"Here is just one example of the total wrongness of something I tend to be automatically sure of: everything in my own immediate experience supports my deep belief that I am the absolute centre of the universe; the realest, most vivid and important person in existence. We rarely think about this sort of natural, basic self-centredness because it's so socially repulsive. But it's pretty much the same for all of us. It is our default setting, hard-wired into our brains at birth. Think about it: there is no experience you have had that you are not the absolute centre of. The world as you experience it is there in front of YOU or behind YOU, to the left or right of YOU, on YOUR TV or YOUR monitor. And so on. Other people's thoughts and feelings have to be communicated to you somehow, but your own are so immediate, urgent, real."
This was part of the speech David Foster Wallace delivered to the graduating class of 2005 at Kenyon College. I encourage you to read all of it. It will challenge your beliefs and thinking about yourself and the world.
Although many of us try to be self-aware and globally conscious, it is so incredibly easy to fall into the trap of self-centered thinking when we don't fight against it. It is easy to slide back into our "default setting."
The sun revolves around YOU during the day and the moon at night. YOU think of all YOUR actions and their consequences in reference to YOU and YOUR children and YOUR grandchildren. YOU think of what each person around YOU is costing YOU and how much YOU sacrifice for each of them. Everyone else is simply an effect of YOUR life. People YOU will encounter in the next 24 hours are either a smudge or a ray of sunshine on the page of today. Beauty exists so YOU can appreciate it. YOU deserve to be noticed. YOU deserve to be appreciated when YOU do something nice, and people should be understanding if YOU are a bit grumpy because YOU'VE had a hard day. When YOU'RE in a hurry, everyone else is in YOUR way. How exhausting!
Give YOURSELF a break! Take some time off from YOU.
Let me ask you this? Have you ever done something for someone who won't ever repay you? Not out of obligation, but simply because you wanted to. Have you ever loved someone because of who s/he is? Not because of what s/he can do for you? I believe that situations like these are where we truly find out who we are in reference to the world around us. We find where we truly fit, not where we can bulldoze a pathway big enough for us to move around comfortably.
The next time you're driving down the street and someone cuts you off, just think about what that person might be going through right now, take a deep breath, and keep on keeping on.
