"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." - Art of War, Sun Tzu
As humans, we are all selfish. It's part of our nature. In fact we all need a little selfishness to drive change, growth, and improvement. Nobody does anything for anyone without considering his or her potential gain. To deny that is to deny being human. Unless we've gone so far to say we've become like God. Needless to say, a little selfishness is not all bad.
I recently embarked on the journey of setting up shop again while most have closed down. Economically speaking, it might not be the wisest move. On the other hand I could also say I opened a shop to serve people food, expand our distribution, which is not a lie. However, if I'm really being honest, a lot of it is mostly driven by my little selfishness of wanting a space.
It doesn’t hurt to practice asking ourselves what’s the selfish reason why i really want something. I believe that doing so doesn’t only make the effort sustainable, but more than anything, it makes the desire and the actions taken even more real. In most cases, isn’t that what’s lacking in our world today - being real? And part of being real is we are selfish human beings, however, to be overtaken by it is another thing.
P.S. It's been a while since the last newsletter. For all of you who encouraged me to write more here's a treat for you: 20% off on Loose Leaf Tea and Sticky Masala Chai. Use discount code: slowdown2021 (expires Feb 28 2021)