I felt anxious while waiting to board our flight back home from Phoenix. I kept asking myself, “why do I feel this way? I have a seat on this flight. We’re all going to get on, the flight is on time, we're in no rush. We have nowhere to be but home after this. It will all be fine.”

And I wondered...

Maybe it's a biological thing. Maybe we get nervous when we’re in crowded spaces with a lot of people. We aren't designed to live in hordes after all, but in small groups. I wonder if people in other cultures, from places like India and China that have huge populations, get as nervous or panicky as say Americans, where there are fewer people and more space. Americans live spread out, most in single family houses as opposed to apartments.

I thought back to my time in China, where there are huge crowds and many citizens behave aggressively. It was as if they learned they wouldn’t get served or seated if they didn't fight for it. I remember senior citizens cutting to the front of the line and physically pushing people out of their way. But perhaps those elderly people experienced perilous times I couldn’t imagine, like during the Cultural Revolution in the 20th century (when there was tremendous societal upheaval). I’m sure I would behave similarly if it meant the difference between eating and starving.

Such cultural differences might be our biggest barrier besides language to global consciousness. We’re closer to achieving instant universal translation through AI, the internet and our phones, but are we any better at understanding each other’s backgrounds, the cultural climates from which we’re from that influence our behavior?

When I tell others about my time in South Africa and China, I know they don’t truly get it. Understandably— they weren’t there. I can try to convey what it was like, to describe the setting as accurately as possible, but unless they have had some relevant experience somewhere similar, my story is completely lost on them. It’s the same for me regarding anything I haven’t experienced. I can’t understand what it’s like to live in Uzbekistan because I’ve never been there, not even to that part of the world. My closest approximation would be Russia or the edges of Tibet in western China. I’m sure those places are radically different than Uzbekistan.

However, I believe these cultural differences are a good thing for our species. It’s as if we’re one living organism, and diversity of experience helps broaden our overall understanding of the planet, of the universe, and of reality itself. More variance enables us to become more knowledgeable, more prepared, stronger. Cultural difference is not a blocker to global consciousness, as long as we maintain the practice of consideration.

Our super power as humans is our ability to think and see beyond what's right in front of us, our ability to consider. It’s how we’ve planned successful hunting expeditions as roaming tribes in Africa; how we’ve designed and built villages, cities, kingdoms and countries, how we build toward a better future. It’s a uniquely human trait, but innateness doesn’t guarantee use or performance. We have to exert our abilities. Fast sprinters who don’t train don’t win races.

Therefore we must deliberately practice consideration. Our ability to consider circumstances beyond our own is our salvation. It is what makes global consciousness possible, which is another way of saying, it makes coexistence across the planet possible. It makes sustainability possible, peace possible, prosperity possible. Our world is already a paradise for us and all other living things in it; our great responsibility is to extend the flame of consciousness, for our entire species and our entire miraculous world—the only place in the known universe to harbor life. It’s a miracle that we’re here, together, right now, in this particular place. We should act accordingly, with a healthy dose of consideration.

Maybe it’s incumbent upon me to brush aside my anxiety when boarding a flight from Phoenix to San Jose, to understand everyone is trying to accomplish the same thing: arrive safely at our destination. Maybe it’s an opportunity for me to exert some consideration and a reminder to think about the big picture. I won’t remember this moment ten years from now, but how well I practice consideration will surely unlock a better future, not just for me but for all I encounter.