The importance of perspective – Toby Chavasse
Perspective. Your often told to go and get ‘it’, but its not as though you can just go and buy it from the local coop. Perspective is something often interpreted in many different ways, and it for some it just comes naturally and for others they have to think about it.
So, what do I mean when I say perspective? To put it simply, it’s just the way in which you view something; often getting the bigger picture. For example, I recently just had exams, and to avoid getting stressed, I gained some perspective and saw that in the grand scheme of things these little exams were not so important. If I were to look back on my school career in 10 years’ time, I do not think these exams would ever feature in my memory.
Personally, I think perspective is much more useful on an even Bigger scale that just your life. We are on a tiny planet located in the solar system, which is in a small galaxy. There are billions and billions and billions of galaxies in the universe, and that’s suggesting that there is only one universe! The milky way is just a speck of dust in this universe, and the earth is just a speck of dust in the milky way. Its sometimes useful to remind yourself how insignificant we really are, if you think about everything else that is really out there. Suddenly your recent exam grades don’t seem so important.
Now if that doesn’t work you can get some perspective from a much smaller scale. I am talking microscopic. What is the probability that one specific sperm survived and reached your mother’s egg? Scientists estimate the probability of you being born is about one in 400 trillion. The fact that YOU are living is frankly incredible and is against all odds. The probability of your grandparents being born , and your mother and father meeting, and your genes being made unique from crossing over, leading to the fertilization of an egg, that implanted safely into the uterus that developed into a child and survived being born. That’s pretty incredible and when you remember that the fact you are alive is so extraordinary, it helps you keep things in perspective. So, stop worrying about the little things, because at the end of the day you need to make the most of a life that you could easily not be living, on an insignificant rock floating around in space, that could have easily never been made.
So when something seems to bring your life crashing down, look up to the sky and remember how small and tiny the galaxy is, and how small and tiny the planet is, and how small and tiny you are, and how insignificant this problem is. And if that doesn’t work, look into yourself and remember how unlikely it is for you to have been born, and remember that you should be making the most of defying the odds, so don’t dwell on whatever is making you upset.
In the midst of a global pandemic, where everything seems never ending, now more than ever its time to get some perspective. It will be over. It will get better. And at the end of the day, we are all lucky to be here, to be present in this moment in time, and what ever happens after this exact moment that your reading this, be thankful for the life you have lived, and be hopeful for the rest of what is to come, and above all, keep your perspective.
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