Have you ever gone outside at night and looked up at the moon and stars and realized just how small you really are? It’s almost a feeling of insignificance but it’s not related to low self-esteem. This realization, this feeling of being small, immediately diminishes our self-importance leaving us with a feeling of peace. The vastness of the dark sky illuminated by the moon and filled with millions of stars affords of the blessing of realizing just how small our problems really are.
We have the opportunity in this life to make a difference in the lives of others and to leave this world a better place. There are very few of us though who will be remembered through history for his or her contributions to this world. So, does this make such people more important or less small than us? In a way perhaps, but even these people that go down in history for their significant contributions or harm, are still just extremely small parts of the whole. The vastness of it All can help even these people to realize just how small there problems really are too.
Our problems stem from an overwhelming sense of self so anything we can do to diminish this self will prove to be beneficial to our spiritual, mental and emotional conditions. In the scenario in the opening paragraph, I describe peace as being the result of realizing just how small we really are. We experience all types of trials and tribulations and pain and suffering in this life as a result of being attached to this self. We get upset when we don’t get our way whether we lose something that we posses or we do not get something that we want. This we, or more importantly I in the first person, is the cause of our pain and suffering. I want this or I want that, I don’t like this or I don’t like that. I don’t feel good, I am sad or I am angry, I am hungry, I am tired, I don’t like my job, I don’t like my spouse, I want a new car, I want more money… I, I, I.
What if there was no I? Who then would experience the unpleasantness, the pain and the suffering of this life? Think about it…
Can you understand why the less importance we put on our self, the happier we become? Most if not all of the posts on this site can help you to reduce your sense of self. I will continue to write about self and ways in which we can learn to let go of it. Go outside alone on the next clear night and look up at the moon and stars for a while. Don’t rush back inside, take it all in, relax and breathe.
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