sincerity and selfishness counter each other

Elder Holland during the CES fireside tonight used a painting of Joseph Smith to illustrate the pain the prophet must have felt while imprisoned at Liberty Jail. The expression on Joseph's face inspired the desire in me to just be able to be there for him, to embrace and reassure him. It then occurred to me that there must be others I know with the same inner expression who need such an embrace.

I made a goal near the end of my mission to have those remaining two months be the most selfless time period of my life to that point. I don't think I did very well at accomplishing that goal. I also think it's time to make that goal again, especially as it relates to other ambitions.

I've been thinking about sincerity a lot lately because sincere desires lead naturally, effortlessly, to sincere actions. Being deeply there for someone requires a sincere heart--no jealousy, no resentment, no fear--in other words, no selfishness. The barrier called selfishness prevents people from making that connection which will allow one human to alleviate another's suffering by mourning with those who mourn. A heart laden with selfish motives cannot be sincere. An insincere heart cannot be close to another.

So I guess what all this means is if I want to be true to that desire to be there for people that I felt when I saw that image of the agonizing Joseph Smith, I need to learn to fulfill my goal to be selfless.