I’ve always had an issue with the advice, “Worry about yourself.” It sounds so simple, but I’ve always kind of seen it as somewhat narrow-minded. Yes, we must first worry and take care of ourselves before we should even be concerned with anybody else. However, if we only think of ourselves, we forget about other people.

You might be thinking, well that’s the point—staying out of other peoples ways. But what’s always confused me is that if one only worries about themselves, they will only truly care about themselves. Something I’ve always feared in taking this advice is becoming selfish.

If we only think of ourselves, our minds occupy a small capacity--a capacity that is solely focused on us. This means we deem everything in regards to us bigger than it actually is. This includes our problems. Don’t get me wrong, we are our first and foremost responsibility, but displaying apathy towards others only urges anxiety and fear; a withdrawal. Developing a sense of concern for other people opens the aptitude of our minds much further than that of self interest would do.

Thinking of other people helps us grasp the sense of sonder, which is the realization that every random passerby is living a life as vivid, complex, and intricate as your own. When we realize that everyone around us has no actual idea in what they’re doing, and all take hardship in different forms, it helps us put this life into a better perspective. There are people other than you that strive for happiness, goals, and satisfactions; they also have anxieties, insecurities, and problems of their own.

It’s important to realize that you aren’t the only person who deserves the freedoms and joys of this life. When we gain a sense of concern for other people, our ‘problems’ turn into little specks, because we gain the capacity to observe the cycle of life through other people’s eyes. After all, we are all interconnected; what we do to others, we do to ourselves. A person really starts to live when they can live outside of themselves.