I have seen this picture circulating on social media a lot lately and it made me sad. It makes me sad because it is such an accurate depiction of our society and it's so backwards of how it should be. We have all been conditioned to believe that we have to put ourselves first because no one else ever will. I'm talking about all our interpersonal relationships; parents, kids, spouses, etc. Our life experiences have taught us that if we put someone else first, they will just use us, lie to us, cheat on us, or steal from us. Our pride convinces us we have to be SMART and look out for ourselves above everyone else because we've all be broken by someone and we can't let that happen again.We can't trust anyone completely.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating being stupid. If someone has shown you over and over again that they cannot be trusted then believe them. But the problem comes in when ONE someone has broken your trust and you find it hard to trust EVERYONE. I've been there, I understand the issues involved. Putting someone else first is the ultimate vulnerability and sacrifice. Putting them first means you love them more than you love yourself. The problem is, no one does it anymore. It's become all about YOU because someone somewhere along the way betrayed you and you're not ever going to let anyone do that again. Sometimes it seems like a horrible balancing act because once you've been burned, you will see flames everywhere, even when there are none. Do you attempt to put out the fire before it starts or do you wait and see?
The only way to fix the backwards cycle is to have a little faith in humanity. Put other people ahead of you and maybe instead of teaching them you're second, it will teach them to put other's ahead of them. If you both put each other first, your relationship will be enjoyable instead of strained.
Life isn't perfect, you will get burned sometimes.
I've tried it both ways. I don't like who I am when I put me first AND It also really sucks when I put someone else first and I get betrayed. I have a choice to make; I have to decide if I would rather protect myself and try to keep from getting hurt or try to make someone else's life better because I was in it.
If I spend my life putting me first, then no one will notice when I'm gone.
