The Selfish Firefighter Is The Relentless Firefighter

How is being selfish a required principle of a Relentless Firefighter or Individual? Author Michael Davis explains below.

You are asleep, the tones go off, engine 3, engine 1, rescue 1, engine 5, ladder 4, structure fire, 1776 Independence Street, unknown occupancy, hydrant located at Independence & State. You excitedly jump out of bed, you blaze to the engine and don your gear. You are first in, your driver gets you there fast, and your Officer gives report, smoke showing two story dwelling with a basement. Are you going to selfishly grab the nozzle and go, or are you going to be selfless and wait to offer the nozzle to you fellow firefighters?

You probably believe that being Selfless is the highest goal and virtue in life, especially as a Firefighter. I hear every day when the President, professors, preachers, & parents tell stories with selfless as the highest virtue to reach in your life. Have you ever asked yourself why? How is it possible to be selfless? You likely believe that being selfish is bad and selfish people never help anyone. In order to be able to help others, you must selfishly make yourself capable of helping others. The only person telling you to be selfless is the person who wants you to voluntarily sacrifice your self to them. Do you want to sacrifice your ideals, dreams, and goals in life? The answer is simple, you must act explicitly selfish in order to reach any personal goal you set to achieve in your life.

Dictionary.com defines selfless as “having little or no concern for oneself, and having little concern for one's own interests.” Without concern for your self, how is it possible to achieve your interests and values? It is NOT possible! You would have never applied for the job of Firefighter if you were truly selfless. You would not have made it through rookie school if you were selfless. It is impossible to be relentless if you are selfless. To be selfless is to care less about your ideals than everyone else’s ideals. To achieve selflessness at the station, you must live the interests of your crew, specifically, the crew member that chooses not to improve their self! To be selfless is to be without a self. How can you be your best self you if your goal is to be selfless?

Selfish is defined as “devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one's own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others.” Before you were able to help others individuals as a Firefighter, you had to apply for the position of Firefighter, which was a selfish act. You wanted to be a Firefighter, you wanted to fight fires, you wanted to spend your days with a crew, you wanted to make this your life’s work. You then had to spend your time getting in shape, which was a selfish act. Next you tested and interviewed for the career of your dreams, which had to be done selfishly. You probably remember exactly where you were when you received the phone call with the offer to be a firefighter and you selfishly and excitedly answered, YES!!!! For example, you did not act selflessly, by ensuring the other applicants received a job offer first and then if nobody accepts the job, you will take it.

To choose to act selfishly in your long term best interests, is to choose the clearest path to your goals. You should never compromise on the principles you use to achieve the values and goals you set to make you, the best you, you want to be. To cheat your workout, training, and dieting goals is to choose to act irrational and that choice is a contradiction to selfishly achieving your personal ideals. To choose to compromise your values is to choose to sacrifice the goals you set for yourself.

“When you are in love, it means that the person you love is of great personal, selfish importance to you and to your life. If you were selfless, it would have to mean that you derive no personal pleasure or happiness from the company and the existence of the person you love, and that you are motivated only by self-sacrificial pity for that person’s need of you. I don’t have to point out to you that no one would be flattered by, nor would accept, a concept of that kind. Love is not self-sacrifice, but the most profound assertion of your own needs and values. It is for your own happiness that you need the person you love, and that is the greatest compliment, the greatest tribute you can pay to that person.”

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