Existence has a pattern that replicates from the smallest to the largest.
Consider our human body, which is comprised of over 30 trillion cells and includes about 200 different types of cells. Each type of cell possesses unique characteristics that allow it to perform a specialized function. Our bodies exist because each category of cells execute their unique functions in coordination with every other category of cells, for the good of the whole body.
Consider how we use our bodies daily. We talk, walk, eat, drink, utilize our hands and many more common tasks. Each one of these functions requires the coordinated effort of several component parts, contributing very specialized skills in order to effectively complete the most basic task. For example, the act of grasping a cup of coffee in the morning is only possible because all five fingers, guided by the vision provided by our eyes, work together to secure the cup.
Consider how we function in our modern society. Each of us develop very specialized skills that we contribute in exchange for money, which allows us to purchase all the material requirements of life that we do not produce for ourselves. Imagine how many people are involved in producing our daily food, clean water, clothing, shelter, security and even the beds we sleep in each night. Any one or group of these people who fail to provide good service can lead to very detrimental impacts on our lives. Understood this way, a good day occurs when many people acting in concert, successfully complete their unique functions for our mutual benefit.
As complex a miracle as our modern societies can be, we are unable to survive without the natural environment. Sunlight, water, oxygen, atmospheric pressure, biodiversity and many other factors all combine to create the ecosystem we need to survive.
This is how we exist each day.
Take note of the pattern that produces our existence. Each individual contributor, internally and externally, work in coordination to create the conditions that support our daily physical wellness. The value of each contributor is not how we compare to each other, but where we stand in relation to making our maximum contribution for the good of all. This is the virtue that illuminates our highest purpose.
Yet, where do we stand?
We live in a society that honors independence, freedom, self-interest, and boundless individual accumulation of wealth obtained through competition.
While none of us choose the family or country of our birth, we are drafted into a lifetime of competition that determines our access to information and range of skill development. More than half of the 7.5 billion humans on earth are so resource deprived they rarely have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Even for the wealthiest 11% of humanity living in the United States, Canada, and the European Union, significant parts of the population lose the birth lottery, and are denied full access to the resources needed to reach their full potential.
At what cost?
Imagine the explosion of human potential, innovation, creativity, and productivity if all people were able to access the accumulation of human knowledge? Yet this immeasurable human potential is lost on the altar of competition, which is neither free nor fair. The price we pay is a profound degrading of human development.
Yet we still have a choice.
We can learn the lessons of how we exist. We can take note of the role each component part plays on the whole. We can acknowledge our purpose is tied to the application of our unique talents, contributed for the good of all of us. We will then be free to commit our lives to serve our highest purpose.
And the moment we do, we will find the fulfillment that has eluded us for so long.