It’s almost never about us.
Today, in sweeping the dining room, I accidentally killed a spider. It’s not what I wanted to do, actually just the opposite of what I intended. I thought I was being careful to avoid him with the broom. But there, when I swept up the dust pile, was his crushed little body.
I felt horrible. I don’t like killing anything unnecessarily. And he was certainly doing no harm. I apologized to him quickly and wished him well on his journey across the great divide.
His response was unexpected. “I know you didn’t mean to kill me. I understand you were just trying to get the dirt and crumbs off of the floor. So much that happens in life isn’t about us. It’s about something larger, something that we perhaps can’t even conceive of or understand.”
This wisdom coming from a spider surprised me. He certainly understands something that most of us truly don’t get. It usually isn’t about us. We’re almost never victims. We just get caught up in a larger pattern, sometimes in ways we don’t like.
Today’s message from the spider reminds me that when I’m in a tough situation, it serves me best to be cheerful and practical. Whiney doesn’t fix anything. Life doesn’t have it in for me. When I realize that sometimes bad things just happen, I can deal with them more effectively.
Please reflect and share. Do you ever feel victimized by life?