“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every ‘superstar,’ every ‘supreme leader,’ every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there—on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.” -Carl Sagan

Here, Carl Sagan is effectively highlighting humanity’s misplaced self-importance. This might seem grim, but only because of your ego! The urge for success is not only a source of anxiety, but in and of itself, the quest is an empty venture. All of the greatest champions, the brightest minds, countless species and the biggest empires have fallen or morphed out of existence. All of humanity is contained within the last 200,000 year—a short breath compared to the 160 million year domination of the dinosaurs.

When I first learned these truths I felt the pull from my ego, begging me to reconcile all the work I had done—all my physical and emotional toil to raise my social status— with the new realization that success is meaningless in itself. But success has some instrumental value; we shouldn’t give up on our goals or feel shrunken. Rather, in this realization it becomes apparent that the worries, debts, obligations, school-work and the unpleasant and awkward moments that plague us with anxiety are but the smallest of concerns. It might be repetitive to tell you: “What matters is the moment.” So here’s another way to explain the idea: you are built out of the molecules you have consumed. The once-living organisms you have consumed make up all of your organs, your brain, your bones, your skin. All of these once-living organisms trace their initial nutrient source back to the Earth and the Sun. You are built from the Earth and Sun! You are the Earth manifesting itself with eyes and legs. The miracle has already happened, you’ve come to fruition with all of the tools to experience the vast universe— there is nothing that must be done, only many things you can do.

Here, in this last paragraph, I would normally charge you to be nice, be happy and move ahead without worry of failure. But my point is beyond this. If you aren’t happy, nice or carefree, this is no failure, because there is no failure. You are free to move, adapt and develop however you choose. That is the gift of existence.