If you are going to live the most full life, there are practical things to be done. Here’s one…
Remind yourself that you’re small everyday.
This might sound self-defeating, but it’s not at all. Being small doesn’t mean insignificant, it just means living in the reality that you are one tiny part of a much greater whole.
So how do you remind yourself that you’re small?
We’ll get to that in just a second. But first, let’s chat about how we fool ourselves into thinking that we’re big.
We drift toward self-centeredness. “How could that car cut me off?” “Why won’t they call me back?” “I can’t believe McDonalds messed up my order.” (really? They mess my order up 75% of the time)
Additionally, there is technology that can make it feel like the world revolves around us.
Emails.
Twitter followers.
Facebook and Instagram likes.
Blog stats.
More emails.
None of these things are inherently wrong, but for many, checking email or social media is more of an obsession than a means for connection.
Every day we fool ourselves into thinking we’re big, which is why we need to remind ourselves every day that we’re small.
We didn’t create ourselves. We didn’t decide when or where we’d be born. We don’t decide when we die.
So practically speaking, how do you do this?
My daily reminder happens every night when I take my dog Macy for a run. After my daughter is off to sleep, I jog over to the local school track. Running in that large open space, one can’t help but feel small in comparison to the vast sky and the great light of the moon.
No matter what happened during the day, looking up at the stars puts things back in perspective.
Michael Hyatt, world class blogger/author, described that he takes 15 minutes of silence every day. He inspired me to start as well (I recommend setting a timer and turning your phone off so there’s no chance of distraction). This has proved to be another great way of clearing distractions and reflecting on what’s most important in life.
These words of the psalmist are particularly appropriate.
“When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?”
We live more fully by reminding ourselves that we are small, God is big, and He loves the whole of his creation.
How do you remind yourself that you’re small? I’d love to hear your real-life examples in the comments below.
Nice one! I love getting to the mountains for this very reason, they are so massive and immovable it is hard to feel big around them
Another perk of living in New Zealand!
Hey Georgia has mountains too! That is where I grew to love them.