This year the global population is estimated to pass the 7 billion mark. Seven billion people, and I'm one of them. That's like looking at a sea shore and picking out a single grain of sand... that one's YOU. So... what's so special about you? What sets you apart from the others? If you can honestly answer that question, you're miles ahead in the human race.
The question has bothered me my whole life. I see myself as being special in my own way, as having something unique to offer, but in the end I'm nothing more to the rest of the world than another grain of sand. I think the worst, most pointless state of existence is a person who doesn't have any answer to that question. No dreams, no goals, no purpose but the completely mundane. The second most useless state of humanity is my own. To have talents, dreams, goals, vision, something to offer that would benefit the world, but all of that potential is wasted. It's like granules of gold imbedded, unnoticed, in pyrite. The world doesn't care, it doesn't recognize the value.
Funny, I can see the unique value in every human being. Every individual has her/his crucial place. A parent either raises a child up to become a world-changing gift to humanity, or the parent raises a drug-addicted thief, or maybe a serial rapist or killer. Same parent, same child, different parenting practices in alternate potential realities.
I also see how a massive pile of human sand that refuses to participate in the status quo could collectively alter the future for the better. Humans follow the crowd. What if the crowd nearest you decided it's just not gonna take "it" anymore? It being tyranny or ignorance or callous indifference to human suffering or evil or WHATEVER. Not only are they not going to take it anymore, but also they're going to CHANGE it. If I was nothing more than just another grain in that world-altering sand pile, I could feel proud of my minuscule stature.
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