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The Universe by David McCarthy

Often when we struggle to understand something a tutor will say: “Look at the bigger picture.” The Universe is the bigger picture of our world and looking at it is the best way to put our world in perspective. Especially now that Google Sky is up and running and free for each of us to use whenever we feel the need to seek perspective.

Too often we find people that are hemmed into their local town and give little thought to events in other parts of their state. Others are interested in their state above their nation. Some have no time, or interest, in what happens beyond the borders of their own nation in the misguided belief that it cannot affect them. We only have to look at the problems of the Middle East and understand how they affect taxpayers in the nations of the allied coalition to dispel the myth that what happens outside of your national borders does not affect you. We all share this tiny planet and if a new strain of influenza occurs in a remote nation it is a worldwide problem within 24 hours.

Many years ago a friend advised that I start looking at the universe to gain perspective of the world and I count this advice as the best I ever received from any source.

Planet Earth is part of the Milky Way Galaxy and that is just one galaxy among many thousands of others. Often, on a clear night, I sit on my porch and look up at the vastness of the Milky Way and find myself meditating about how small Planet Earth really is and how insignificant it is in the overall structure of eternity. It is a fact that a massive meteorite could wipe out the planet at any time and the galaxy will still continue with negligible adjustment. My next thought is that there are so many other galaxies and they would not even have to adjust.

It was not until I started accepting the Universe that I was able to see the World in its true perspective and in life I started becoming more positive and less judgemental. To see my planet in an overall perspective proved a catalyst for me to start achieving what I was capable of achieving and I am happily shocked at the result. The main thing is that I now know that less than 5% of the human race live to achieve what they are capable of. We all have the same equipment; it is just that some use it better than others.