The “me” syndrome

The average human beings’ instinct is self preservation, that is a person is primarily concerned with his or her survival before that of others. We naturally look out for number one. Love, a sense of honour or duty usually motivates us to tamp down that instinct and put others before ourselves, hence you find a mother laying down her life for her child, soldiers willing dying for their country and so on.

Looking at the information we are being fed in the media, we are being encouraged to follow our natural instinct and always look out for number one. Everyone is focused on doing what is best for themselves or at most their families. Nowadays it has become the norm to focus on “me” and “my”. Everybody is concerned about myself, my husband, my wife, my education, my car, my kids, my family, my progress, my ,my , my and my. It’s all about me. People no longer care for one another, plain and simple. Oh, we pretend to care but the truth is that we really don’t. Every day we come in contact with someone who needs our help, a smile, a hug, or a friend but we are too busy pursuing our “me” goals to notice. We ask people how they are doing but we really don’t want to know the answer, we ask only because it’s the polite thing to do not because we really care. You may say that there are many charities and NGOs around helping the less privileged in society , but I tell you many are involved to make a name for themselves, to avoid tax payments and other selfish reasons. Hardly do you find people doing good or showing kindness who can never return the deed. No doubt there are those who truly care about others and see beyond themselves but majority of us are plagued with the “me” syndrome.

If you ask people what they felt their purpose in this life is , it would boil down to making themselves happy at any cost. Most when they pray, spend that time asking for everything under the sun for themselves, its God destroy my enemies, give me a new car, I need a husband, LI need a job, and so on. How many people can say they have ever asked God in their prayers, God ,what do you need? , do you want me to do something for you? So you even the church, the people who should be the most unconcerned about themselves are plagued by the “me” syndrome. Basically my point here is that most people see no purpose beyond themselves, their world is only made of them and what affects them, nothing else. I think that is a sad way to live. If we are all only concerned only about ourselves then we will never progress. The “me” syndrome has put Nigeria in the mess that she is in today and it is what is keeping us from moving forward

In order to effectively take your place, we must look beyond ourselves. Taking your place, daring to be different and achieving excellence requires sacrifice and frankly a me person is incapable of sacrificing. You do not exist for your own sake alone but for the also for the sake of others. The bible tells us that one of the greatest and most important commandments is to love your neighbour as yourself. You are important and you matter but others matter just as much as you do. If we lead a life that focused on promoting the good of everyone not just ourselves, if we showed true love, care and compassion towards others then our nation would progress. Those in power would not steal because it would not be in the best interest of their fellow countrymen. Those who pedal fake drugs would not do so, because they know they are harming someone else in order to get rich and so on.

A life that is focused on me is a sad and miserable one. Live a life that can be seen as a legacy because it made an impact. No one was created to be a nobody, we were all made to be somebody, to make an impact. As a father, as a mother, as a doctor, as a senator, as a teacher ; In whatever you do, take your place effectively by looking beyond yourself, going beyond yourself and making an impact and leaving behind a legacy. THE TRUTH IS THAT IT IS NOT ALL ABOUT ME, NOR IS IT ALL ABOUT YOU. IT’S ALL ABOUT US. Let’s get rid of the ‘me’ syndrome

signed

Nessa D