The good egoism

The word egoism certainly sounds negative. It means selfishness and self-absorption and is a direct contradiction to solidarity and compassion for others.

I often use the word in conjunction with descriptions of the hatred and violence trends that are creeping in everywhere in the social debate. People who shut down their empathic capacity and build a wall of selfishness against the world, the society and their fellowman, who designate scapegoats, generalize and who only have their own best interests in mind.

But there is also good and useful selfishness. My own life situation has taught me that. This means that in a difficult situation, such as in my case a multi-diagnosis dominated by chronic pain, one must sometimes be a bit of a narcissist and just care about oneself.

To be able to reduce the demands at work, at home and in social life. Being able to say "no" and "I can't" without being ashamed. To prioritize rest and one's own time instead of a high-quality work result, a shiny well-ordered home and socially eager friends, and to do all this without an ounce of bad conscience. To focus entirely on oneself and on ones physical and mental well-being from time to time.

This may be regarded as a form of selfishness, but it is a necessity if one is to cope with being compassionate, understanding and for any benefit whatsoever.

I try to practice good egoism as much as I can to simply cope with life as it is right now. So whoever wants to call me a selfish egoist may gladly do so, because this self-absorbed narcissist, very respectfully, doesn't give a rats ass....

🐀

xoxo