Copernicus Syndrome

I recently informed a friend that I hadn’t seen her cousin at the gym in several weeks, and (jokingly) asked if she might be avoiding me.  Being the bratty, yet extremely perspicacious individual that she is - she responded by quoting one of my previous posts.  Something to the effect of, “she has her own things going on, not everything is about you Rick.”

http://rickinthecity.blogspot.com/2010/07/bachelorette-why-this-show-is-evil.html  (for your re-reading enjoyment)

Three things went through my head almost immediately:
1. Wow that was kinda mean – I was just making small talk, 
2. It’s friggin awesome to be quoted, (offensively flattered?), and
3. In a broader sense, she makes a very good point.  Nothing actually happens within a vacuum; there are always several outside factors contributing to any situation.

Anyway, I actually saw her cousin at the gym today; which got me thinking about this affliction that we all seem to suffer from (albeit to varying degrees).  I’m going to call it Copernicus Syndrome (though it could more aptly be titled pre-Copernicus Syndrome).  Basically, Copernicus was the first scientist to postulate that the Earth was not at the center of the Universe.

“The most important aspect of Copernicus' work is that it forever changed the place of man in the cosmos; no longer could man legitimately think his significance greater than his fellow creatures; with Copernicus' work, man could now take his place among that which exists all about him, and not of necessity take that premier position which had been assigned immodestly to him by the theologians.” [Landry]

If you are unable to understand how this correlates to human behavior; you are either completely selfless, or completely loathsome. 

At this point, astute readers may be thinking, “douche bag, anyone that is self-important enough to have his own Blog, has no business calling out others for thinking they’re more important than they actually are.”  In reality, the complete opposite is true.  I started this Blog because I’m not narcissistic enough to believe that people want to be force fed my musings on Facebook or Twitter. 

My Words of Wisdom

Mind your P’s and Q’s

What others think of me is none of by business.  Striving to live by this mantra (and it’s not easy), will make your life significantly more happy.

Just live your life…

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
Bill Cosby

Takeaway – try to remember that something said to you, done to you, not said to you, or not done to you, may have very little to actually do with you.