A plea for less selfishness in the new year

The year 2023 is here and the question is what it will bring us. How about, for example, if we heeded the words of John F. Kennedy? A plea for less selfishness in the new year.

In his first speech as American President, John F. Kennedy said to his countrymen: “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask yourself what you can do for your country.”. In the case of Kennedy, of course, this sentence was related to his policy towards the then USSR.

Egoism: Something is demanded for the “I”.

I, on the other hand, always think of this sentence in a different context. Because when I look around and read postings on social media, follow discussions and statements of all kinds, I often notice one thing: It’s always about the person expressing themselves.

This person has an opinion. She wants to be heard. The person demands something. Sometimes this is done under the guise of a community or group of people who are supposed to be speaking for. But in the end it’s all about the speaker. And this expresses itself: “I, I, I”.

It’s not really about others, it’s about the speaker wanting something. The person demands, demands, or at least one should approve of their arguments. And here I come back to Kennedy: Because the person demands that the country (the state, the people, or certain people) do something. Namely for the speaker(s).

What do we want to give for others?

But I have a completely different question: What do we want to give? Desire is one thing. But what are we willing to do for the community—or, in Kennedy’s words, the “country”? And I don’t mean which organization or cause we want to donate to.

I mean, whether it really always has to be about us, about our “I”, or whether we don’t rather have to think back to what makes us strong as individuals: the community with others, for which we renounce something what we are entitled to – supposedly or actually.

Selfishness: have we perfected individualism?

I sometimes have the feeling that we have now become such singular individuals that we no longer see that there is anything else besides ourselves. That without fellowship with other people we are basically nothing.

But with our individualistic impulses we do not strengthen this community, but rather weaken it. Conversely, however, this then weakens us again, because if everyone only pays attention to being, becoming or getting something themselves, then inevitably there is less and less left for everyone together.

My wish for the new year: Less selfishness, more community

And that’s why my wish for the new year is that we reflect back on what makes us strong: A community in which everyone fits in, not so that he or she gets something from the community or can “get something out of it”. “.

But a community in which everyone contributes as a person and thus strengthens this community. This strength, in turn, falls back on us. But not just for everyone individually, but for everyone as a whole.

Guideline for 2023: Strengthen the community

I think that Kennedy also wanted to say with his famous quote that it is everyone’s job to strengthen the community. “Ask yourself what you can do for your country.” “Country” may not necessarily mean a country like Germany, the USA, France and Co.

It can also refer to a community. And this becomes stronger when we do not take every opportunity to live out our individuality as a matter of course, but by taking it back for the benefit of others. I will definitely make these thoughts the guide of my actions this year.

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