Have you ever wondered if the choices you make today will shape your future in a meaningful way; how your proverbial butterfly wings will effect you in decades time?
Sometimes when I'm alone on public transportation, I look around and think about how every stranger on the bus or train could have meant something to me had I a chosen a different path in life or been born into a different family. I started doing this in university and it's always tripped me out. Everybody is somebody's child, best friend, maybe somebody's significant other or teacher or parent. I think we apply meaning to people in the same way we do life decisions. We'll say things like "imagine if I never took that job, then I never would've met that colleague who introduced me to the love of my life", etc. But actually, for as many profound connections and moments we've accumulated, we've lost infinitely more because of all the decisions we didn't make and the paths we didn't follow. Don't get me wrong, I find it beautiful to reflect on the sliding door moments in my life and how each tiny decision has led me to the people and places and circumstances that I'm in today; however, I've let go of a lot of fear of making the wrong decision when I come to a fork in the road. I think you can create beauty or despair in anything depending on the way you think about your life. You can choose to romanticize and apply a narrative to the realities of being a human on planet earth, or you can just show up every day and take things as they come. I think the former is a little bit more enjoyable.
Sometimes when I'm alone on public transportation, I look around and think about how every stranger on the bus or train could have meant something to me had I a chosen a different path in life or been born into a different family. I started doing this in university and it's always tripped me out. Everybody is somebody's child, best friend, maybe somebody's significant other or teacher or parent. I think we apply meaning to people in the same way we do life decisions. We'll say things like "imagine if I never took that job, then I never would've met that colleague who introduced me to the love of my life", etc. But actually, for as many profound connections and moments we've accumulated, we've lost infinitely more because of all the decisions we didn't make and the paths we didn't follow. Don't get me wrong, I find it beautiful to reflect on the sliding door moments in my life and how each tiny decision has led me to the people and places and circumstances that I'm in today; however, I've let go of a lot of fear of making the wrong decision when I come to a fork in the road. I think you can create beauty or despair in anything depending on the way you think about your life. You can choose to romanticize and apply a narrative to the realities of being a human on planet earth, or you can just show up every day and take things as they come. I think the former is a little bit more enjoyable.
Well said, I like your point of view :)
I also think the part about strangers on transport makes us feel a little more connected to others.