The Insignificance of Everything you do!
You will be forgotten
The truth we humans tend to avoid
You will be forgotten.
Yes you!
With all your accomplishments, the Good & Bad you’ve done to people around you, all the Money you’ve accumulated plunging day and night at work and through your investments, the great things you have built or bought for yourself and others will soon perish and turn to dust.
A thought Experiment
This was taught to me by one of my school teachers.
Sit Still and become aware of all the people that are present in your home right now. Count them on your fingers.
Let’s go a little bigger. Consider all the people living in your Apartment building, locality or township. Maybe 100, 200 or even 500 people.
Within your area, there might be other different houses, apartments. Now go a little bigger, become aware of all the people present in your entire City.
Consider people present in your entire State, now for consider each State in your country — Just try to imagine how many people are there living in your entire country at the same time as you.
Quite a big number right!
Now consider your position by taking into account other countries and the World at large.
You are just a blip in a grand scheme of things.
Give up the feeling of Shame because whatever you do soon will become pretty insignificant with time.
A majority of you aren’t going to go down in history!
Some lucky ones will be remembered for 2–3 generations and that’s it.
History will be rewritten
History will be rewritten by those who come to power or those who get the gift of life after you.
Most will make sure that you don’t get included.
Those who burnt their midnight oil to succeed at work or life will find themselves forgotten by the new generation.
No, that’s not harsh. That’s Nature.
If Nature gives you something, it sure does take it all away when it wants.
That’s how Nature controls the balance of Power.
The ones who were once called Great, Supreme, Gods, Rich, Legends, etc. have all turned to dust.
Remember: You are dying every day
“This is our big mistake,” Seneca wrote, “to think we look forward toward death. Most of death is already gone. Whatever time has passed is owned by death.”
We are dying every day and no day, once dead, can be revived.
— Daily Stoic
Trying to make people remember you doesn’t work
Your code will be rewritten, Software will become outdated, Companies will go Bankrupt, Buildings will be Demolished, Inventions & Discoveries will be forgotten.
No one will remember — You, Your name, and things you’ve built or worked hard for.
All of the ego, pride, accomplishments, will fail to make people remember your name.
The want of many people wanting to become immortal is a fallacy. You just can’t be remembered for that long.
Here’s a short story,
At my School’s entrance were 2 Bulletin Boards containing names of all the Toppers in 10th and 12th Grade that had passed School.
Like many of you I had imagined getting my name into one of those but guess what it didn’t happen!
Later on in life I realized a Hard truth — With all your struggles with studies and learning hard concepts (all your perseverance & hard work), all you get is a name on board.
Nobody gets to walk into your shoes and feel what you feel.
Nobody knows the struggle you had to put yourself through.
Do Good
After knowing all this — instead of sinking into despair and pain, one way to make your life mean something is by spending time in service of other people.
Solving other people’s problems, their issues and reducing their pain.
Ultimately, you owe your life much more to others than to yourself.
It is only when time is spent in service of others do you get to reap the benefits of the Living.
“Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all those who live without love.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
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The Insignificance of Everything you do! was originally published in DataDrivenInvestor on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.