Am I Just a Dot in the Universe?

25, Mentors: Benjamin, Stewart, Brendon, Ben, Sam, and Mike

“Though most would not see it, the experience we are having right now is the most valuable experience we could be having.” –Benjamin Hardy

Do I Matter?

Peering into the sky, into space, toward endless worlds of the Universe I sense how small I am in space and time. Do I matter?

Another Road Trip

I had traveled the route a hundred times before, from Northern Utah to Southern California along Interstate 15. Often I find a bargain at a Las Vegas resort for a nighttime layover. Last week, wearied by the thought of fighting traffic and trudging through a giant hot parking garage, then through a massive noisy casino filled with boring people pressing buttons and sipping drinks.

Instead, I searched for a place to camp at high elevation, out of the heat. All the official campgrounds were all labelled as “full”. But just prior to dusk, I spotted a dirt road which lead me to find various primitive campsites on Forest Service Land.

I Mattered to Someone

As I passed one campsite occupied by a young couple, a man waved to me. My brain was still stuck in routine city mode; I barely gave him notice, and kept driving. At dusk, in the midst of the forest, my eyes and my mind began to open and my heart to soften. My spirit directed me back to the man who had waved to me. Still in a world where I felt I had to rationalize everything I did, I supposed that he needed something. I went back and asked if I could help with anything.

Stewart said he waved to me simply because I mattered. He taught me that he was brought up to acknowledge other people, because they do matter. In an instant I was changed. I wondered how many people he had greeted traveling across the country and back and how many he had taught as he taught me. Was he just a dot in the vast Universe, or something more? What about me? I thought of Brendon Burchard’s introspective thought following his near death experience. At that moment he asked himself the searching questions, “Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter?”

After meeting Stewart, I set up my own camp. Soon, the darkness of night revealed the light of an infinite number of stars. As I thought of what was beyond, even the Milky Way seemed as but an introduction to other worlds. Somehow, with the influence of Stewart’s genuine spirit, I felt like an integral part of something so much bigger than myself, with a sense of belonging.

Changing the World

When I became a police officer three decades ago, some people warned me not to be too idealistic. They said that I couldn’t change the world. After all I was just one person in a very large troubled world. I took that as a challenge and I determined to pray each day to make a positive and lasting influence in someone’s life. With a prayer and this as a goal, I have been abundantly blessed. And I have found that every encounter has an impact on me.

Each of us becomes an integral part of each other. Every encounter changes us and changes our world. My friend Ben lives by the theme, “Change the World.” He teaches that each individual sees the world from a unique perspective. In essence, we each create our own world built from of our environment and our unique experiences. Ben points out that no two worlds are identical. As each of us chooses how to react to all of our encounters, each in turn has an infinite influence on other worlds. Our impact travels in distances of time and space, beyond measure, “To infinity and beyond!” as asserted by John Lasseter’s Disney character, Buzz Lightyear.

Abundant Hearts

In contrast to the near solitude of the wilderness, the next day I was cramped tightly in a crowded ‘In-N-Out Burger’ restaurant in Barstow, California. While waiting for my order, I had a distinct feeling that there was someone I needed to meet. I glanced around at all the hungry people waiting for their number to be called, didn’t see anyone in particular. Suddenly, someone came up from behind me and told me how happy he was to meet me. Sam felt in me an abundant heart and he didn’t hesitate to follow his feelings. Minutes later we left on our journeys. He went north on the highway and I went south. Sam said, “So long as we continue to pay it forward, we can make the world a better place, one friend at a time.”

The Universe in Perspective

Yesterday I was on a hike with my friend Mike. Aside from being pestered by insects, everything was perfect at 9,000’ elevation. The forest was green and alive; everything we saw was another cause for amazement.

At one point there was a massive tree that had fallen across the trail. As I watched Mike maneuver to get around it, I was thinking how small he looked compared to the tree. At the same moment he shared this perspective, “I think that one of the benefits of getting out into nature is to teach you that you are part of a world much bigger than yourself.”

–Every Encounter Builds Perspective–