An old man sat on top of a hill, searching for the meaning of life.
He gazed at the stars and felt small. In the dark sky there were millions and millions of tiny lights. Each light could be a sun possibly larger than ours. Around those suns could be planets, and on those planets could be life. Some of the points of light were entire galaxies containing millions of suns. The universe seemed to go on forever, a limitless space in each direction, farther than imagination.
At the corner of his eye one of the lights moved, and he turned his head to focus on the movement. It was not a star but a firefly, winking its tail light in search of a mate. The firefly flew close by, and he caught it in his hand. As the green harmonic glow radiated from the creature in his fist, he realized how big he was. To this tiny fly he was gargantuan, and yet there were still smaller creatures to which this fly would seem huge.
And then he realized that from his unique perspective, he was the center of the universe. He could imagine the expansion of the universe, getting larger forever. He could also imagine shrinking microscopically, and being able to see molecules, and then atoms, and then electrons. In both directions, the smallness and largeness never end.
It was then that it came to him. The absolute power of being in the center of the universe meant that the meaning of life could be whatever he wanted it to be. From that point, he was able to create anything, to set his thoughts and influence his world. He realized that the meaning of life would not come from outside but from within.
He stood to walk down the hill, happy and content.
He now knew the meaning of life, and knew that everything was fine.
Excerpted from Soulwork 101: A New Age Guide to Personal Transformation by Glenn Stewart Coles
©Copyright 2009, 2016 Glenn Stewart Coles
