Let me get this out of the way: You are not special. You are not unique. Statistically speaking, no one in the world even knows about you. Even if you have 1000 close friends, that’s only 0.00000015% of the human population. That’s a really small number. You live in a tiny house in a tiny town in a tiny state in a tiny country in a tiny continent in a tiny world in a tiny solar system in a tiny part of a tiny galaxy within a gigantic universe.

Nice way to start an entry on happiness, right? Boy, Ron is a real asshole tonight. But hear me out.

Everyone is striving. Striving to learn how to walk. Striving to graduate High School. Striving to finish College. Striving to do well at their job. Striving to have the Big House in the Nice Neighborhood. Striving to have the Perfect Family and the Perfect Life. Striving to be an Important Person Known By All. Striving to be THE BEST.

There is only one small problem.

We will never reach that lofty goal.

And that fact, in all its minutia, can lead us to dispair. Oh, my god, will I never finish school? Oh, will I never get the perfect job? Oh, will I never have a family? Oh, woe is me!

But remember these few things: Even the most important people in the world today are meaningless. In the great math that runs this universe, they are but a pimple on an ant stomped dead 10,000 years ago. Remember the careers built upon failed marriages. Remember those amazingly competitive people who end up dying of a heart attack at 45.

Consider this: You own life is a gift. The very fact that you are alive today is so utterly inconceivable as to make it almost impossible. Consider how many pieces fell into place to land you on this earth, alive and sentient. You are already one of the most amazing beings: you are aware.

So, put aside the meaningless and enjoy your gift of life with awareness. Revel in the fact that you are you–an almost impossibility. Drop the bullshit and the pettiness and have fun.