Your Impact Is Small. So What?
You are going to die one day. So what is your place in the universe? Where do you fit in? Why do you matter?
You may think your impact is small. And in the grand scale of the universe, it probably is. But that means every other human being is also insignificant. But the question then becomes this: What IS significant, from this perspective?
The rocks that make up the earth? The plasma that makes up the sun? The endless conceptual nothingness of space? These will all outlive us. But they are lifeless. Empty. They have no feelings or thoughts. They have no meaning outside of the meaning we give to them. So what makes us different? Why do we matter?
We are people. We are conscious. We have feelings, and thoughts, and ideas. We have hopes and dreams. We are ALIVE. Even you. Right now. You are now Manually Breathing. You are now Manually Blinking. You are thinking about how you're blinking and breathing. You're getting mad at me for pointing these things out to you. Conceptualizing this strange one-way dialogue we are having over a screen blasting blue-light at you.
The screen doesn't matter. It will one day die. The screen does not breathe manually. But you breathe. You think. You feel. You form opinions. Because you are alive. And THAT. Is why you matter. More than anything else in the universe. There are other suns. Other planets. Other moons. All of them have the exact same level of importance; zero. Because they are nothing without the stories we share, the emotions we feel, and the meaning that WE give them. But you? Your value is LIMITLESS. You matter more than the rocks that make up this planet. You matter more than the sun. You matter more than anything in the entire universe. Because what it means to “matter” is determined by the meaning we give. What else matters OTHER THAN your unique experience?
Without feelings--without LIFE--everything's just atoms floating through space. But with life, love, energy, feelings, opinions, anger, hate, yearning, vengeance--The universe becomes so much MORE. Stories are told. Lives are changed. People are BEAUTIFUL because THEY ARE ALIVE!
Every person matters, regardless of their impact on the universe. The goal should not be to try to change the world. The world does not need a Superman. You do not need to be remembered by history books forever, but you can be remembered by the people you are close to and the people you are kind to. The goal is not to be remembered, though, the goal is simply to enjoy life. We only get one life. Stop weighing yourself down with questions of “What about after I die?”. It’s unhelpful. Because you’ll be dead.
Live your life! Enjoy your life! Your impact is small, but that doesn’t make you any less valuable, it doesn’t make you any less important, and it doesn’t make you any less worthy of being heard. Share your story!
