So, you think your problems are big?
Tell me: what is it that troubles you the most: money, love, health, poverty, politics, government... what is it?
Isn’t it strange: we live a tiny amount of time, occupying a very tiny amount of space, and yet, during our life, we have so many worries?!
Original photo source: "Star" by Tom Hall
Will you do a small experiment with me?
Take a clean sheet of paper letter or A4 format, please.
Put it on the table and face it toward you, landscape oriented. Now, draw one line across it. Imagine that line represents our universe’s timeline. Then, somewhere in the middle, put a small line, which will represent your own existence. To the left of that line, there is an infinite past; on the right is an infinite future, stretching beyond your existence.
Furthermore, regardless of how tiny you draw that line, it will always be too thick for what actually represents your own personal time in this universe!
And you still think your problems are big?
Flip the paper, please.
Put one dot in the middle.
That dot represents our star, the Sun. Now, at the distance of 1 cm (0.39”) from the first dot, put a second dot. That represents our own planet, Earth. The distance between those two dots is called 1 AU — one astronomical unit.
Now...
The nearest star, Alpha Centauri, is 4.37 light-years away, or 276,363.5 astronomical units. If we would relate that to our paper, we would draw the dot for Alpha Centauri 2.76 km (1.71 miles) away.
Tell me, now, do you really, really, really think your problems are big?
In all that vastness of space and time, one needs to be especially self-centred, selfish and arrogant to say, “I have problems! My problems are big!”
Seriously?
You have a problem?
Your problems are big?
What problems do you have, o you troublesome human creature?
What are the problems that one cannot solve?
What is it that your heart desires?
What is the thing that you are willing to kill your brother for?
Have I told you, yet? No, I have not. Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is 100,000 light-years (1,000,000,000,000,000,000 km) across, and the diameter of the observable universe is 93 billion light-years long.
Don’t you think that is enough for all of our dreams to fit in and to fulfil all of our selfish desires?
Remind me, again: what is that that troubles you?
If you liked this story, you may like my book.
System Upgrade v2.016:
Solutions for a failing economy, wealth distribution, declining democracy, climate change, and robots that steal jobs
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