Feeling Small? Make waves!

Hello Everyone,

One of my kids asked me a question the other day, "Do you ever feel insignificant?"

My initial gut feeling was, "No". 

As my brain tried to process the question, it came up with, "Yes", but I was feeling strangely at peace with it and I didn't know why.

If you look at it on a universal point of view, lets say from the edge of the galaxy, I am pretty tiny. A speck of a speck of a speck of a speck of a speck of something. Does being a funeral director mean anything from that point of view? Will traveling and geocaching Route 66 have universal significance? Not really. And that is what I think my kid was thinking and feeling at the time, does anything we do have any meaning? 

I can understand why he'd feel that way. Haven't we all wondered something like that? The meaning of life.

I think he was missing something in his thinking thou...an 'End Game'

End Game? What the heck is an End Game? Heck if I know for sure. But, right now I'd say that End Game, for the human race, is getting off this rock we call Earth and explore and spread everywhere the Universe has to offer.

I know it kind of sounds like a Star Trek type thing, but it's a great to look on how the End Game might turn out. We see all the technological advancements the characters have at their disposal. We see what the society looks like of being part of a star fleet. They show us on what it looks like when the human race colonizes a planet. We see strong characters do extra ordinary feats. What is the End Game? Advance. Advance. Advance.

What do we not see? We don't see all the technological advancements that came before their current levels. We don't see what the societies looked like prior to their time line. We don't see what the humans had to go through when they first landed on a planet and decided to call it home. We don't really see not-so-strong characters do ordinary tasks. The End Game is still the same. So does that make the previous generation insignificant? What about the generation before that?

I remember listening to a sermon years ago. The pastor asked, "Do you remember your parents?"

Well, yeah, I suppose virtually everyone does, I thought.

"Do you remember your grandparents?"

I am betting most of us do.

"Do you remember your great grandparents?"

I don't. Maybe a handful of people might.

"Do you remember your great great grandparents?"

Doubt anybody here does. Maybe a lucky one or two perhaps. Where's this going?

"How does it make you feel that in 3 to 4 generations, you will be forgotten?"

Very good point. Depressing. But a very good point. Seems hopeless. Almost made me feel insignificant. As the sermon went on, he talked about how previous generations, even though you never met them, influenced the generation that came after them. And how that generation influenced the generation that came after them. And so on. And what is the End Game? Advance and try to make the next generation better than the previous one.

Basically, the ripple effect of generations you don't know, influenced who you are today. And guess what? You are going to make ripples. Not just in your family, but think about all the people you call friends, co-workers, neighbors, fellow club members, etc... You unknowingly are making ripples into their lives and they are making ripples into your life. And what is the End Game? Advance.

If you want to think deeper about it, as you read this, think about your day today. If you could go back in time and change one thing about your day, would you be reading this blog now? What if you could go back in time and change something you did yesterday, would you be reading this now? Everything you did today, yesterday, last week, last year, etc... led you to right here and right now. Everything you do today, tomorrow, next week, next year, etc...influences what is to come. Are you going to make the ripple positive or negative? Are you going to make ripples to help advance something or stop it? 

The future depends on you regardless if you are funeral director, insurance adjuster, cook, plumber, ship's captain, or professor. 

Yeah, I guess I am insignificant because I'll be forgotten in a hundred years, but my ripples will silently, and without notice, continue on. And I am at peace with that.