After a long day at school, you come home with a tinge of hunger pains. Decidedly you go to the snack cabinet to see that there is only one package of pop tarts left. Immediately you grab it without thinking about the fact that you have already have had two of the four that come in the box or that someone else in the house didn’t get to have one. You eat the delicious, cookies and cream pop tart without any guilty feelings then you go into your room to play video games or surf the internet while your parents or older siblings clean and do chores around the house. You didn’t stop to think that maybe you should help out because most of it was your mess anyway. You don’t care that someone else is picking up after you, as long as you get to play your video games and not clean, you are content. You don’t think about anyone except yourself.

Today, most people in our society only think and worry about themselves, not stopping to think of other people that may need that dollar bill a little more. It’s easier to turn a head and walk the other way and not give it another thought. People want what they want and once they get it, their selfish tendencies keep them from helping other people in need.

It’s not a bad thing to go after what you want or to give into a little splendor. Everyone deserves to have their dreams come true and to find what they are looking for out of life. The people that get there or are trying to get there have two choices; make it by yourself or have family and friends come along for the ride. When you go out of your way to make it so you have it all to yourself and not share with other people around you, especially those you love, you become someone who is egotistical.

Everyone has points when they are selfish and selfless. People are not spilt between good or evil, there is a little of both in everyone. When you see on the news that another person was killed in a drinking and driving accident, the people that were driving drunk are the selfish ones. They didn’t care that while they drank and drove that someone else could have been in their path of self-destruction.


Why do people do selfish things when they know the outcome will only benefit themselves and hurt others? People give in to being selfish because they are afraid. They are afraid that if they give their time, money or effort that the results will harm them. Everyone has goals and the fear of not meeting them keeps them from giving what they have to other people. Take Mr. Krabs from the kid cartoon Spongebob Squarepants for an example. His goal is to make as much money as possible. Mr. Krabs does everything he can to make or not lose money; he steals it from kids, pays his employees less than they deserve, he uses cheap tactics to get people to buy his food product, he even refuses to buy presents and decorations for his daughter’s birthday and instead uses old and worn things that he has lying around.
Mr. Krabs is a fictional character but his selfishness is a reality that many people partake in. Humans as a species tend to put their priorities above everyone else’s. Being less selfish is simple. Instead of making an immediate decision that you are going to save your money for the purse that you have had your eyes on, take a moment and think about your best friend who has always wanted to go to a concert but didn’t have the money to. The better and more selfless thing to do would be to buy her concert tickets for her birthday. It will make her extremely happy and in the end, both of you have a wonderful memory to remember forever as opposed to the purse that you were only going to keep for six months.
When deciding whether keeping things to yourself or sharing, remember the saying, “Treat others the way you would want to be treated.” In other words, if you would like help from someone, don’t turn a blind eye when they need the favor returned.