You Are The Center of Your World

The rude person at the intersection. The receptionist who's not very friendly. The neighbor who always seems to be making noise. The world, you might think, is conspiring against you.

But the world isn't actually out to get you (or help you, for that matter). That feeling of being at the center of the universe, where everything revolves around your needs, is simply a quirk of human perception. We carry our own personal universes with us wherever we go – a bag filled with thoughts, emotions, and experiences that color our interpretation of the world.

This isn't selfishness, it's simply the nature of consciousness. We are each the protagonists in the grand narrative of our lives. Our thoughts and feelings form the lens through which we experience the world. That grumpy driver? She might be having a terrible morning. The slow cashier? Maybe they're lost in a personal worry.