44 Trips Around the Sun

Today is my birthday. I turned 44-years-old, and I’m using the day to contemplate both my life and the incredible universe.

Birthdays are a good time to think about the past, and look into the future. To be grateful for what has been, and what’s to come.

While I try to take care of myself, I definitely feel like I’m middle aged. My body hurts more than it used to, and I tire more easily. I’ve grown rather boring when it comes to lots of things, and I’d rather stay home than visit just about anywhere.

I used to think that my life was very important. And don’t get me wrong… it is. This is true for all of our lives. But lately, my thoughts have pointed to the fact that really, my life is such a small blip on the scale of things.

Recently, my four-year-old son has been really into learning about space. I’ve been learning right along with him. According to NASA, there is likely at least one planet orbiting every star in our galaxy. That could mean 100 to 400 billion planets in the Milky Way galaxy alone. The universe is estimated to contain between 20 and 100 sextillion planets. That’s 20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 to 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

This is completely mind boggling to me.

On one hand, I’m utterly amazed that in this vast universe, I am here to experience life on Earth at this moment. It really seems like a huge privilege.

On the other hand, I realize just how small I am as an individual. I probably take things way too seriously sometimes.

People often try to make everything about the human race, when really…is it? There are an estimated 300 million to 50 sextillion habitable planets out there.

While I’m determined to continue to learn all that I can about existence, I also find freedom in knowing that we probably take ourselves too seriously.

I can lighten up, and just enjoy the ride sometimes. After all, we are living on a huge rock hurling through space. Let’s enjoy it!