BOTH/AND

You have infinite worth, AND your projects need to succeed.  But, remember that you have infinite worth, even, and especially, when it gets hard.

It’s BOTH/AND, the paradox of being human.

Here’s how I know this.

Long ago, the Universe started.  We don’t know exactly how or why.

Then some of it became alive.  We don’t know exactly how or why.

Then some of it became self-aware.  We don’t know exactly how or why.

Then some of it became metacognitive, that is, aware of that very self-awareness.  We don’t know exactly how or why.

That last part is us.  And that particular advancement comes with the unceasing motivation to continue to ask how and why.

Existence is a mysterious miracle, as is life, as is self-awareness, as is metacognition.  It’s all been unfolding through deep time, and we are here to taste just a little bit of it.

This whole process is what some call “The Universe becoming aware of itself”.

You’ve been entrusted with a little tiny piece of that.  It’s a mysterious miracle, and that’s why success starts with gratitude.  And that’s why your life is infinitely valuable, just for being.  Don’t forget that.

But, there’s another piece, another angle from which to look at it.

Try to take a step back and see all of human history as a landscape unfolding before you.  It’s part of the history of the universe, but I think we must agree that human life is special in important ways.  We contemplate our role and actions as no other creature seems to.  We’re the only ones with the concepts of history or vision, and these meet in the present.  We humans have a way of looking back at history, taking stock of our frustrations, turning those into aspirations, and creating strategies from that process.  That’s what human life is, and has been as long as we’ve been human.  That’s our inheritance.  And you have a place in that magnificent ever-unfolding process.

And this is why your perspective matters.  Because to be human means to contemplate your heritage of metacognition, to process the history, examine your unique perspective and gifts, and help chart the course for where we are going next.  You have a part in that.  You.  And that’s called “Purpose”.

And it’s all imperfectible, which is the sublimely absurd part.  Because we all need growth.  Each and every human life needs the opportunity to grow, which demands new problems and opportunities in all times and all places.  So the system must be impossible to complete.

And so your visions and projects matter.  And you must work earnestly and tirelessly to see them to fruition, because that’s how you honor your mysterious, miraculous, magnificent heritage of the Universe becoming aware of itself, in you, me, and all others.

And so, I reiterate, you are infinitely valuable, AND your projects must succeed to advance the perpetually imperfectible human project.  But don’t forget your infinite worth when it gets hard.  BOTH/AND.

Embrace it.  It’s the only lifespan you get.  The diagram is what it looks like.  In all times and places.