Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Selflessness
While I was not able to attend the presentation at BYU, I have have been thinking about Greg Mortenson, the Pennies for Peace program and altruism in general. Some people, like Mortenson, can dedicate there lives to helping others or trying to make a better world. What makes these people different? Is there something different about thier personalities, upbringing, cercumstance, or are most people able to rise to similar (in intent, if not scale) levels of selflessness if given enough motivation, or seeing a great enough plite first hand?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Mathew asks "what makes these people different?" My answer is this: these people are not different, they have just realized what they want in life and fight for it. Not all of us become selfless because not everyone wants to. A selfless man odds are, is pursuing his happiness through his selflessness. A man happy with his life working as a guard at the mall is changing the lives a thousands too. In my opinion, its not the act of what you do, its the effect the act has on you that counts. Mortenson might be someone to admire, but he is no different than the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteHowever....
My personal opinion, people like Mortenson (as cheesy as it may sound) risk takers. A man that failed in his biggest goal in life (climbing K2 for as both a challenge as a need for his sister) and yet raises the bar with a new challenge to end up succeeding. I believe that people like Mortenson succeed not because of their intelligence or ability, it is all about endurance. How many times they can keep going, no matter how many times they fall.