When I was 16 years old, I remember walking onto our front lawn one evening late at night, looking up at the stars and feeling utterly insignificant in this expansive universe. It was as if I were a tiny bubble on a wave that would soon pop and vanish into the vast ocean. I was also going through something difficult in my life at that time.
Then it struck me.
I realized that no matter what my challenge may be, there is always someone, somewhere on this planet who had it worse than I do. In that moment, I began to feel grateful for the many things in my life that I did have.
Recently at East West Books & Gifts, I came across a simple yet powerful practice from Pema Chödrön. It is called "Just Like Me." When you are in a public place, such as a park, grocery store, or airport, take a seat and observe the people around you. You can then look at a single person and say inwardly, for instance, "Just like me, this person has a challenging relationship with their mom," or "Just like me, this person has difficulty finding a job."
For most of us, we cannot hear each other's thoughts or know what each other is feeling. This, in a way, creates a barrier—that my reality is my own, separate from your reality. I lived in India for many years in my twenties, and when you observe how people live their lives there compared to how people live in the U.S., it is really like comparing apples and oranges. Yet, as every year passed, I was able to see that the more we seemed to be different, the more we were the same. Underneath it all aparent differences, we all have joys, struggles, and everything in between.
So yes, in a way, we are all like tiny bubbles on a vast sea. Yet when we "pop," we do not dissolve into nothingness. We merge into the ocean that unites us all—an ocean of consciousness that we have always been a part of.
So the next time you are confronted by one of life's inevitable difficulties, try expanding your reality to include the realities of others. If you can, try to set your own challenges aside, without avoiding them, and help others in need. We are more united than we know, and by helping others, our own obstacles often, in their own way, begin to heal as well.
Written by Jaidhara Sleighter
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