In an ever-expanding universe, the Earth is only a mere speck. It's fascinating how the humans who inhabit this planet have dreams, worries, and ideas that add up to a size that is unimaginable. There are 7.125 billion of us here, but what does that mean when the size of our universe is most likely infinite?
That makes our species a brave, courageous one. We are dreamers, worriers, and thinkers, but most importantly, we are the reason that a difference exists between our planet and any other one, although we are relatively small compared to everything that exists outside of Earth. This is a realization I had while sitting on the edge of Kankaria Lake, the biggest lake in Ahmedabad, a beautiful city in India that I had the privilege of visiting. The depth and placidity of the lake helped me realize how fascinating our world is: Earth is such a microscopic entity compared to the universe, but it has much more meaning than just a blot in space.
While I worry about how selective medical schools are, black holes are forming. While I'm busy comparing my test scores to my friend's astronomically high test scores, stars are caving in. In the midst of my exchange with the lake, my problems that were once of gargantuan sizes became miniscule.
Looking out onto Kankaria Lake, I also became aware of my competitive nature. Over the last four years of high school, I have striven to raise my hand the most in class, to get the highest grade for every project and test, and to complete extra-credit assignments even when my grade is perfectly fine. With my eyes set on the lake, I took notice of how petty my problems had become throughout all my years in high school. I made the unsettling realization that school had become as important as my family--at times even more important.
We are not a trivial, irrelevant species, but sometimes, we can let our troubles become disproportionate. In high school, I never learned to put my dilemmas into perspective. I disappointingly admit that I allowed myself to believe that my problems were the most important and critical ones. But as Carl Sagan said, "Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people."
Next time when you're overwhelmed by your worries, just remember how small we all are. We're all just trying to get somewhere, to make a name for ourselves, to leave a legacy behind. It is inevitable that we will be forgotten, just like it is inevitable for all things to come to an end, good or bad. I will try to remember all this, which I learned from the lake, just like how Siddhartha Gautama retained all the knowledge that was passed on to him by a river.
