sixteen: counterculture.

it gets frustrating.

when no one offers to help. when everybody's just watching. when people are happy being on the sidelines, watching you struggle. and worse yet, when they themselves are struggling and cannot even afford to help because if they do, they drown. 

it gets truly frustrating.

so frustrating that you begin to wonder about humanity, about friends, about selfish people. do you still remember how your parents or teachers told you to never be a selfish person? we were always taught that selfish people were never the likable ones. selfish people are often villains in our storybooks and cartoons. the sort of people who only wanted everything for themselves and not others. they only thought for their own good.

what i was not taught back then, was to be selfless.

my parents never taught me to be selfless. they only told me to be not selfish. that means i just needed to not be selfish, and help people when i needed to or was obliged to. that means i just didn't have to be the bad guy. but i was not taught to be the good guy either. i was left in the middle. i was left to be neutral--to mind my own business and be nice to people only when i am socially required to do so.

because the adults knew about selflessness.

they knew about how it was so incredibly tiring and completely worthless of their time at the end of the day. they knew about how no one would do the same--how no one else was willing to be selfless for another person or group of people. so the only selfless one would be left completely exhausted and infinitely under-appreciated. they knew how it felt to be under-appreciated. it wasn't the best feeling in the world. and they didn't want their children to end up as they did. they didn't want the pain to come, the hurt to grow in us.

what they did not know, or knew little about, was that being selfless can be infectious. it's like a smile. when you smile at someone, be it a friend or a complete stranger, they would smile back. it's infectious. happiness. likewise, attitudes can be infectious as well, especially selflessness. it takes a while. you invest your time with it. but trust me, it's so worth it when you see people start being selfless and think more about others. it's simple logic, really. think about it: if we all started thinking more for one another and not just ourselves, would we not be more caring, more kind, more loving people? when more and more people choose to be selfless, would this world not be a better place because we realize the truth and importance in helping others?

it's hard, i know. to be lending a hand to someone when you're about to fall off the edge. but imagine this: if a number of us were standing on the edge and we all held hands, would we not stay alive together? and better yet: if the people far away from the edge helps us back up, we would all be living.

call me naive, call me stupid. 

i believe in a simple truth, and that is in being selfless.

it counts. 

it makes a difference.

would you come and counter the cultural norms with me?

i challenge you:

to help someone, even when you think it's not worth your time. 

to help someone, especially when you think it's not worth your effort. 

impact that person's life today.