Einstein supposedly once said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” I'm not convinced of the dichotomy, but I do believe there is great power in seeing the miraculousness of our existence. And anyone can do this; rich or poor, old or young, any adherer of any culture or religion, the talentless or the genius; we can all embrace the wild reality of our existence.

I once wrote a simple sign in sharpie on a piece of plain paper, and hung it on my bedroom wall:

This
is
a Miracle

It helps remind me to disengage from the tide of business in everyday life and reframe my thoughts and feelings.

Sometimes late at night I obtain this epiphany about this ride we're on. That I will die some day, that my loved ones will die, and that we won't be together forever. I reflect on how precious that makes our time together. We choose to be in each other's lives, and we try to make the most meaning, the most love, that we can. We optimize our experience together. But one day, it will all end.

Just that is a miracle. That we get to be alive together, in this moment. That we live on a shifting tectonic plate on the surface of a rock with a molten core, spinning around a huge nuclear reactor 90 million miles away. That we get to exist together in this apparently circumstantial set of surroundings, within the great void of the universe. It's truly bonkers when you pause and consider it.

Not only that, but we are not "separate" from it all, as if just plopped down from some outside space We are a part of the universe, as Eckhart Tolle explains: "You are not IN the universe, you ARE the universe, an intrinsic part of it. Ultimately you are not a person, but a focal point where the universe is becoming conscious of itself. What an amazing miracle."

I believe if we harbor this awareness in the forefront of our everyday lives, it will radically transform how we live and how we treat each other. Every single human being on the planet can adopt this perspective and strive to embody it within their community. All of us enjoy the privilege of being alive in this moment together, on this fantastical world, in the incredible year of 2025.

This is the start of global consciousness, the recognition of our shared circumstances. And because this particular existence is unescapable, it has the power to unite us as one planet, one species. We all get to share this miracle together. Should this not inspire change?