Your Reality Isn't All That Real

I occasionally become stressed with conditions at work, home and in my community. I often get frustrated with how slow people are in the checkout line at the grocery store, department store or gas station. I'm often enraged at the obvious stupidity of people in online forums or blog postings. Sometimes I think no one has a clue except for me!

But then again, maybe my reality isn't shared by others? What is real to me, in my face every day, isn't even a fleeting thought to a used car salesman on the other end of the United States. My reality and my perception of what is important is rather limited in its impact on others. Sometimes I wonder how really big my circle of influence is, I mean I know it swings a wide path with my immediate family. Of much less concern to my brother in Boise, ID. But I do have some influence with him! I've got influence with my co-workers, but only in the work environment.

My neighbors don't really know I exist, except when I let the lawn go for a few weeks without mowing. The Government only feel my impact when I have to pay taxes or drive a little too fast. Otherwise I'm just another number to them. I am taken seriously or at least known throughout the Government Agency I work for in the context of the national workgroups I participate on, and the position I hold as a National Point of Contact (POC). But otherwise my path is really rather narrow and extends to very small circle of people.

I guess the mark of a great man, is the number of lives he touches, the number of people he influences with his words and deeds. Obviously Abraham Lincoln influenced and impacted many more people than I ever will. The same can be said for pretty much every American President. Others while impacting a much smaller set of people, do so without realizing the decisions they are making is affecting the livelihood and happiness of those who find themselves farther down the corporate food chain.

I once heard it said, when we are babies, the world happens to us and we soak it up. As we age we start to realize we can want things and spend years trying to gain influence and gain control of our immediate world. We see everything with ourselves in the center. Then finally we see ourselves as part of a greater whole, It's in this latter part I now find myself. I am seeing myself, not at the center of my universe, but rather at the edges of those I come in contact with, my children have a whole other circle of things influencing them at school and each other. Where I am now is trying to do things for others which will either help them to help others or at least lead them to think of others.

I am no longer finding myself in the center of the universe, I now know and am trying to come to grips with my position as one small blip on the greater world stage.

While this may sound foolish or demented, give it some thought. Do your troubles or concerns impact me in any way? Would I know about the thing that worries you the most when and if we ever meet on the street, in a store, at a party or at church? Will you have any impact on me at all, ever?

See what I mean, I am now trying to become something more, someone who is a positive influence on others, someone who sets a good example of what's right and just in this world. I am trying to take and interest in other people, getting to know my neighbors, volunteering to help out in the neighborhood, at church, with my co-workers.

I have finally realized, it's not about me or what I want. It's about how many people I can help, how many people I can influence to help others. It's about caring for others and the things which bother them, it's about listening first, talking only when necessary and letting my actions speak much louder than my words.

It's about getting real after 48 years of feeling like it's all happening to me...