Everything that we do is essentially aimed to please our self. When we are growing up, we start learning that we can rely on no one but our own self. This sets up expectancy as well as inadequacy, hope and consequently ill-will. All of these are detrimental. We get trapped in a cycle of hope that generates ill-will and expectancy that causes a host of harmful thoughts and feelings. In the midst of all this, we start believing that we must primarily be concerned with our own wellbeing.
In an ambience that accentuates fear and deprivation, if we can learn that peace comes with freeing oneself from the web that we are enmeshed in, we act for lasting benefit. We do not have to become inordinately selfless or softhearted, but we have to clearly see that our predispositions invariably lead to further entrapment. If we find our self bestowed with the ability to move towards emancipation, we ought not to doubt the ways and means available. The only thing that matters is learning to be free.