They say there are more than 8 billion people living on Earth.
Eight billion human beings, each carrying their own dreams, pride, fears, ambitions, struggles, victories and personal universes.
And yet, look at where we live. Our dear massive Earth is just one small planet in a vast solar system, orbiting a star we call the Sun.
Our solar system, by the way, has eight planets, and the Sun is just one star among more than 100 billion to 400 billion or more stars in the Milky Way galaxy, which is just one of other galaxies that is more than 100 billion
Let me start again! Yes, the Sun is just another star.
READ ALSO: Obi Demands Answers Over 37 Deaths in Minna NSCDC Custody
Every star you see shining in the night sky is, in a sense, another sun. And all of them have their own planetary systems, with their own planets orbiting them just as the Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune revolve around our own star called the Sun.
Now, pause for a moment and try to understand that.
The Milky Way is the name of our galaxy, by the way. The Milky Way galaxy is the enormous cosmic structure that houses our Sun and billions of other (suns) stars.
And the Milky Way is not the only galaxy.
Scientists estimate that the observable universe contains at least 100 billion galaxies, with some studies suggesting even larger numbers.
Picture this.
If the (observable) universe were a big university, it would contain more than 100 billion faculties (called galaxies), and each faculty would contain more than 100 billion to trillion departments/rooms (called stars). And each star has their own planetary systems that orbit them.
So, our own galaxy (room/department), the Milky Way, contains more than 100 billion stars. And many of those stars have planets of their own. And our star (the Sun) alone has eight known planets orbiting it.
Bro, just think about it. Eight billion people on Earth. Eight planets in our solar system. More than 100 billion stars in our galaxy. And at least 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe.
And this is only the part of the universe humans can observe. We do not even know the full size of the universe. It could be vastly larger than the portion accessible to our instruments. It may even be infinite. We simply do not know.
Read that again.
Everything we have observed—every galaxy, every star, every planet—is only a glimpse of something far greater than our understanding.
And somewhere inside all this unimaginable vastness, you think you are the centre of everything?
On one planet. In one solar system. Inside one galaxy. Among billions of galaxies.
So, Victoria, let me ask you again: Who do you think you are?
Why do you think the world revolves around you, Femi?
Abdul, why do you allow one person’s opinion, one disappointment, one rejection, or one temporary problem to convince you that existence begins and ends with your experience?
You are important. Your life matters. Your dreams matter. But you are not the centre of the universe. Neither am I.
And while your existence is meaningful, the world will continue beyond your lifetime. Only a fraction of the people who live today will ever know that you were here.
That is not meant to diminish you. It is meant to put things into perspective.
We are very small beings living within something far greater than our individual understanding. And that realisation is not meant to humiliate us.
Perhaps it is meant to humble us. To remind us that we can be significant without believing we are everything.
That we can pursue greatness without developing an inflated sense of importance.
That we can experience pain without assuming the entire universe has turned against us.
That we can be rejected without believing we have lost our value.
So, the next time pain, joy, hopelessness, or pride overwhelms you, look up. Look at the sky and remember the stars and the galaxies.
Remember how much exists far beyond your immediate experience, and ask yourself:
In a universe this vast, why should I think that everything revolves around me?
So I ask again, who the fvck do you think you are?
