Something to strive for, though never pure
To put other's needs and desires before your own is, in fact, a desire in and of itself. Selflessness, although often held up as the ultimate virtue, is impossible.
Selfishness is pervasive-- it soils the soil of life. A seed cannot sprout without the nutrients the soil bears and as so we cannot function without the motivation that selfishness provides. This is the unthinking, unavoidable, unwelcome truth of humanity.
Those who claim to be selfless create an unatainable ambition for others, and their hypocrisy festers what is left of the moral mind, making it beleive that it will never be good enough, and so, it shouldn't even try.
Every action, good or bad, is motivated, and therefore, is grounded in one's own perspective, desires, and values. A sacrifice, although on the surface, a selfless act, is simply a selfish one. Despite this, sacrifice can still stand tall as an act of love, of hope, and of communal betterment.
This truth, as all things of the world, carries an inherit intricacy that engenders frustration and uncomfortability. As the world is rarely explained by clear answers to clear questions.
To that point, to be selfless requires and embodies empathy, detachment from the material world, and deep connection. And so, though not fully attainable, selflessless, in its myriad of forms, is an essential quality that must be strived for more often.