Introduction and Part 1: You Are Not the Center of the Universe
Isaiah 55:8–9 (NIV)
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Not having self-awareness in relationships can make Hard to Hear
It implies that there is a limit to our understanding, a ceiling that we cannot comprehend beyond.
We live in a box bound by our own limitations.
God lives outside of the box, in the vastness of the universe.
However, we don’t always think that way.
We often feel we are the be-all and the end-all.
And yet we aren’t.
Self-awareness in relationships – Why Does This Matter?
It helps to hear this truth from different angles, and therefore, what follows are my ten reasons as to why I think this is not the case.
Some people will have figured this out a while back. It becomes clearer as you age.
However, some people will never figure this out.
Good luck!
But you know why this is important to understand?
If you don’t get this, then nothing anyone says will ever make a difference because it will not get past the “I always know better” filter.
The one we are all born with.
Anyone who has raised children will have seen this in action.
They always know better.
Even when they are clearly in the wrong, they will always know better.
It’s cute when they are two or three years old.
Less cute when they are in their teens.
Zero cute within a relationship and beyond.
We all have to hear this message, internalize it, and change our viewpoint.
Here Are the Ten Reasons – starting with the first one
Part 1: The Universe Is Way Bigger Than You
Like wayyyyyy bigger.
We Are Not the Center of the Universe
“But we are not the centre of the universe, you and I, neither as individuals nor as the representatives of the whole human race. God’s universe must be considered as one great whole composed of interrelated parts, and its majestic purpose is not the gratification of our puny selves.”
Steve Berry
American Author
Some humans recognize it, some don’t.
The problem arises because thoughts tend to come to us automatically.
I don’t ask for answers, but when a question presents itself, an answer is sure to follow, no matter how weak my foundation on that particular topic is.
It’s quite annoying.
It would be helpful if answers came with a rating.
Self-awareness in relationships – Imagine If Every Opinion Came With a Rating
If someone posed the question:
“Which makes a better pet, cats or dogs?”
My answer would be that dogs make a better pet.
But imagine a rating meter popped up in my skull to inform me that, seeing as I have never had a cat as a pet to compare it against, my answer is about 1% relevant.
Meaning I should probably hold my tongue before weighing in on how amazing dogs are as pets and how terrible cats are.
No, really, they are.
But that is just my uninformed 1% relevance opinion that I should not enter a fight to the death over.
Just saying.
Self-awareness in relationships – Your Perspective Has a History
The quote helps us by expanding the universe beyond ourselves and recognizing that even as a human race, we are still not the center of the universe.
This can clearly be seen by the wayward decisions that complete nations have made that did not serve the human race at all, but mainly themselves or even worse, well-placed individuals within these nations.
Don’t worry about nations or large groups of people.
Be only concerned about yourself and how you process information.
Know that whatever pops into your brain is based on the accumulated timeline that you have lived and includes, but is not limited to, a number of different variables.
Your culture, your family, your friends, your interests, your social media influences, your knowledge, your personality, your emotions at that precise moment.
It also includes any illnesses you might have, medications you may have recently ingested and so on.
It is also affected by alcohol.
Whatever you are saying, right here and right now, is the result of a very unique set of circumstances that will never be the exact set ever again.
Self-awareness in relationships – Take a Breath
The point is, take a breath, think carefully before you answer and remember you are a small fish in a very big sea, and when it comes to relationships may not be as clued up as you think you are.
Leave room for your own lack of perfect knowledge.
And Space Really Is Big
“Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.”
Douglas Adams
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
And while you’re at it, make room for some big errors because they, too, will need space.
What Does This Have to Do With God?
The Bible quote adds an extra depth to the discussion.
God shares His thoughts on the difference between Himself and the Mankind He created.
Clearly, we were not placed at the same level.
Our thoughts differ, and our ways differ.
As different as the difference between God and Man.
God’s ways are not only different, they are higher, seemingly beyond our reach.
However, we know that He has shared some of those thoughts with us, and we will be looking at them in the posts to follow.
Self-awareness in relationships – Changes How We Should Approach Our Opinions
It makes anything I have to say on anything quite moot.
I realize I actually know so little compared to the vastness that there is to know.
I should consider carefully before I open my mouth and let an opinion out.
David, in the Psalms, often wonders why God is still invested in Man because the difference is so vast.
So if God knows everything and Man is vastly separated from him in all areas, it implies that Man should navigate his way carefully through the world of relationships.
And be grateful that God cares enough to lend a Hand.
Love Makes the Vastness Bearable
“For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love.”
Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, planetary scientist and science communicator
Look Around You
I feel it when I spend time in nature.
Joan and I have a coffee together every morning and sit outside in the summer and inside in winter, but facing our glass patio doors so that we can still see outside.
Even our little window into nature is mind-blowing as we watch the seasons change, the birds come and go, and the plants continually adjust to the season at hand.
We have an avocado tree that has flowers for the first time.
Imagine walking up to a tree and plucking an avocado off it, just like that.
A fruit from nature.
We have watched many plants grow from nothing to their final form.
Nature is amazing, and God’s gifts are as bountiful as His ways are beyond ours.
The Takeaway
We truly know so little because what there is to know is so vast 😉
~~~ THE END ~~~
I have written extensively on relationships and distilled it in to my book.
Read more about the book on this Link on the Website OR
Buy the Book on Amazon, if you want to discover what happens when Little ME meets Little YOU.