Over the years, these words by G. B. Shaw have stayed with me.
While we’re all entangled in our own worlds, it’s important to remember that one of our ultimate aims remains this: to leave the world better than it was.
I love how this simple paragraph sums up everything, reminding us how capable and powerful we really are.
“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.
I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no “brief candle” for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”
Long story short
While we’re living in our tiny bubbles, fiddling with broken emotions, and confusedly searching for what can make us happy, we often lose the virtues like sacrifice and selflessness on our way.
We forget to live for others.
In the end, we’re here not just to make ourselves happy but to stand for a great cause by giving what we can. To lose ourselves and help others rise. And to make ourselves matter by simply being useful.
More than often, that’s enough.