Article July 1, 1972 Issue

Overcoming Self-centeredness

DOUGLAS ROBERTS

For some years I was troubled by intense self-consciousness. I was not at ease with strangers, and as my work necessitated meeting the public, my daily life was difficult. By facing up to this ordeal, however, striving to awaken from self-centeredness to a sense of God's Spirit's, allness and man's perfection, I gradually realized that the emotional disturbance really had nothing to do with people. It stemmed from human belief only.

The following incident helped to confirm this point. While walking through a museum, I entered a room and was embarrassed to see a group of frock-coated gentlemen standing around evidently in serious conversation. I was momentarily taken aback. Observing them more closely, however, I discovered that they were only wax figures representing a historical occasion.

Here was food for thought. Although I was still alone, yet I had experienced the same reactions that I had always attributed to the presence of strange people. This proved that my emotions were the result of my own fears and imaginings, rather than of others' mentalities. The error thus exposed was soon destroyed, and my tendency to self-consciousness was overcome. It was proved no more than a dream.

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