What is the difference between self-love and selfishness?
What is the difference between self-love and selfishness? There is a very thin line between self-love and selfishness. According to me, where self-love ends. Selfishness has started.
To explain my words, I give you the example of the COVID period or its protocols. The theme of the covid prevention system was two-feet distance and wearing a mask is essential.
The government gives a proper guideline that, if any family member is detected with covid in the house. Separating the member habitats and Isolating them from other family members.
And keep them in an isolated room. The advice is given by the government to protect another member of the family from that deadly virus.
It doesn’t mean that you threw them out of the house. Social distance does not mean emotional distance. But during the first phase of covid. We have seen many heartbreaking incidents in India.
So government protocol for the prevention of covid changed into selfishness. To save their lives, people got selfish. But the prevention protocol is made by the government for self-love.
This means it you save yourself then you save others. If you show symptoms of covid-19, you give information to the government. And keep yourself isolated. To break the chain of spreading.
For example, When a family returned to their home from Mumbai, their family members refused to let them enter. Even her in-laws refused her entry. Because they are in shock, the male member of the family returned from Mumbai do suicide. So is the selfish nature of his family and his in-law.
The precaution prescribed by the government is for self-love. The doctor was advised that. Before taking care of a patient. They will take care of him and his family. Properly follow the instructions as per the covid protocol.
Even the police officers do not go home. To keep his family safe. So the covid prevention protocol for them or patients is self-love. If they protect themselves.
Then they protect others. So before explaining what is the difference between self-love and selfishness? I think first we know about self-love and selfishness.
What is self-love?
The simple meaning of self-love is to love yourself. Love yourself does not mean selfishness. Love is the basic behaviour. Which comes into this world with us. An example of this is the affection of a child for his mother.
You sometimes observe a small baby of one or two months. When his mother talks to him or when she puts him in her lap. The excitement of the baby was on the next level. Love is also the basis of reproduction. You and I are the product of love.
So love is a very powerful thing. Love does not make you selfish. The connection is away from selfishness. Like the connection between the mother and her child. And the basis of trust is love. Which is antidote of selfishness.
So self-love helps you to know yourself. It gives you the ability to self-reliance. Instead of making yourself selfish. It fills you with compassion and empathy. To understand the feelings of others and try to eliminate their problems.
Self-love helps to build trust in yourself. Because if you have no trust in yourself. Then how do you think that you can trust others? So if you trust yourself, your trust capacity will increase slowly.
Self-love keeps you away from various types of mental disorders. Like, such as depression, anxiety, sadness etc. It keeps you mentally tough. Which is the source of success. And help to fight any type of situation.
Self-love helps you to take initiative in any type of field. Like in your office. You are always one step ahead of your colleague to take any responsibility. If you are wrong you accept it. If you are not, you never accept it. You welcome all types of opportunities in your life.
Self-love helps you to pay gratitude to God and yourself. It makes you soft, which helps you to realize God in yourself. And when you realise it. A feeling of calmness and silence is coming into your life. Which makes your will strong.
What is selfishness?
Selfishness means thinking of the welfare of self before others. The other meaning of selfishness. Concern for one’s welfare or a privilege at the cost of others or in disregard for others: excessive interest in oneself.
We are all born with the desire to be alive and live a joyful and healthy life, and selfishness can be a wrong expression of that. A certain degree of selfishness is normal. We call it the high voltage of self-love.
For example, many people choose to make sure their own food needs are met before giving food to others. But selfishness can also be a pathological temperament quality.
Selfish people may prioritize their own petty needs above the important needs of others. For example, a man is exhibiting selfishness when he steals money from the shop, where he works to buy some things.
Apathy has been seen as one of the origins of selfishness, which expands to the psychopath’s cold manipulation.
The importance between self-affirmation and selfishness has evolved into a conflict zone.
In which the respective claims of individuals or communities are often played out. Between parents and children or between men and women.
What is the difference between self-love and selfishness?
1. Self-love is a welcome of God’s grace in your life. It is the realisation of god. It fills you with positivity.
Selfishness is kicking out God from your life. It makes your life without God’s grace. It fills you with negativity.
2. Self-love makes you soft. It fills you with compassion and empathy. It helps you to understand the feelings of others and try to solve their problems.
Selfishness makes you hard. it fills you with greed and apathy. Which protects you from not understanding the feelings of others.
3. Self-love makes you honest with yourself. This means the people who love themselves. They accept their faults like they accept their perfection.
Selfishness makes you dishonest with yourself. This means selfish people. Never accept their faults. And always blame others for their faults.
4. Self-love makes you an acceptor of changes. They take the changes in their life as new opportunities. Which makes them open.
Selfishness makes you a rejector of change. They are fearful about the changes. Because change pushes them out of their comfort zone. Which makes them close.
5. Self-love helps you to make yourself straightforward. In your attitude, there is no Treachery.
Selfishness makes your life full of twists like jalebi (Indian sweat). Your attitude is filled with treachery.
6. Self-love is unconditional. This means self-love and people’s empathy. Restricts them not to putting any type of condition in front of themselves. Or in front of others to fulfil any work.
Selfishness is conditional. This means that selfish people are so greedy. That they always put conditions before doing any work.
7. Self-love helps you to know yourself. It gives you the chance to introspect yourself. When you know your weakness and strength. You can easily execute your plan of life.
Selfishness restricts you to know yourself. Selfish people only know about his profit. He has no interest in knowing about himself. So when the condition is going against him. They get frustrated.
8. Self-love builds the capacity of trust in you. If you have self-love, you trust yourself and you trust others.
But selfishness kicks out trust and injects suspicion. If you have selfishness, you can not trust yourself and others.
9. Self-love increases the level of confidence and concentration in you. Because it makes your mind calm and strong. It helps you to inculcate perseverance in your attitude.
Selfishness decreases the level of confidence and concentration in you. Because it fills you with greed. So your mind is always busy making traps for others. You always feel restlessness from the inside.
So in the answer what is the difference between self-love and selfishness? The above 9 points make them different. Love to yourself is good, but love should not be blind.
Best of luck.
Related article:
How did visualization become your path to success?