The Most Selfish Thing I Have Ever Done

Think hard about that. What is the most selfish thing you have ever done? I know I've done my share of selfish things. None of us are free from our childhood fits when we NEEDED that new G.I. Joe or Barbie. Not just childhood flights of fancy, how many of us bought that awesome new album instead of a text book. But I'm not talking small selfish actions, I mean something huge that affected everyone around you. I did something like that. That something was joining the Peace Corps.
I know what everyone is thinking, Peace Corps is a selfless thing to do, not a selfish thing. That is true, I have been working in another country, for the welfare of another people, in another language for changes that I will never be able to enjoy. I am sure everyone who has benefitted from that work is sufficiently thankful. The truth is that I joined the Peace Corps in a large part for selfless reasons, the desire to do something for my fellow man, to live up to the values I have been taught, to give a bit of the bounty that I was born with. But at the same time I would be lying if I was to say that there wasn't substantial selfish motivation as well. On a whole I think I am getting the better part of the benefits of my Peace Corps service.
Peace Corps is and always will be an intensely personal and selfish thing. You are separated from friends and family, cut off from familiar places and things and generally isolated from what you knew. You must develop the courage to confront your new situation, the motivation to get up and do something, the fortitude to withstand failure and the confidence that what you are doing actually matters. When all is said and done here, the only constant of my service is me and what I have learned. I can only hope that the people I worked with picked up even a fraction of the personal knowledge or life experience that I did. However, these people can't help me in my life outside of Peace Corps.
It seems odd that the most selfish thing I have ever done is also the most selfless thing I have ever done, but the two are not mutually exclusive. Nothing seems so contradictory about the fact that helping others also helps yourself. I also don't see a problem in allowing myself to reap some benefits from serving others.