(In)significant

By Mona Akra

“I have put on too much weight!” – “I think I failed this exam!” – “Oh, no, I have a pimple on my nose!” – “Oh no, my friend has much bigger biceps than me!” – “I’m worried about not getting into my dream university…” – Bla bla bla…

Do these thoughts sound familiar to you?

 Somehow, while praying, it occurred to me how insignificantly small I am. Come to think of it, Jupiter is a planet around 122 times bigger than the earth in size… and what am I with respect to the earth? Nothing!

What is Jupiter with respect to the universe? Nothing!

What is the universe with respect to the One who made it? Nothing!

And this is when it strikes you! When you realize how small you are with respect to the whole, how tiny and non-existent. Like a tiny part of a drop in the ocean… somehow, it is comforting, because you realize how silly your ruminating thoughts are. You realize that, with the help of the One who made everything around you, you can do anything – ANYTHING! What is it that is below His power?

The strange thing lies in the paradox – usually we like to feel big and important. Our ego likes it. But then again, the realization that we are really ‘nothing’, is highly comforting and relaxing. Because we realize that anything is doable, and all negativity is futile and unjustified… because we realize that we are not alone. There is a bigger purpose behind us that keeps us going…The One who made us, won’t ever leave us.

And so, we reach the conclusion that ‘we don’t really matter’. Until we realize that, although we are small and insignificant with respect to the whole, we are part of it. You are you, with all your strengths and weaknesses, because this is how it was meant to be! We have to make a difference, a change, we have to wake up, learn, read, love, feel, hurt, be hurt, hug, be hugged, laugh, cry…………. All because it is part of the bigger plan.

Think of the last time it rained down heavily. What a spectacle it must have been! You were without an umbrella, you got wet and probably still have a runny nose. Imagine now that one drop fell on your head. Would you even have noticed it?

This is it. We all are little raindrops, part of a whole. Without each of us, the whole could not make a difference. And so, our input is necessary for the whole to function. We can make storms and peace, we can make war and hugs, we can… Yes we can. 

It is a fascinating stretching game; on one side there is the realization of how irrelevant we are with respect to the whole, on the other side there is the idea that we are HERE, alive, for a purpose.I’ll sum up with one of my favorite quotes by Osho:

“Each person comes into this world with a specific destiny--he has something to fulfill, some message has to be delivered, some work has to be completed. You are not here accidentally--you are here meaningfully. There is a purpose behind you. The whole intends to do something through you.”

My addition is: Just don’t give your “self” too much importance. Because then again, who are you with respect to the One who made you?