I sometimes worry about the slightest thing. Or sometimes, I worry about catastrophic events that have a minuscule chance of happening. Like what if the house collapses? Or if our electricity goes down? Or if the toilet gets clogged?
Random things like that. A couple of days ago, I was playing the stock market. And I was worrying about whether or not I would lose $200 or $400. And my overall portfolio worth is significantly larger than that sum of money. Yet, I found myself worrying about losing a comparatively small sum of money in the grand scheme of things.
I found myself thinking about minuscule events and zooming them out into grander proportions, thinking they would have a larger effect on my well-being than they actually would. So what if I lost $200 in the stock market? So what?
I think many times in life we find ourselves worrying about things that we feel is a large matter. Is an important matter. Maybe even a life or death matter. That if we don’t do this, or if this happens, then life will never be the same again.
But, if we practice a little perspective, we should realize that those small losses or those small worries are just that. Small in the grand scheme of things.
Sadhguru mentions that we are all just pop ups in this universe. We pop up, and then we pop out. There are almost 8 billion people in this world as of today. We each account for exactly 1 of them. One. Uno. Nothing more. Nothing less.
How significant are our problems in the grand scheme of things anyways? Will it move or shake the Earth in some grand form? Will losing $200 causes the entire Universe to collapse unto itself? Will my toilet getting clogged lead to the destruction of Earth?
Will worrying about aliens invading the Earth ever be worth it? Will aliens actually come to our galaxy, and find our Earth, and land on our planet, to take over our world? Will that ever happen? Or is it just a pipe dream?
These worries are just a product of either our memory or our imagination. Or both. That’s the root of where all worries come from. If we just let our mind sit still and stay in the present moment, there are no worries at all for us to ponder about. We would be in absolute peace and bliss. Or whatever that state of mind you want to call it. Fulfillment. Purpose. Serenity. Love. Dedication. Commitment.
Most of our worries are nothing more than specks on the planet. They are minuscule. They are sub-atomic. They are not even worth the time and energy to think about. Yet, we as human beings, still worry on a day-to-day basis.
We worry about whether we are doing enough work. We worry about getting to work on time. We worry about the state of the pandemic. We worry about our friends, family, and relatives. We worry about the state of the World we live in. We worry endlessly.
It is easier said than done to just stop worry once and for all. Our minds churn up worries endlessly. I guess maybe it’s what we do in order to survive millions of years ago. It’s what kept our species going. But, our world is no where near as dangerous now as it was at that time.
Yet, we constantly find new things to worry about. We worry about social media. We worry about transportation. We worry about the Internet. We worry about the latest innovations that come to our fingertips. It doesn’t seem to matter whether we live in a first-world or a third-world country. The worries come incessantly.
So, what do we do in these cases? How do we stem the tide? How do we practice acceptance and be in the “present” moment? How do we come to terms with our humanity and realize that we are imperfect minds at best?
I don’t have a direct answer for you at this moment. If we continuously practice acceptance and gratitude on a day-by-day basis, we can learn to manage our worries. To keep them at bay. To realize that this world is beautiful day in and day out. That we have a lot of things in life that we should be blessed to have.
And that our worries are minuscule in this grand universe. How big exactly are our problems? We magnify them to be catastrophic. But, at the end of the day, what’s the big deal if you lose a little bit of money on a stock portfolio? What’s the big deal if someone gives you a cold shoulder? What’s the big deal if you lose a promotion or your girlfriend dumps you or you go through a divorce? What’s the big deal?
I’m not trying to disrupt nor minimize anyone’s worries. If you are living below the poverty line, every dollar counts for something. And it is definitely painful and tragic to go thru death, hatred, famine, and other dreads that nature still piles on us today.
It’s just that in the grand scheme of things, we as human beings are minuscule beings. The planet Earth is just a microcosm of the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way galaxy is peanuts compared to the grand universe. And who knows how far this universe extends, or if there is even a limit to this beautiful nature?
We spend our time worrying about our stock portfolio, about our wealth, about our iPhones, and we don’t ponder just how grand and beautiful the entire existence is. If we can see the comical triviality of everything we do, then maybe we will realize that we can celebrate every little fortune (or misfortune) that happens to us as just the way it is. No better or worse. Just bliss and harmony.