matter.

It's as simple as that.

History is the progression of events starting at the point of the Origin of Man, and ending with the End of the World. Every day, the course of history, like a massive, unwieldy barge with 100 billion Captains and no sailors, is moved along it's course past the milestones of space and time.

So in the end, what will it matter if you (a tiny, meaningless wisp of vapor against the vastness of the canvas of history) were kind or mean, selfish or generous, lazy or industrious? I mean you're only one person! And your life's span is so minuscule! How can you possibly matter at all?

But the truth is that you do matter. You are told this everyday. You have a carbon footprint. You are engaged into the worldwide economy. You are part of the great human marketplace of ideas. You consume, but you also produce. Even if you only consume and fail to produce anything, you are contributing your laziness to the fabric of humanity.

So, rather than think of humanity as a giant drifting barge, you can think of it as a giant complex recipe, some kind of cake (I would go for the "giant computer" analogy but it's been done).

So this giant recipe is made up of all of us. We all add something to the overall flavor and texture of our city, country, planet, space and time. The difference you make is small. You're choices and options are limited by your surroundings, resources, education, intelligence, and the actions of others.

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but

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The choices you make are yours to make. To a small extent you get to make the world more or less bitter, sweet, rich, or enjoyable. Imagine a nice slice of cake with one jalapeño in the frosting. You - to a very small degree - have the ability to effect change in the fabric of space and time!

Why would you want to do that when you don't get to eat the cake?

But you do. You get to be a part of the world you help to make. If you are generous, you get to live in a slightly more generous world. If you are kind, you get to live in a slightly kinder world. If you are bitter, you have to live in a slightly more bitter world. But the choice is yours, and you can choose as you please.

Here's the kicker though. You are a being that exists in time as well as space. Your bitter actions that made yesterday so awful will fade. If you begin for choose a different course, the flavor of your life, your community, the world, and the universe are changed. You can cover the badness of your past with goodness in the present. I'm not talking about sin and redemption here, I mean the flavor of history - that little edge of fear that can be turned to hope.

If you have been sprinkling little pills of bitterness into the recipe, you can stop at any time. Only your habits, and your willingness to bow to the expectations of others will prevent you from changing. You can change the course of the universe. You matter.