Insignificance

I have some bad news, you are doomed to a life of mediocrity. We are all doomed to a life of mediocrity. Humans are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. In space, atoms are formed, suns are formed, ignite, burn and die. And the universe is vast, unimaginably vast, as unimaginably vast as time itself. A human life is a mere blink in the four billion years or so merely in the life of this planet, this huge planet with the several billion tiny humans on it. There are so many people that a billion could drop dead tomorrow and it would not make a significant difference to the universe, never mind just the one tiny speck that is an individual human. Humans are insignificant.

We are all insignificant, but that can be liberating because we special ones can see and know our true place when many people never do, and we can appreciate being alive because of that knowledge. The reason to live is that it's infinitely better than not living. Humans are special because we know we are alive, does a star know it burns? How blessed we are with this knowledge, when we truly appreciate it!

The best we can do is to help the poor pitiable souls who think they are important somehow and struggle in the daily rat-race of life, of which we are no longer a part. I believe this is the essence of what Buddha thought of as "enlightenment", coming completely to terms with our insignificance without seeking comfort in other people or work or drugs, food etc. Simply accepting.

Mark Sheeky, 18 April 2015