Perspective
Life can be overwhelming. Our lives can often feel beset by financial, professional and interpersonal problems. While some of us have real, life-or-death problems, let’s face it, the rest of us probably fetter away a lot of time worrying about some pretty pedestrian stuff. We worry if people will like us. We worry about not getting the things we want or losing stuff we got (material or otherwise). In times like these, perspective can help a lot.
You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else.
–Chuck Palahniuk
The above video was made several years ago by the Museum of Natural History. It takes us on a journey from the earth to the furthest depths of the universe that were observable up to that point via the Hubble telescope–13.7B light years. What is shows is that we and our planet are mind-numbingly small in the context of the likely-infinite scale of the universe.
How does any this relate to our day-to-day problems? Perhaps our nano-size can be a liberating force. Whenever you’re feeling overwhelmed, remember that whatever problems you’re dealing with, take heart, chances are, in the big scheme of things, it’s probably a lot smaller and less significant than you think it is.