On Finding Significance in a Massive World

When you were a child, you dreamed of being a hero.

• You were the lone warrior.
• You were the famous princess.
• You were the great astronaut.
• You were a great leader.

Are you those things? Probably not. You may have joined the military or ended up being a intern for NASA, but you never got the grandiose dream you imagined.

Now, as a adult, you may be asking, “What’s the point?”

Imagine this.

The year is 1306. You are a young solider of the Mongol Empire. You dream of taking down a general, but instead you have just been thrown into a small lackluster unit of ten men, who spend their time in-fighting and drinking fermented mare’s milk. To make matters worse, you have been stationed in a isolated location.

Why should you even train? Does you life even matter?

This is the wrong idea. Every individual action is significant.

• If you train, you may increase the genetic fitness of your children.
• If you abstains from drink, you may prevent yourself from falling into years of drunken stupor which would hurt your spouse.
• If you work hard at your post, you may influence the nine men around you – completely changing their lives.
• If you improve the outpost, you may attract more people to the outpost, which would lead to the creation of a village.
• If you drops crumbs on the ground, you may feed the ants, allowing the ants to create a minuscule dynasty (which lasts generations).

Additionally, if you truly wanted, you could put in the effort to get sent to a different outpost. But, you could only do this if you were not in-fighting and drinking mare’s milk.

So, if you ask yourself, “What’s the point?”

Do not forget your own significance. It may be a small contribution, but it is still your contribution. You may simply be cleaning a bathroom in a home, but you are still making a difference.

[Recommended Reading: The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati]