Compounding Effect of Selfishness

Five-year-old Katie asked for a coin for her to throw into a fountain at a local shopping centre. She was given one, and duly walked over to the fountain, stopped for a few seconds, and threw it into the water, and came back to us, smiling.

"What did you wish for, Katie?" I asked, expecting some mention of Barbie in the answer.

"I wished that my brother could stay at home with us all of the time, and not have to go into hospital any more." She replied.

I looked over at my wife, and saw that she had a tear in her eye.

On reflection, it made me realise how unselfish children can be in certain situations. They do not torture themselves with bias or perceptions of how their actions might impact upon others. They generally do what they want to do, and say what they want to say, until they get told to conform by parents or teachers. Children do need to be informed of boundaries that shouldn't be crossed, or words that shouldn't be said. They should, however, be allowed to fully develop their natural imagination and caring instincts in a positive, supportive framework.

By the same token, it made me realise how selfish us grown-ups have become. It seems that, for a lot of people, every act is performed only because of an expectation of something in return. You don't think so? Let's look at some examples: