We often react to the actions and words of people around us as something to do with us.
We analyze, interpret, make judgments and choices based on what we think the person’s intentions are for us around those words or actions.
The truth we all know, yet often forget, is that what the other person says or does has little to do with us personally. It is almost always about what is going on inside of them.
Our ego has a hard time conceiving that the universe does not revolve around us, yet on a practical, day-to-day level, nothing is further from the truth.
In everyone’s own mind, the universe revolves around them, not us.
So that time that person shouted at you for being rude, it really wasn’t about you being rude. Or when that person in the car cut you off in traffic, it really wasn’t personal. Or perhaps someone yelled at you for no reason at all, that definitely was all about them, not about you.
The thing is, we all do that. That knowledge can help make us more patient, more understanding, and more tolerant of other people’s actions and words. Doesn’t it?
