The Idea Of Being Selfless

Do you know the idea of being selfless? Perhaps you've seen Spider-Man, Superman, with the exception of Ironman and The Hulk perhaps... Those super heroes who selflessly act to save others, putting the interest of others before themselves.

No one would really want to live the life of a superhero of course where almost everytime they find a perfect time for a vacation, a super villain strikes. Fortunately, life is more blessed than that, and we can be selfless without having to put on a mask.

I was reading an interview with Captain America actor Chris Evans on a magazine on my flight back to Manila from Boracay. In the interview, he was asked if he had any heroic figure (I'm paraphrasing here)... He described his dad as someone very selfless, putting the interest of others first before his.

I could describe my father as in the same way selfless as Chris Evans'. I remember whenever I'm hungry during midnights, he would wake up from his sleep, go out and buy some food to calm my outraging stomach. Whenever there's a nice dessert given to him and I find it on the fridge, he would voluntarily give it to me even if I just asked "does anyone own this?".


Because I had a good fatherly figure in my mind, the thoughts of being a good father someday also became embedded in me. And now I am a father and I'm of course not perfect, but I strive to improve everyday on this duty.

Like I said above, we don't need superhero qualities in order to be selfless. We can do so even at home by volunteering to do some work for others. We can be selfless at work, on the streets, on the road, even in cyberspace.

I want to raise up my child so that he would become a selfless person when he grows up. I think there are already too many bright people in our country, but few are honest, devoted to their work and the people they serve. If they can't be honest to themselves, how can they honestly serve others?

A selfless person must be able to deny himself, meek, without being prone to abuse of course. Being selfless doesn't mean that you don't have to think of your own interest, it's just you don't think of it much. In fact if you're not selfless, there's only one thing to call yourself which is the total opposite. Selfish.

I know of another selfless person by the way. I draw inspiration from Him, He is my councilor and my endless source of motivation. The bible describes his act of selflessness in this one verse.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." ~ John 3:16, NIV

By the way, the reason I've used Captain America as part of the inspiration for this post is because my son loves him so much. I never really liked the character until I've known his character. :)

Do you know of any selfless person around you? I'd like to hear your story!