What's my motivation...

I just read an article in the Salt Lake Tribune. It was about the athletes in 1968 who wore the black gloves and held up their arms in protest at the summer Olympic games in Mexico city. If you're my age anything that happened in the 60's you have to read about or watch on old videos, but for some it was all to real. It's the 40th anniversary of this particular protest, and with the Beijing games coming up and so much controversy swirling around them the action of these two men back then is getting alot of press coverage today. These men are considered heroes and great political activists in 2008 and their names are mentioned in the same sentence as a Rosa Parks. However, their protest came with great cost. When it happened they were banned from the Olympics and recieved multiple death threats. One man lost his wife to divorce, and the other lost his to suicide. Both men payed a steep price for such a protest. As the years have gone by, however, both men have criticized the other. Each tries to take credit for the idea, and the athlete who came in third even made the statement he let the other man win gold on purpose. (To read the article click on my title or the link below) So, why all the bickering? Essentially, each man now wants all the glory and the prestige that comes with doing something for the greater good. Doing something for the greater good. Is it really possible to do something for the greater good? I often wonder why I really do what I do. Are my actions for my own selfish ambition or am I actually doing my deeds to help benefit mankind? I may not ever get to raise an arm or a banner in protest on some national stage, but everyday I get to make the choice whether or not I want to have an impact on the greater good. When I do a good deed, like say fix my family dinner without being asked, am I really being altruistic or do I have ulterior motives? My own faith challenges me to love my enemy, but I have a hard enough time loving my neighbor! Oh yeah, I guess my belief system tells me to love my neighbor to. So if and when I do actually demonstrate a loving act toward neighbor or enemy is it really love? Or am I really showing love because I'm hoping for a reward in this life or the gold medal in the life yet to come? I remember a college professor of mine once said there is no such thing as a truly altruistic act because ultimately everyone makes decisions based on what will one day be reciprocated by others. Maybe he's right. Or maybe it takes a superhero to truly do things for the good of humanity. I think many of my choices in life are self motivated, but I do hope. I hope there are those individuals out there who can rise to the occasion and live life for the greater good. I hope I can learn to become one of those individuals. So here's to hoping that when those decisive moments come in our everyday life we won't need a cape on our back or a medal around our neck, but simply a purer motivation that defies the norm.