I'm sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody. -J.D. Salinger
There are some that are just thrown into this world with spirit. In second grade, when the teacher asks them what they want to be when they grow up, they already know. Of course, the ideas change practically every day, but they always seem to be going somewhere, doing something. I wonder where it comes from, and what it actually means. Do those kids who are President of every freakin club under the sun actually care? Or do they just want to be known? Do they want to be able to look back in 10 years and say that were that person? And it means that those kids feel purposeless if they aren't recognized. They simply don't have the courage to be a nobody.
It takes a heck of a lot of courage to be an absolute nobody, to work behind the scenes, or on something that isn't universally known to be brilliant.
Everybody likes to do good work. Though the motivation behind each person's help is different. For the courageous absolute nobody, they help, learn, and love without much public recognition. But it seems that love themselves enough to know what they are doing, or not doing, is important, without a reporter telling them so.
Which goes back to why do we help? Do I help because the other person needs it, or because I want to feel like some sort of hero at that time? For most of us, me included, whether or not i help someone depends way to much on my mood. Which goes back to the fact that I'm only helping for myself, not for the other person. I don't know...I don't know if the whole idea of community service in itself is selfish. If, we really only help other for the satisfaction that it brings us. And that sounds bad, wrong even, but that can be seen in a positive light. If knowing that we will get satisfaction moves us to donate our time, then so be it really.
*Just a little before I get started note* I first heard this quote during one of John Green's Question Tuesdays on his YouTube channel VlogBrothers. I'd never heard anything like it, and it had a set of ideas behind it that were completely new to me. So this is what I thought.
There are some that are just thrown into this world with spirit. In second grade, when the teacher asks them what they want to be when they grow up, they already know. Of course, the ideas change practically every day, but they always seem to be going somewhere, doing something. I wonder where it comes from, and what it actually means. Do those kids who are President of every freakin club under the sun actually care? Or do they just want to be known? Do they want to be able to look back in 10 years and say that were that person? And it means that those kids feel purposeless if they aren't recognized. They simply don't have the courage to be a nobody.
It takes a heck of a lot of courage to be an absolute nobody, to work behind the scenes, or on something that isn't universally known to be brilliant.
Everybody likes to do good work. Though the motivation behind each person's help is different. For the courageous absolute nobody, they help, learn, and love without much public recognition. But it seems that love themselves enough to know what they are doing, or not doing, is important, without a reporter telling them so.
Which goes back to why do we help? Do I help because the other person needs it, or because I want to feel like some sort of hero at that time? For most of us, me included, whether or not i help someone depends way to much on my mood. Which goes back to the fact that I'm only helping for myself, not for the other person. I don't know...I don't know if the whole idea of community service in itself is selfish. If, we really only help other for the satisfaction that it brings us. And that sounds bad, wrong even, but that can be seen in a positive light. If knowing that we will get satisfaction moves us to donate our time, then so be it really.
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