Selfishness

A couple of months ago Santa talked about the amazing generosity of some children. He specifically mentioned one little girl, during the Korean War, who refused to ask for anything for herself but was petitioning on behalf of her family, friends and even orphans in Korea that she had never seen. Her selflessness was impressive. Santa’s description of her led me into asking if he had to deal with many children who were selfish and if so how did he handle them. This is what he had to say.

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I hate to say it, but selfishness is a huge problem. What’s really sad is that it is most prevalent in the wealthier areas and countries. Before I tell you how I deal with it let’s review the basics.

As I’ve said to you many times, my objective, for centuries, has been "Peace on Earth, Good Will among men." The way I see it, "Peace" is the absence of "Strife." "Strife" results from two primary conditions: "Envy" and "Greed." The "Have-not’s" of the world can’t help but be envious of those that "Have." When greed enters the picture the problem is compounded.

My approach to "peace" has been to encourage generosity among children. When I succeed "Greed" is reduced a smidgen. This results in a little less "envy" and a slight movement in the direction of "peace." It is a long frustrating process but I am making progress. Here is an example of how I deal with the problem at a child’s level.

When children are asked what they want for Christmas they often say "everything."

To overcome this, I first comment on how smart they are for making such a request and then point out that I am now faced with a big problem.

"One of your friends was in here just a few minutes ago. I know he was a friend because he also asked for everything."

"I told him that I was expecting you at any moment and that if I gave him everything I wouldn’t be able to give you anything, and I didn’t want to do that." I continued:

"Now if you would prefer that I give him everything and you nothing, I’ll consider doing it, just to please you, but I’d rather not."

With this approach it is amazing how quickly "sharing becomes the "only way."

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No question about it, Santa is pretty sharp!!

Have a good month! I’ll be in touch during June.

Santa’s Friend

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