Have you ever thought about what happens when you die?
Let’s brush the whole discussion of an afterlife aside and focus less on what happens to you after you pass and more on the world itself.
How much of what you did from day one on earth to your end will be remembered? How different is the world solely because of the actions you took (for better or worse?)
Sure, there are plenty of influences seen today that were a direct impact from individuals of the past. The Beatles and Elvis both revolutionized modern music and even our tastes in fashion, for example. Dig back further and you have philosophers like Socrates and Plato or polymaths like Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo. The list goes on.
But of the chosen few, there remain billions who don’t have such an impact. Let’s not sugarcoat it, there’s a good chance that you and I won’t leave a profound mark upon our exits.
Here’s a timeline to give you perspective:
The universe is estimated to be about 13.8 billion years old.
Our beautiful planet has been around for 4.5 billion years.
Dinosaurs were around anywhere between 230 and 65 million years ago.
How long have modern humans been around? About 200,000 years ago.
All of that and you and I would consider living to age 90 a blessing.
In this context, even if you and I live a full, healthy, and eventful life it wouldn’t even register as a single footnote in the grand scheme of things. Incredible.
“Who will remember me?”, you can ask yourself.
“How will the world have changed thanks to me?”
And the slow realization that none of it matters, none of us are truly remembered in the long-run, could give you goosebumps accompanied by a feeling of dread that’ll send you into a nihilistic trance.
But then again, it could also make you want to leap for joy.
We get to shift our focus on something completely different. It’s no longer about leaving a mark on the entire world (though that’s a noble goal in itself that I encourage), but about getting back to the fundamentals.
What really matters, and what can be your primary life’s goal, is to change the personal lives of the people around you for the better.
You and I may not be remembered in a few thousand years or even a hundred, but at least we have the power to make a difference to the people breathing the same air as us today.
Our lives do matter. The actions we take have good and/or bad effects on those around us.
Why not fill our lives with people who make our time here more cheerful? Why not add to theirs as well?
The universe may not care about you but the people around you do. Let’s give ourselves to the ones who care.
very nice article telling the reality of doing all good . Of course we do remember few people and most of people who we know lived as they wanted fulfilling their duties and doing actions which inspired them. Life still is full of beauty and struggle to live it fully.
Life is long and beautiful! Plenty of time to fill it up with some awesome chapters.
Life only appears long to those under 45.
Beautiful!
As are you!
I can only say how true, and how pointless it is to worry and stress over the things we feel are so important. How
Frustrating and sad because we know all this and yet we still continue to do it. Even the clever men of the past have never come up with an answer to worry. If someone does well now that would leave it’s mark. Worry is a complete waste of time, it distroys life and serves no purpose what so ever, other than to exhaust us and Rob us of the joy we could have without it.
I’m not sure what all these clever men have given us, other than more to think about, hence more to stress about, and unless I’ve missed something no answers to the human dilemma, ( what’s it all For) Just being good to our surrounding family doesn’t seem to be enough to warrant the struggle of life.
“Just being good to our surrounding family doesn’t seem to be enough to warrant the struggle of life.”
Could you expand what you mean? Not sure I understood this part.
Of course it is a pleasure to look after family, and do the best for friends ect, but for me I’ve always felt restless as I feel there must be a bigger reason for our existance. Just to be hear to procreate and then die seems so pointless. Their are people that do wonderful things but in the end we all end up the same way, dead! Unless you believe in God there seems little point in it. Do you believe in God?
I do, to some extent, but I don’t think it’s pointless even if there were no afterlife. If anything, that makes it that much more spectacular. To have no omniscient creator means that life on earth itself is quite literally the most amazing miracle there ever was. Doesn’t that count for something?
Yes of course, I agree. I find life too incredible to have just arrived with no creator. Taking nature aside, everything on this earth has a designer, so why not life it self? It’s an unanswerable conundrum.
I just think if there was no such thing as death we would live a better life. There would be no rush, therefore it would take out the desperation to get somewhere, to achieve, to make our mark, unfortunately in a world that will soon forget us.
The amazing achievements of man to me deserves a better conclusion.
Thank you for writing this post. It certainly gives me something to ponder on…
You’re welcome! And thank you for reading!
Hello,
Thank you for this thought provoking article, strangely comforting at just the right time, albeit a couple of years old, still pertinent today.
Also some of the replies are thought provoking too.
Thank you and best wishes