big boat, perhaps another person hangs out with X because they make them feel better about themselves. Think about the people around you. Most people's circle of friends are people who they feel comfortable around. We as humans are attracted to people who lift us up as opposed to bring us down.

To be truly great, we need to look beyond what other people can do for us, no matter how subtle that may be. Whether it's because of the boat or just because that person makes us feel better about ourselves. When we can get past the ego and the selfishness, that is when we can move into higher realms of consciousness.

Much easier said than done, I know. Any thoughts?