Sunday Reflection: Who and What do we Align Ourselves With?

It's Sunday, and here in the US of A it's also Mother's Day, so Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers of the world, and thank you for doing so much for so many in what is often a thankless job!

This morning — as Mrs. Denmarkguy (who's a mother of three, two of whom are visiting us for the weekend) got ready to leave for work (she's an admin at our local Unity Spiritual Center, so that means working on Sundays) I got to thinking about allegiances and how we decide whom and what we align ourselves with, in life — and here on Steemit.

Moral of the story: It is Mother's Day, the kids are here, but her allegiance was to Doing The Right Thing, rather than to having fun and/or serving herself. Where is our moral compass?

Meanwhile....

An Initiative Worth Checking Out

My thoughts about allegiances were also fueled by a contest/challenge Asher ( @abh12345 ) created, from which the winning posts launched today, focusing on a positive introduction to Steemit, also establishing the #welcometosteemit tag.

The point of the contest was not only to highlight posts celebrating the positives of Steemit, but to launch positive high quality content organically towards our "Trending" feed which — as many of you know — is of dubious quality, much of the time.

There is no "they" that will magically fix anything we perceive as problematic on Steemit; WE are the "they," and if we want anything to change, we have to step up and not wait for "someone else" to handle it.

In any case, I recommend you check out Asher and his initiatives; he also runs one of Steemit's new next generation "community centered" witnesses @steemcommunity, in partnership with Steemit's data analysis genius @paulag. If you have an unused witness vote lying around, why not give them a vote? They have the long-term wellness of Steemit in their intentions.

Moral of the Story: What do you support? That which purely lines your pockets with gold, or that which is of benefit to all, and ultimately ends up benefiting you?

Selfish Altruism?

Considering these thoughts then reminded me of a post by @lukestokes from some months back entitled "Psychological Egoism: Selfishly Improving the World Around You" which is well worth a read. 

Short version — and how this relates to allegiances — people often overlook the possibility that we can "serve our self-interest" through service to others, the the community, and to the world. 

If you apply it to something like Steemit, think of it as putting your energy into serving community projects that don't necessarily earn you a reward right now, but will help the community — as a whole — thrive and grow, as a result of which the price of Steem is likely to go up, as a result of which you have ultimately "served yourself" by taking an action that made your stake more valuable, in the long run. 

Moral of the Story: We can absolutely be "self-serving," but we can choose to be so in ways that involve more of the world than "just ourselves." Usually the blind spot people encounter is that they tend to think in the short term. They are looking at next week's fun and games, not whether there will even still BE a chance for fun and games, five years from now.

Allegiances... and Friends

One of the delicate areas we sometimes end up stepping into is that of allegiances and friendships. 

We may be friends with someone — and that friendship may even have formed across common ground — and then discover that we don't share "visions" with that friend. 

Where do we place our allegiance?

Some would argue that "friends and blood come first" but is it really the best and most compassionate thing to support someone "no matter what," even after we might discover that what we are really supporting is that friend's path to self-destruction?

I believe it was Pema Chödrön who once said that sometimes the most compassionate thing we can do is allow someone to fail/crash and burn because if we DON'T they will never experience the wake-up call of failure that will cause them to change course.

I'm paraphrasing, of course, but hopefully you get the drift.

Moral of the story: Are we able to allow people to be themselves and still stand for what we believe in? Do we align ourselves with what is right, or do we just blindly follow the crowd... even if that leaves us standing alone?

Examining my Own "Investment"

Having this little meander, I am back at pondering who and what I align myself with. 

I have typically been a "long term builder" in my life. I am generally cautious about getting involved in projects because once I commit to them, I tend to become part of the backbone of an organization. 

I look at my "place" in this Steemit community, and I am — as I write these words — 640 original posts, 10,700+ comments and sonn 50,000 upvotes "into" my experience here. But the numbers are not my point... my point is that I see that as "just beginning." 

I align myself with the idea that I support the people and initiatives who want there to be a thriving community here in 2020, in 2025, in 2030. It's a long term investment.

I align myself with a sense of "continuity."

In some ways, you could say that I have aligned myself with much loathed Facebook since 2006 because it is there, and it is not going anywhere.

I have committed over a million words to posting, and I am committed to the long term growth and thrival of Steemit because I hate the idea of thousands of hours and so many words becoming just another puff of smoke on the Internet. 

There's a certain irony in that because I really like change, but I don't like the loss or migration of something I have given lots of blood, sweat and tears to.

I am NOT the kind of person who just flits from one opportunity to the next, changing directions as often as the wind. That doesn't work for me. 

That's why I also align myself with witnesses, community initiatives and fellow community members who see Steemit as a long term "investment of self" in a social content site. You can't build a "Personal Brand" of any value if you change what you do and say all the time.

Now I am going to head off and celebrate the remainder of this Mother's Day with my family!

How About YOU? Do you consciously think about what and who you align yourself with? Are you generally short term and impulsive, or long term and deliberate, when it comes to your approach to life? Do you believe you can "help yourself" by being of service to others, or a community? Or should we all stop worrying, and just admit we're directly self-serving? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

created by @zord189

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180513 17:08 PDT