Ever watch people make their world smaller, smaller, smaller?

Once after having lived overseas,  I visited my high school to play basketball with old teammates. They wondered aloud why I would leave the comforts of the strip malls of Tacoma? Actually, I like my hometown of Tacoma, but some of those friends were doing the same things that we were back in high school.

Maybe in church or at work, some people try to make their world smaller so that they can have bigger impact. Yes, to be the proverbial bigger fish in a smaller pond. Some friends don’t want their friends to have other friends. Some mothers try to be more significant in their children’s lives by stifling them in the home. Girlfriends and boyfriends try to monopolize each other’s time so they can be more important to each other.

In building a business, be weary of such people. They will make a mountain out of a mole hill. They will make you sweat running in place. They will be a distraction.

In friendship, be weary of such people. They will monopolize your time as the world passes by. They will trivialize the truly relevant and exaggerate the unimportant. Their intentions are never for you but for their own insecurity.

In relationship, be weary of such people. They will play on your insecurities. They will not let you grow. They will suck energy out of you and never give any back.

So, how small are you making your world?

Or, are you being enlightening to others, inspiring those around you?