The ‘I’ business.

The biggest misconception in my life, for a very large part of it, was that I considered egoism evil.  Somewhere deep down inside I was fully aware of being an egoist myself but the admission wasn’t easy considering the amount of weight this largely hypocritical society attaches to the label. The turning point in my perception I’d say was Ayn Rand’s very popular quote “To say 'I love you' one must first be able to say the 'I'”. It struck me so hard that I was forced to read some of her works which for the first time illuminated my vision towards ‘individualism’. I’ve met at least 100 people with 100 different interpretations of the term but I’d rather be talking about mine.

My journey began by a self evaluation procedure. I tried to figure out the beneficiaries of my everyday actions & the ones that I commit seldom. The answer was often more than a single individual but the common element in all these sets was the ‘I’. Then I went a step ahead & tried to judge those actions which are generally considered benevolent like giving alms, helping your parents & friends etc. Once again I could uncover the ulterior beneficiary & it was me again! These actions were either done with a sense of satisfaction attained by helping those who were in need or a belief that God would be pleased & would reward us in return. In either of the two cases, we kept our own interests in mind at all times. This I believe was the most startling of revelations & provided so much peace & solace to my conscience that my expectations from others lessened to a great degree. Also while performing such actions, I felt relieved of the baggage that one often carries by patronizing thyself of doing great deeds for humanity. Charity, they say, begins at home. I say a part of it always comes home.

Now, another perplexing question which often arises is how do we tell the difference between right & wrong. My opinion is that every action which benefits you as an individual & doesn’t harm any other creation of God is righteous. In this manner you satiate yourself & thus add to the total contentment of all mankind. This, I believe, is one of the best ways of helping humanity (aspiring beauty queens, please pay attention J)

In my last article, I’d written how God can be found in mere mortals. I’d extend it to say that the height of individualism is attained when God can be found within oneself. If our body & mind are strong enough to appreciate & follow the simple truth that our soul is a perennial source of all emotions that we’d ever need, we’ll never be at the mercy of another mortal. Kindly do not interpret the last sentence as an appeal towards being anti-social. It just wishes to draw your attention towards the latent power of self realization & contemplation.

Cheers to life J