It's Not All About Me
Posted on 2004-05-09
Each time my feelings get hurt, each time I try and soothe myself over some unkind word or action against me - imagined or otherwise - I wonder..... Am I only thinking of myself???
I'm not the only inhabitant on this planet. I'm not the only one who has to deal with pain and sorrow. I'm not the lone ranger when it comes to dealing with grief and fear and loneliness.
Whenever I come across someone else - family, friend, acquaintance, even a stranger - I have to keep in mind that it's not all about me. They too have their story. They too have their dreams. They too, may also have their fears and nightmares which haunt them.
Closer to home, if I feel slighted or hurt by someone I care about, I immediately focus on me. Why did he/she say that to me??? Why did he/she do that to me???
It is easy, so easy to feel the hurt and retreat, to nurse the wound in silence, keeping my distance. It's so easy to wonder why others say and do the things that they do, to be astonished, even bewildered, by their remarks and actions.
Have I ever considered that maybe they are sometimes astonished by my words or actions??? Thinking of me, always, thinking of me and my reactions, my feelings. As hard as this is to admit, being self-centred at times is not a quality that I am proud of. Thinking only of my pain, of my hurt, of my shortcomings.
It's not all about me.
Once bitten, twice shy, so the saying goes. Sometimes I stay away, afraid to reach out. But if I remind myself that it's not always about me - and maybe give myself an imaginary smack on the head - I feel emboldened to step forward. I will never know what will happen next unless I make the first move, the first gesture, to reach out to another.
Everyone has their story.