+1: Me, You and The Sun (#1344)

93 Million Miles + 8 Minutes 20 Seconds This morning I was on the Trail moving for 30 minutes. I banged out my last couple sets of 11 burpees to hit my 101 for the day. I jumped up to hang from the tree branch that is my pull-up bar to hammer out my 11 pull-ups. I rowed my 1,000 meters to hit that Target. Target swipe. Target swipe. Target swipe. Target swipe. Target swipe. I know I've said it before but I'll say it again…. It's truly amazing to me how good I feel hitting those Heroic targets in our app every.single.day. "That's like me!! Forging Antifragile confidence. TODAY." But that's not quite the point of Today's +1. This is… As I was turning the corner on our trail, I was struck by the beauty and warmth of the sunlight peeking through the trees and, at the risk of getting Rumi about it, I felt the Sun gently caressing my mind and body and soul. It was a beautiful moment. I was in awe. Then I looked up at the Sun and thought to myself, "Wow. The Sun is 93 MILLION (!) miles away. It took 8 minutes and 20 seconds for its rays to make it to Earth. That's astonishing." Then I reminded myself of the fact that you could fit over 1 million Earths into the Sun. Then I thought to myself, "What's really crazy is the fact that the next closest star (Proxima Centauri) is 4.2 LIGHT YEARS AWAY!!" Wow. I'm in even deeper awe. And… I am humbled by the vastness of the Universe and the preciousness of this gift that is my life. Then I thought of Michael Singer. He's the one who recently reminded me of just how vast our Universe is in his great book Living Untethered. Singer's teaching is all about how to, as per the sub-title of his latest book, move "beyond the human predicament." One way to do that? Reflect on JUST HOW VAST our Universe is. It's an incredibly powerful way to maintain perspective on our little challenges. And… That's Today's +1. If you feel so inspired, the next time you look up at the Sun, consider using it as a trigger/prompt/cue to practice your philosophy and put the virtues of gratitude and humility and awe into practice. Then take a deep breath, feel your feet on the Earth and get back to work. Day 1. All in. Let's go. Target swipe: Appreciate someone or something