Friday, May 13, 2011

Divergent Faction-of-the-Week Challenge: ABNEGATION

So, I did it. And let me tell you, it was so easy to be selfless and altruistic. :-) I wanted to see exactly what altruistic was, (and make sure I was doing it right) so I went to the dictionary:

altruism |ˈaltroōˌizəm| noun
the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others : some may choose to work with vulnerable elderly people out of altruism.
(from Webster's dictionary)


Not. Me.


I thought about not looking in a mirror all week, but that wasn't possible. I went without make-up, but I do that anyway, sometimes. I tried to do for others without thinking of myself, and yeah, I do that a lot but find I enjoy doing things for others because it makes me feel good, not very selfless there.

I don't need others to know the things I do, but it feels good when they do know. I take care of my grandmother during the day and I do it because I love her. Not because I'm selfless, but because it's the right and only thing a decent person can do. And yeah, what goes around comes around, so when I'm old, I'm sure someone will take care of me because I've put the time in.

I realized that there wasn't anything I did this week that could be considered totally selfless, because I got something from everything.

In DIVERGENT, I appreciated Tris' struggle with her brother's being so selfless, because it was just in his nature. It made her sympathetic to me, because I can understand wanting to be something I'm not. And feeling guilty because I wasn't.

In conclusion, I hope Dauntless isn't next week. Hear that Deb? Check out where this all started, with the lovely Debra Driza and take the challenge yourself.

PS: I haven't actually read the version of Divergent that came out last week, so if I say anything in these posts that aren't true to the book, forgive me. It was true to the book over a year ago, but we all know books change and my kids grabbed my copy before I could read it.

12 comments:

  1. Lol, we think so much alike! (though, no make-up, really? Dude..EYEBROW PENCIL, I MUST HAVE IT!) :D

    (also, no, no Dauntless next week, but it's coming!)

    Got your link up, thanks so much for playing!

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  2. Seems like everyone has had the same sort of struggle with this! Silly abnegation.

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  3. I'm so glad that I'm not the only one dreading Dauntless next LOL

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  4. Abnegation is definitely a hard one!

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  5. It sounds like you are rocking some elements of Abnegation on the regular! And even though you got something out of your selfless deeds, they still have value! It was an interesting experiment though, right?

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  6. Altrusim is virtually impossible. I've never met a true altruist. (And that's not a bad thing, I just think we're all just predisposed to wants... can't really help it!)

    And I concur about the Dauntlessness...

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  7. Sarah: Yes, it was definitely interesting. I've always thought myself as selfless, and sometimes a martyr (not in a good way) but I really realized how things I do make me feel better.

    Kathy: Dauntless *shudder* I don't know that anyone is at heart selfless.

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  8. I thought about counting not wearing makeup towards the challenge, but I almost never wear makeup so that didn't seem fair.

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  9. I'm dreading Dauntless as well... let's team up and pester Deb until she agrees to make that one last!

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  10. You should have recieved your copy of Divergent in the mail today, yay! I hope you like it.

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