Being Small in a Big World

Up until the Olympics I felt like I was a pretty big deal in life. I mean, I'm awesome right? I tweet, I use instragram, I have almost 800 friends on Facebook. I blog and even have my own Photography website (which has their own Facebook page). People know me, and (as far as I can tell) they really like me.

Then I watched the Olympics. I saw athlete after athlete compete, their faces plastered on television. Gabby Douglas has become an instant star in the US. Michael Phelps will probably get his own statue any day now. These stars have thousands of twitter followers and fans, parsing and loving them and it hits me.

I am not a big deal. I have no gold medal. I am not an Olympic athlete. I quit basketball in the 11th grade. I don't even have a championship trophy for any sport. I was no pulitzer prize, no professional academic awards, not even a published piece of work out there for people to see. My Facebook friends don't fawn over my status updates and I don't get praise from them. And I am pretty sure only like five people read this blog anyway (my mom being one of them). Unlike Ron Burgundy, I am not a big deal.

This doesn't mean I sit around and feel bad for myself. I don't feel bad about myself at all. I give 100% to all I do whether it be participating in the office Olympics or cleaning my bedroom. It doesn't mean I can't make different in our big world. (Yes, even one person can make a huge difference in our world).

But with that said, I till am a very small deal in the scheme of things. I am just one person, who lives in a regular city in one part of our earth. I live in just a small section of our very giant world and universe. And that is ok. It is more than ok - it is great. The biggest lie I often content with is life is a story about me. While I may let myself believe the world revolves around me and my problems and my issues and my frustrations and my joys, that is so far from the truth. I am just one part of the grander narrative of life.

I think that is why I like the Olympics. It reminds me I am just a small part of the story. Doesn't mean I am not insignificant to where I am at but I am not the end all, greatest, captain awesome, person every to exist. There are so many people who are doing amazing things - bringing pride to their countries, breaking barriers and walls down, pushing through misconceptions and misunderstandings, and bringing joy to people even as small as I am.