My name, Christian-Dave, means "follower of Christ" or "A Christian" big surprise huh? The second part of my name "Dave" is a shortened version of "David". The name David means "Beloved" or "A friend". How my parents actually named me, and all my brothers as well, was after a king. In my case it was King Christian of Denmark. The second part of my name actually comes from a Filipino tradition: When my parents named me and my siblings they included my Dad's first name (Dave) and my Mom's maiden name "Raymundo" (Spanish for king of the Earth by the way, pretty awesome middle name). Also, fun fact, if I was born in the Philippines I would have been named "Ricardo" which means "Powerful Leader" slightly more BA in my opinion.
So does the meaning of my name, a Christian friend or beloved follower of Christ, define me properly? I would say yes. The "follower of Christ" is accurate for the most part. I go to church on Sundays and rosary on Saturdays and I believe that Jesus died for our sins. The second meaning of my name "friend" or "beloved' depends on the person. If your my friend then this hold true, and if your not my friend you are missing out on something that you didn't know you needed in your life until now.
The dilemma of individual values and familial or social values can be a hard one to overcome depending on your situation. As someone who has to take care of three other younger siblings I can say that one's time can be very limited when they're responsible for others. When you have to care for the needs of the many it becomes difficult to attend to the needs of the few. This counters the need for self-progression/ self improvement, and forces the individual to make decisions that may not appeal to the larger whole in order to achieve this self-improvement.
We are taught at a young age to put others before ourselves, and that being selfless is a trait that a good person possesses. We even having a saying regarding the matter: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few"This is where the dilemma comes into play: How can those who believe in the ideal of selflessness find opportunity for themselves?
I think you brought up a great point here about where the line is between "selfless" and "selfish". I think a good rule of thumb to go by is the "oxygen mask" rule. Flight attendants always say to secure your own oxygen mask first before assisting those around you. The idea is that if you pass out from lack of oxygen...who will be there to take care of those needing assistance? Sometimes, you have to be selfish and take care of yourself first, in order to be at your very best for others. It's a hard lesson to internalize and practice. But it can be so beneficial once you DO learn it!
ReplyDeleteI'm interested to know about the hyphen in your name- are you called Christian-Dave by anyone in your daily life?
ReplyDeleteNot really, most people only call me Christian because I ask them to. Occasionally I get called "Dave" whenever somewhat finds out about the hyphenated first name, but no one ever does it daily (other than one guy, but that's a special case). Mr. James, my math teacher, calls me "Dash" (-) because I told him I don't mind what he calls me by and it's actually mildly entertaining.
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