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I delved into existentialism. Doesn't change my feelings, which aren't all unlike those of the OP... but it explains them in a way that makes sense to me, and I guess that gives me comfort.
1) depression
2) apathy
3) anger that gets directed towards some swath of society, or specific individuals.
4) distractions that a vast majority of people engage in because more people realize they're unimportant in the grand scheme than most would enjoy admitting.
5) realizing they aren't or assuming they aren't in certain aspect in niche areas or to specific people and accepting that miniscule win.
Me too!
Actually, I do like the following quotes from RFK:
First, is the danger of futility: the belief there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills — against misery, against ignorance, or injustice and violence. Yet many of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant Reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and 32-year-old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal. "Give me a place to stand," said Archimedes, "and I will move the world." These men moved the world, and so can we all.
Few will have the greatness to bend history, but each of us can work to change a small portion of the events, and then the total — all of these acts — will be written in the history of this generation.
It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
One of my best friends and I would be deep into some way to solve some sort of hopeless problem and she would quietly recite:
"The Moving Finger writes, and having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a line, Nor all your tears wash out a Word of it."
"The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around. It's overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt."
—
Leo Buscaglia
Actually, I do like the following quotes from RFK:
First, is the danger of futility: the belief there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills — against misery, against ignorance, or injustice and violence. Yet many of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant Reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and 32-year-old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal. "Give me a place to stand," said Archimedes, "and I will move the world." These men moved the world, and so can we all.
Few will have the greatness to bend history, but each of us can work to change a small portion of the events, and then the total — all of these acts — will be written in the history of this generation.
It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
Exactly! I would add Rosa Parks to this, who was just a regular person going to work at a regular, unskilled job, and with one simple act of defiance started the bus boycotts that resulted in desegregating busses and advancing a movement that ended up changing the entire country.
I myself have done nothing (so far, lol) to change things on a grand scale like that, however at the nursing home I work in, I know the little acts of kindness I do have made many people feel loved, comforted and happier, and that is enough for me.
My family makes me feel important. Even if they don't verbalize it, I know I am important to them. Most of us can expect little more than that. If you don't have that experience, try to become important to a group of friends or in volunteering for a cause you believe in.
You can cope by wallowing in disappointment, or you can be proactive. Its your choice.
I've come to the realization that the world would function perfectly fine without me, and that I'm not important. I'm just a number. If for some reason I wasn't here tomorrow, the world would be just fine. I wouldn't be noted in any history books and in 100 years no one would know who I am, let alone 1,000 years from now.
Should I approach this by making peace with this fact, or by trying to become famous by doing good deeds? I guess I'm a bit sad that my actions won't fundamentally influence the course of human civilization or the universe's continuity.
They don't have to. Your presence may have a positive influence on loved ones, associates or even strangers. More than you could possibly know. It's your own ego that thinks you need to go down in history as having made a big contribution. Small contributions count, too. Nobody's expendable.
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