Portfolio of Hope

Did you know that it takes 28-29 years for Saturn to do one complete cycle and return back to the position it was in on the day you were born? No? Neither did, that was until I read Fearne Cotton’s fascinating book, ‘Bigger Than Us: The Power of Finding Meaning in a Messy World’ (which, I highly recommend you all go and buy a copy of, by the way.)

The statistic above is one that completely blows my mind. The fact that the universe is that big that it takes such a large amount of time for one planet to do one lap, is simply mind-boggling.

Now, this isn’t a post exploring the whole ‘is there life on other planets?’ debate, but it does make me wonder; how can there not be life on other planets, when the universe is as vast as it is, and earth is all but a tiny speck in that universe?!

There must be more. There’s got to be.

And, you know what? The thought that there isn’t more, is, in my opinion, harder to believe than the alternative thought (that there is more.) And, for me, that really helps me to view my insecurities and grievances from a new perspective. It helps me to realise that, actually, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter that my dog didn’t want to go for a walk this morning, or that I burnt my toast and had to throw it away, or even, that I gained a bit of weight (yes, I said it doesn’t even matter!) These things become so insignificant upon realising that life in itself is a miracle, and that; if your dog didn’t want to go for a walk, you burnt your toast, or you gained weight, you’re still so so lucky, for 4 reasons:

1. You’re lucky because you have a dog to walk, even if they’re stubborn and don’t want to walk on a morning.
2. You’re lucky because you have food to eat, even if it sometimes doesn’t taste as amazing as you would’ve liked it to.
3. You’re lucky because you have a body that allows you to experience life through.
4. But, most importantly, you’re lucky simply because you’re here, when the chances of you existing at all, were so, so low.

Have a go at reframing your own thinking by turning every negative into a positive.

Try it, what have you got to lose?

Next time you find yourself moaning because you snoozed your alarm one too many times and have now made yourself late, or you spilt soup all over your favourite top and have now stained it, try and find the positives in there (because they are there, I promise!) In the context of the alarm and soup scenario above, the positives are:

• You have a warm bed to sleep in.
• You have food on your table.
• You have clothes on your back.

But, most importantly, remember the biggest positive ever:

• You’re ALIVE,

and that? That is a miracle, in and of itself.