One thing that constantly fascinates me is our ability to be unaware and oblivious of great wonderful things in front of our eyes on a day to day basis.
Sometimes we are so consumed by mundane problems and current affairs that we filter out a lot of information around us. This makes us lose sight of the bigger picture and the magnificence of grand things in our life journey – a journey we so often take for granted.
In many ways, we lose out on creating meaning in our lives because of this simple yet inherent flaw in our nature.
Imagine how more meaningful life would be if we could every now and then step back and shift our awareness from the small picture to the big picture.
If we could escape for a minute from the reality of our daily routines, concerns and narrow habitual cycles (which we seem to drive on autopilot), we can gift ourselves with the knowledge of how special some things in life can be.
One thing which we fail to see is how special we are and I would in this respect like to suggest a couple of valid reasons why this is so.
1. You are reading this!
Well, think for a second about the implications of you reading this article.You are a sentient being biologically and culturally evolved to a point where you can search, filter, decode and organise information shared by other fellow beings.No small thing. We are the only creatures on the planet doing this and although I strongly believe there are other beings in the universe (even of much greater intelligence) we are very probably in the very top percentile of living creatures having this ability. On a neurological level, there is a lot going on – millions of interconnected neurons firing in parallel and reconfiguring connections on the fly. Amazing stuff. On a demographic and historic level, you are part of a very privileged group of humans who live in a time where literacy and ubiquity of information is spread to most part of the planet.
2. You are living in a pivotal age in the history of the world
Although it isn’t at all times obvious, we are actually on the edge of a turning point of a huge and unprecedented technological and social shift. Futurists like Ray Kurzweil describe this tipping point (which will happen somewhere in the next three decades)as the technological singularity in which the breakthrough in one enabling technology (say in special nano-materials or the synthesis of new organisms that will produce fuels, compute or cure diseases) will foster an accelerated change in other technologies. One breakthrough will open up more doors for other breakthroughs till a singularity point is reached in which the shift is so big as to be like nothing else experienced in the history of humanity. We are living witnesses at the dawn of this change.
3. You have the power to change things
We are so blind to this yet we do turn around events and bring about change on a daily basis. Through imagination, creative thinking, planning and visualisation, we take action to make things happen or influence their coming about.
4. You have the power to love and bring joy to other humans and sentient beings
The power of love, compassion and empathy is immense. This capacity is very often underestimated, misunderstood or forgotten under heaps of petty ego-centric concerns. Giving is a way to pass on the human legacy of bonding, caring and loving. Altruism alone can leave positive effects through the network of human relations across time that no other external resource can.
5. You have the power to bring about life
Or had, depending on your gender and biological age. The capacity to propagate life is an amazing thing. This is the ultimate force of nature, mightier than the mightiest storm, eruption or hurricane.
6. You have the power to be a medium of a million good things
To help, teach, inspire, motivate, make aware and share emotions and experiences with others.
7. You have the power to aspire and create new things
New ideas, designs, new ways of thinking, new ways of seeing things. You have immense creative powers waiting to be unleashed even if you might think you don’t.
8. You have the potential to leave something behind that can make a difference to people’s lives
Could be a book, your ideas, your belongings, your memories, your children, your dreams.
9. You carry a code
You are a living medium to the genetical propagation of the future human race.
10. You can relearn the world around you
You have the incredible power to learn new things and reshape your knowledge as you interact with your environment and build up experience. You have the ability to correct and change your point of view as you widen your horizons of knowledge. The wise know that this is indeed one of the most important.
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Author: Gilbert Ross
Gilbert has been writing about personal growth topics for a number of years on his blog SoulHiker and on various other media. He is passionate about researching, writing, practising and teaching people how to achieve positive life transformations and unleash the limitless potential of their mind.
