Emphasizing the I in lIfe

The six most important words: "I admit I made a mistake."
The five most important words: "You did a good job."
The four most important words: "What is your opinion?"
The three most important words: "If you please."
The two most important words: "Thank you."
The one most important word: "We."
The least important word: "I"
                        --author unknown
                            as sited in "more of...the best of bits & pieces", Rob Gilbert, PH.D. ED.
                           Lists to Live By

Last week my mom threatened to charge my little brother one dollar every time he said the word ‘me’ and five dollars every time he said the word ‘I’. You see, my little brother has developed a habit of asking for anything and everything whenever he pleases. Now, he doesn’t throw a fit if the answer is no, but there is constant ‘can I… can I… can I’ as my dad puts it.

 Very obviously, there is an ‘I’ in life…literally and theoretically. People have heedlessly accented this little letter to the point that it has become a major part of life. And this one letter word is the cause of many problems we face. Problems ranging in severity from a sister taking her little brothers blanket on the front pew in church to World Wars because one country has more land than another! A great example is 9/11. Our towers were targeted because we didn’t follow the same religion as the Muslims. The only people the Muslims were thinking about were themselves. But we turned that around by only thinking about ourselves when we bombarded Iraq and killed many innocent people all for the sake of getting our revenge!

Imagine a world where no one was physically capable of thinking about themselves. People could be concerned with everything else, from their neighbors to Marshans on Mars; anything but themselves. There would be no petty fights over the use of a blanket; there would be no kindling for a war. Poverty would virtually disappear! There would be no problems with recessions and depressions! Drought and famine wouldn’t mean a thing because people would be lining up to share any food they had! Imagine a world like that; a world that was almost the opposite of ours; a world where the word ‘I’ was never invented.