This summer, I took a little vacation to Colorado with my best friend. We needed a change of scenery and a break from the stresses of life. Along with new tan lines and a new Facebook cover photo, the mountains taught me a thing or two about life.

From far away (and at first glance), it was difficult to truly grasp the size and majesty of the Rocky Mountains. They loomed in the distance as a gentle reminder of their presence, but nothing more. As we drove through the valley, the wall of land rose up in front of us like New York City skyscrapers, intimidating and awe-inspiring. As we spiraled up the dirt road towards the trailhead, we were enveloped in a canopy of trees, so much so that I almost forgot we were ascending a mountain. The hike up was no different.

At about the halfway point on the trail, there was a break in the trees, and we could finally see just how high up we truly were. The Denver skyline was nowhere in sight. I took a moment to breathe in the mountain air and bask in the beauty of the miniscule world below. I felt a slight tug on my brain from the part that reminds me how small I am in this world, how insignificant. It receded as quickly as it had come.

Once we finally reached the end of the trail, we climbed the 143 steps to the Devil’s Head Fire Tower Lookout. As I walked around the outside of the tower, taking pictures of the view, I stopped for a moment and lowered the camera. You could see at least a hundred miles in each direction, and Pike’s Peak towered in the distance. So close yet so very far away.

Everything below was so small. I could pinch the tree tops and rock formations between my thumb and forefinger. The horizon, usually at eye level, appeared to be above me; no matter how high up you go, there is always room to go higher.

While standing atop a great mountain made me feel small, it also reminded me that even the smallest things have meaning and purpose. Without the bees, the beautiful flowers we saw during our ascent wouldn’t exist. Without the trees, the sun would have burned us up. Without each little individual rock and piece of earth, the mountains wouldn’t even have come to be in the first place.

Everything in this world, no matter how big or small, is valuable, including people. Even if it may not seem like it, the world would be completely different without you in it. You affect people’s lives even in the simplest of ways, ways that you might not even be paying attention to.

People matter. You matter. No matter how small you might see yourself in comparison to the mountains that life throws at you, you matter. No matter how many people tell you how worthless and miniscule you are, you matter.

I think that Matt Smith’s Doctor said it best: “900 years of time and space, and I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important.” You were zapped into existence for a reason. Don’t waste it obsessing over what others think of you. Be strong. Be courageous. Be the mountain.