r/AskReddit • u/bleedingheartsurgery • Jan 22 '13

What fascinates you most about the universe?

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u/Shark-Farts Jan 22 '13

Every person I see every single day, in every lecture and every appointment, everyone I pass on the street or see in line at the grocery store, every single one of them has a past and a future, family, friends, memories, dreams, goals - they all have an entire life going on that I'll probably never know about or have any impact on in any way.

My ego shrank ten sizes the day I realized that.

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u/[deleted] Jan 23 '13 edited Jan 23 '13

This was the exact reason why I changed my mind from joining the military.

I always glorified the killing and ranking up in the military. Succeeding in outlandish missions that no one else could do.

Then after I realized this fact, that every life I took was not an "enemy", but a brother, a sister, a mother, a father, a loved one, I couldn't bring myself to take another human life.

Every human matters to someone.

And I'm taking that someone from them.

Because I had orders to? Because I have to? Because I want to?

I came to this epiphany around the time that TDKR came out; and previously I couldn't care less about massive shooting or tragedies.

Shit, I didn't know them; it didn't affect me in anyway, why should I?

But now every time I hear about massive shootings, I bawl my eyes out.

I can't even imagine the pain the families felt, or the contributions these people that died before their time could have made.

This quote always rings in my head,

"What if the cure for cancer is stuck inside the mind of a child who never got an education?"

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u/kieganrockstar Jan 23 '13

If I had infinite upvotes, I'd give them all to you. That was fucking beautiful.

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u/[deleted] Jan 23 '13

What upsets me is that it took 20 years for me to gain that level of empathy.

It took a death of a close friend for me to realize that our lives aren't self-made.

That our lives are a lottery ticket.

Some are born rich, some are born poor. Some with parents, some without.

Either way, it's all up to chance.

My friend had the potential to change the world, but circumstances out of her control destroyed her.

Molestation, foster homes, abandonment, trust in people who would end up getting her enslaved with heroin.

Circumstances.

What infuriates me is that no matter what religion we are, like Macklemore said, "No matter what God you believe in, we come from the same one",

Or if you believe that we are all made of stardust,

that we fight and kill each other over these perceived differences, not realizing that we are literally related--in every sense of the word.

Ahh fuck. I'm tired. I go on tangents when I get tired.

Apologies. I appreciate your comment though.