Skip to main content

Meet the People Who Don't Think About Me

Have you ever walked in a crowd of people and considered just how much they are not thinking about you? I have. Reality is eye opening. 

See, I wake up in the morning, either because I can't sleep or because I stupidly responsibly set my alarm the night before. And as I yawn and stretch and attempt to figure out what day it is, my thoughts soon turn to...

Myself!

That's right. I sense my hunger. I know exercise is needed. What will I wear today? Will anyone be close enough to notice if I shaved? And just before my to-do list comes rushing at me with the force of a monster truck, I know I need to head to the bathroom. So there is no time to be hitting the snooze. 

My first dozen thoughts are all about me. Which, by my math, will equal more thoughts than everyone else in the world, combined, thinks about me all day. It's not even close. And it shouldn't be close. 

Because it's not about me. Not that this truth will keep me from thinking about myself for the next hour or so as I actually get around. Will people appreciate the flavor of deodorant I chose? Will people like how I coordinate my shoes with my outfit? Will people notice my chiseled muscles and my finely manicured face?

Like I said, I'm quite ridiculous. 

But every once in a while I will be walking somewhere, be it a store, sidewalk or any other place groups of people who don't care about me congregate. And I'll notice them not noticing me. Weird, I'll think to myself. Perhaps if these people got to know me, they would pay me more attention. 

Then my face starts to hurt, as reality comes up and gives me a good smack. They wouldn't. They shouldn't. And someday I will stop putting in so much effort to get them to do otherwise. I will. I should. 

Because it's not about me. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl

Patience

I am more than halfway through the last year of dropping one of my children off at school. It's my eighth grade daughter, for anyone keeping track of my family.  See, next year she will be at the high school, and her brother will drive her. He says that it's not cool for seniors to drive their freshman sister to school, but I bet it's cooler than being dropped off by your mom in a minivan.  So rather than groan about this daily responsibility, I've been reminiscing about what the drop-off line used to look like, way back in elementary school. Once our children were about halfway through their elementary years, the drop-off line became a test of patience.  Do you know which group you do not want to get caught behind in the parent drop-off line at an elementary school? The kindergartners. These little ones are barely able to walk, but now we put them in the high-pressure situation of trying to unbuckle their seat-belt, grab their backpack (which might be as tall as they a

Jury Duty

I was recently summoned to jury duty. I know, groan. Except I didn't. I had never experienced it before and was curious to see what it was like.   When the day to report arrives, they separate you into groups, asking various questions to decide if you will be selected to serve. Do you know the accused? Do you have conflicts that would keep you from serving? Can you stay focused?  I wanted to answer well, if only because my kids kept wishing me luck the day before, telling me they hoped I made the team. After all, who wants to be rejected? It occurred to me that there are things you probably shouldn’t say right away if you’re wanting to serve on a jury. I know, I know, people don’t typically want to serve on a jury. But that list didn’t seem nearly as humorous to me. Here are the things you probably shouldn’t say if you want to be selected for jury. I hold myself in contempt. You can’t handle the truth. We find the defendant guilty. I believe the judge looks pretty in his robe. I’d