When I sat down after the speech, a girl in the row in front of me told me that it reminded her of the instructions they give you for operating the oxygen masks on the airplane: "Please make sure your mask is securely fastened before assisting others".
Of course, she was referring to the idea that we need to be happy ourselves before we can think about trying to help others. I've actually thought the same thing when looking at those flight safety instructions. How can we realistically expect to help others be happy, if we don't fully understand the subtle workings of happiness ourselves?
The pursuit of happiness isn't selfish, so long as you have the right motivations (a focus on the happiness of others). That's actually the reason I still focus on developing my happiness further; I'm already happy enough for my own purposes, but if I truly want to help others find happiness, I need to understand how it works, how to get it, and where it comes from.
