We sound really cold hearted when we say this, Oomis, but the eluding us is to explain why one would want to become a better person? What motivation does one have to be good/do good? “
Yekke, I don’t know about you, but I feel good inside when I do something that is good, especially when it makes another person happy, even when that person knows nothing about what I have done.
Serving Hashem sensitizes (most of )us to the needs of others as well as ourselves. We also learn to be makir tov in general, because how can we be makir tov to people for the good they do for us without first being makir tov to Hashem who is the SOURCE of all that we have?
I don’t find this topic to be a conundrum at all.