Motivation: the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal.


it seems that that definition for humanity coincides with guilt (a feeling of culpability for offenses).  it becomes more and more apparent to me everyday that peoples specific motivations are spurned by guilt.  either guilt for performing or not performing something is the specific driving force behind what we as humans use to guide our actions.  


having a bit of a background in psychology, i have witnessed a great many times in peoples (myself included) lives where the things that are done are done specifically to alleviate guilt or to prevent it through one method or another.  guilt does seem to be a very strong motivator and its results are evident in everything from the simplest of person to the most politically important.  


i have tried to live my life for so long now, free of guilt.  does that also mean that i have been trying to live free of motivation?  good question.  being subjective here, i would like to think that i have been satisfactorily motivated but on further introspection, i have realized that i too, have been motivated by guilt. for the past few days i have been pondering over this question: how can i maintain my motivation to perform good actions without doing them for the sake of not feeling guilty afterwards if i had not performed those actions?


im going to attempt to start moving toward a life of altruism.  i want to try to do things for the sake of doing things, not to save myself any sort of grief.  i am a selfish person and am therefore more inclined to do things out of personal motivation instead of just doing nice things.  so, now i have a goal.  this goal is not motivated by guilt, but by the satisfaction of wanting to do some good in a world that uses, abuses and discards without regard.  


i have no idea if it will work, but it is worth an effort.


Black Flag:   Life of Pain (lyrics)


Look what you've done to your arms.
I know you don't care.
Who do you harm?
I know you've never been the girl next door,
but now you're worse than before.
Self destruct. Self destruct!
Life's miseries. Pain runs deep.
Does it matter what anybody cares?
Can there be another outlet?
Nobody gets close, nobody dares.
Self destruct. Self destruct!
I can understand your problems
and I can even figure out the reasons why,
but I can't help the way I feel.
And I can't accept what I see.
And I just can't stand watching you...
Self destruct. Self destruct!
You're digging your own grave
and you're taking my feelings with you.
There's got to be a way to get out.