Dedicating Oneself To Others Means Dedicating Oneself To Oneself

Help, give, deliver, contribute, nurture, reach out, listen, protect, care for or hug. We all agree with the act of courage and generosity that these actions that have to do with dedication require, because they are really difficult.

However, they pay off, and this reward is more intense than the fatigue. For this reason, we do not distinguish it so clearly and those who do not dedicate themselves to others do not understand those who do it on a daily basis, and this action seems to them more an exception than the rule.

To differentiate yourself, it is not necessary to embark on a long journey in search of people in need, just open your eyes and look, listen to those who ask for food, sign so that no injustice is done or talk for a few minutes.

What does it mean to dedicate yourself to someone?

This term derives from the Latin  dē – ‘de-‘ and dicā re, intens. of dicĕ re, ‘to say’. If we look up the definition in the dictionary, we find: to consecrate oneself, to give oneself entirely to something; also, to actively attend to something. 

Think about when you dedicate yourself to someone or something, for example your child, your pet or a plant. Dedicating yourself to someone or something means taking care of them, setting aside their own needs and paying attention to their needs. 

The act of dedicating oneself changes according to the being to which one dedicates oneself. A child is rolled up the blankets, a dog goes to the vet and a plant is watered. It does not matter the single action, but the attitude one has towards this being. We can also dedicate ourselves to objects (such as the car or the house) and abstract issues (ideology, values) and it is the same; we offer time and dedication, so that they are protected and not damaged, broken or wasted.

Do I have to dedicate myself to myself first?

You will certainly know the phrase “love yourself first and then love others”. A similar thing happens when you dedicate yourself to someone. It is entirely true to say that at first you need to take care of yourself, in order to then be able to do it with others. 

Let’s take a practical example that demonstrates the need to dedicate oneself first to oneself and then to others. Aviation safety regulations indicate that, in the event of turbulence, when the oxygen mask falls, we must first put on ours and then have our children wear it. Does it mean being a bad parent? Absolutely not. It means taking care of one’s physical integrity in order to be able to take care of the little ones, otherwise no one will do it in our place.

You cannot expect to spend hours and hours in white dedicating yourself to a sick family member, because you will find yourself deprived of the necessary conditions to pay attention to their needs. You are not selfish if you do this, quite the opposite. You are willing to help in an intelligent and not desperate way.

Don’t confuse self-love with selfishness, don’t feel guilty. Selfish people inflate their self-esteem by benefiting from others. Those who have self-love realize that if they first respect themselves, then it will be much easier to respect others.

Dedicating oneself to others means dedicating oneself to oneself

Let us again draw on popular wisdom: “Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you” or, in a more positive key, “do to the other what you would like them to do to you”.

When we dedicate ourselves to someone, we need to think about how we would like others to dedicate themselves to us. If you were sick, what should caregivers take into account? If you were a child, how would you protect your mother or father? When you are older, how would you like your loved ones to look after you?

Dedicating ourselves to someone is one of the noblest tasks we can aspire to: dedicating ourselves to someone or something makes us useful, skilled and courageous in front of ourselves, and of others. Maybe not even God nor Karma nor the world will thank you, but your heart certainly will.