Do You Really Have to Tell Everyone - When You Do Something Good?

Is shameless self-promotion really the only way for you to appreciate yourself?

Some people cannot help shouting about their achievements to anyone and everyone, and they even seem to revel in it. Look at me, look at what I did, look at what I’ve got….aren’t I just so amazing!!

Reality TV shows are full of this. Is it just an ego thing?

In today’s society, it seems counterintuitive to suggest that doing anything good in life can be achieved without seeking acclaim or credit.

Everyone seems to promote just the opposite.

To get ahead in life, you have to shout about your wins from the rooftops. You have to acquire as much material wealth as possible, and when you do something good…..let everyone know about it.

This has become the definition of success.

Who cares what you have to do to win, whose toes you tread on and whose life you destroy in the process. People will respect and revere you for it and want to be just like you.

Oh, and don’t forget to promote yourself, will you!!

For those who do not feel comfortable with excessive self-promotion and the wanton accumulation of status symbols, this behavior can take on nightmarish proportions.

Shameless Self-Promotion is not exactly Humble… is it?

‘By retaining humility the talented person reduces rivalry’.

This wisdom is from the Tao Te Ching and suggests that the person who does not boast reduces temptation and stealing. It goes on to say that those who boast are easily possessed by envy themselves.

This obsession with self-promotion is often based on insecurity and the ego’s need to feel important, special, and worthy through external gratification.

Sadly, this is now the measure of happiness in today’s commercial world.

The number of likes on a post or video, the number of views, and the accumulation of friends and material objects. This behavior is now seen, as representing something good to be admired.

Is it all an illusion though?

Advertising and marketing companies spend vast amounts of money on promoting personalities and products. The aim is purely commercial and profit-driven.

Whether there is any true substance to what is being promoted has become almost irrelevant.

It’s like those who constantly crow about the good things they have done. The charity they have given. Are they really just saying ‘Please look at me and recognize what a good person I am because I can’t validate it myself’’?

I’m not suggesting that giving to charity is bad but questioning the true motives behind it, especially in corporate and elite circles where upmarket fundraisers and charities are often just a disguise for self-promotion.

I recently saw a swanky Gala Ball being held by a Buddhist Society in Australia. What kind of strange paradoxical back-to-front world are we living in with that one?

The Inherent Weakness of Having and Wanting More

There are always two sides to everything and very often what seems to be a great strength can also be a weakness. The more you have, the more you have to lose, and the more you have, the more you want.

This can lead to fear of loss, greed, corruption, and a reduction of morality and ethics in dealing with others as self-preservation takes over.

Is it any wonder that immensely wealthy people continue to amass more fortune to the point where to us mere mortals it seems such wealth is excessive?

How can they possibly spend all that wealth and why do they need more?

Millenia ago the Egyptian Pharaohs’ used to be buried with their wealth in the belief it would help them create paradise in the afterlife. Wealth in this life was not enough!

In order to enjoy this new death paradise, however, they would need the same items they had during life. Tombs and even simple graves included personal belongings as well as food and drink for the soul in the afterlife.

Clearly, they couldn’t take their jewels with them into the afterlife as we have subsequently dug them all up!

The old cliche ‘You can’t take it with you when you die’, springs to mind.

That saying obviously wasn’t big in ancient Egypt!

Just Be Authentic — Recognition often comes from the Unexpected?

We all want to be recognized for our work. It’s human nature, but it may not always have the best effect on our ego or sense of self-worth.

Don’t stop doing great things just because nobody knows about them! The truly authentic person will give without recognition. When action is pure and selfless, everything settles into its own perfect place.

The desire to give should not be conditioned by the desire to receive.

Very often reward for good can come in a totally different form that you may not have thought of. A good deed is not always returned to you in the same way, in fact, I would say very seldom.

This is true of bad deeds too so be careful!

If you are seeking recognition in order to feel good about yourself when what you really need is to do some good without having to tell everyone about it, then maybe this different perspective is useful.

Happiness is not dependent on external factors, recognition, or accumulation but on an internal knowing. The path to happiness is a journey of self-discovery, not external gratification.

Win the game without seeking acclaim.

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