Impermanence
In a planet with a life of five billion years in a universe with a life of nearly fourteen billion years, the average life of a species is between 16-25 million years. Considering our propensity for choices prone to self-destruction in the long run, I will be surprised if we even touch the million year mark considering how young we are as a species. Darwin's law of nature has been created by man and he will have to break the law if he has to play a longer role in the story of our planet.
We live in a world that measures success based on economic and political growth and power. In such a unilateral world, how are individuals going to break free from measuring their own success in terms of money, achievement and power? What will make them think about the future cost of their present choices? Unless the way countries perceive success changes, individuals are going to tread on the same path.
However, that is a restrictive mindset to operate with. I think the right question to ask here is "Since our lives (and that of our species) are not forever, what will we leave behind for the future generation and probably, the next species?" We are not insignificant in the scheme of things. While not everyone can change everything, but each person can change something to make the world better. When enough people start doing something about the one common thing they care about, they create a movement for change. Once the movement becomes large enough, the change becomes more pervasive.
One of the ways we may live beyond our lives is through the impact that we create in the movements we participate in or lead. We may be forgotten but a part of what we believed in will stay alive forever. I recently went to Auroville where the vision statement reads: "Humanity is not the last rung of the terrestrial creation. Evolution continues and man will be surpassed." Yes, man will be surpassed, but his legacy may still live across time if he musters the courage to make the right choices.
We live in a world that measures success based on economic and political growth and power. In such a unilateral world, how are individuals going to break free from measuring their own success in terms of money, achievement and power? What will make them think about the future cost of their present choices? Unless the way countries perceive success changes, individuals are going to tread on the same path.
However, that is a restrictive mindset to operate with. I think the right question to ask here is "Since our lives (and that of our species) are not forever, what will we leave behind for the future generation and probably, the next species?" We are not insignificant in the scheme of things. While not everyone can change everything, but each person can change something to make the world better. When enough people start doing something about the one common thing they care about, they create a movement for change. Once the movement becomes large enough, the change becomes more pervasive.
One of the ways we may live beyond our lives is through the impact that we create in the movements we participate in or lead. We may be forgotten but a part of what we believed in will stay alive forever. I recently went to Auroville where the vision statement reads: "Humanity is not the last rung of the terrestrial creation. Evolution continues and man will be surpassed." Yes, man will be surpassed, but his legacy may still live across time if he musters the courage to make the right choices.
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