Widen Your World

The world we live in is not all there is… we can understand this easily every time we look up into a clear night sky, and see the thousands of stars which are visible from our location on the earth (out of all the stars in the universe, we can only see about 2,500-5,000 with the naked eye). From this awe-inspiring viewpoint, we can begin to understand that our planet is minuscule in comparison to all of that space holding all of those stars... but it becomes nearly incomprehensible when we try to grasp how small we are compared the extent of the vastness of space and everything that's out there, both seen and unseen! Maybe you’ve had an experience similar to what I am talking about, where just one glance and a bit of contemplation brought the utter minuscular reality of our planet into perspective. Perhaps you naturally had some existential questions come to your mind in a moment like this. “What does it all mean?”, “Is there a purpose to all of this?”, and “what’s really out there?” are common questions that can drift through our minds when having an experience like this.

Regardless of whether or not you’ve had these types of experiences looking at the night sky, it is likely you are now asking a completely different question in your mind… Why is it so important that it is worth sharing on this insight? Worry not, we’ll get to that. At the end of this post, you’ll not only understand why it matters, but you may even have gained the ability to discover satisfactory answers to existential questions like the ones listed above. The title of this post, “Widen Your World” was chosen precisely because of that intention. By reading this post and applying it to your life, we hope you will experience the positive difference that can be made from intentionally widening your world. When you widen your world, you naturally embrace more mysteries to be solved, more inspiration, and hopefully more authentic meaning in your personal life journey.

Let’s discuss what I mean by “widening your world”. Imagine for a moment that you’re living somewhere in Western Europe during the 1400’s. Back then, the so called “known world” only encompassed Asia, Africa, and Europe. The Americas had not been discovered by anyone you would have known in that region of the world at that time. That means that if you had lived back then, the world would've seemed a lot smaller than what you would have known. In Western Europe, you would be able to look out upon the Atlantic ocean and assume that if you were to sail long enough, you would most likely fall right off the face of your small world. In regards to the stars, the widely held viewpoint in the 1400's was that the earth was the center of the galaxy, and all the stars rotated around the earth. This also made the world a much smaller place. How far away could those stars possibly be if they were only positioned relative to the earth? Then, in the late 1400s, European explorers discovered the American continents, and the world got a whole lot bigger. Suddenly there was a brand new landmass, a new people group, and all kinds of questions that could not be answered yet. Keeping that in mind, you can see how, in this historical setting, the world as you knew it before has been widened significantly! Suddenly, you now know much less about the world than you had previously thought.

When this type of discovery occurs, there can be many differing reactions in the minds of people… some may only see it as an opportunity to get rich. This worldview unfortunately played a major role in the genocidal colonization of the Americas. Others may have reacted with more unselfish fascination. Perhaps stories were told at family gatherings about the many different mysteries surrounding this newly discovered part of the world. Children grew up hearing these stories and many of them probably grew up hoping that they could journey to the newly discovered continents someday. The latter of those two reactions is more relevant to this insight.

The truth is often humbling. New discoveries such as Europe’s discovery of the Americas more than likely had a humbling effect on many explorers. Some of these explorers now had to face the reality that they were wrong in their assumption of what was waiting for them across the Atlantic Ocean. The same applies for when humanity gained new insight into realities of space, (eg; the discovery that the sun, moon and stars do not in fact rotate around the earth). How humbling to discover that your world is not THE world, only a small part of it! This type of humbling experience can take a person many different directions. One can take a materialistic approach and only be concerned with what new ways there are to make money or personal profit, others might be caught in despair because they can no longer fathom how they have any significance left, if they really are as small as the new discoveries seem to make them. Still others may find a newfound fascination and authentic searching for truth due to this newly widened worldview.

The last of these 3 reactions is what I believe is most important for us to connect with and resonate with today. In modern times, there seems to be a widely held viewpoint that there are little if any truly new things left for humanity to discover. To quickly refute this perspective... get ready... there are over over 399 billion star systems left to discover in the Milky Way galaxy alone, and only 5% of the Earth’s oceans have been explored by humans. Regardless, there still seems to be a common presumption that humanity knows nearly all there is to know! I grew up with this viewpoint partially, and I believe one reason for this was because I held a philosophy that, with all the information I was learning in school, there couldn’t possibly be so much left outside of humanity’s reach! Indeed, humanity has discovered many wonderful things, and we continue to make those discoveries at an escalating pace as we develop new technology... but we must not let that bring us to a place where we put our own minds to rest, as if we cannot make valid discoveries in our own personal worlds. Discovery, I believe, should not be exclusive to the astronomers, archaeologists, and scientists of all kinds… the opportunity for discovery still remains readily available in each and every person’s life on earth!

This brings me to the main point of this insight — how we can discover a wider world in our personal lives! There are some fields of knowledge that take years of research and training in order to bring the discovery process to the next step. You may be inspired to do that, but I am not necessarily suggesting that we need to discover the truth about dark matter and black holes in order to facilitate authentic new discoveries in our lives. In fact, the best way to begin widening your world is to start with what you are already passionate about! This passion could be anything; a family, a career, even a personal hobby as a coin collector! When you start with what you’re passionate about, you can very quickly realize that there are many things that we don’t know… but that’s okay! Part of the great benefit of discovery is that the more we discover new things, the more potential we have to grow as people! So, my best advice is to take something you already love learning about, and learn even more! To give just a few examples, you can learn about your family by asking questions that you don’t normally ask. Instead of “how was your day?” switch it up to something more specific such as, “what did you love and not love most about your day?”. Learn about your career by researching the company’s history! Learn about your coin collection hobby by introducing a new region of the world’s coin history into your collection!

As you can probably see now, no matter who you are or what you enjoy in life, there are always new things to discover! For me personally, when I asked myself what else there was to discover in my life, I found answers that I had no idea were waiting for me. I discovered along my life’s journey that, though at times I thought I knew it all, there was still a wealth of information that I had yet to discover. I learned that there were subjects I hadn't ever heard about, and that it would benefit myself and other people if I gained an understanding about these subjects. I discovered that when I kept my mind just a bit outside of my comfort zone, I could continuously be fed by new insights and information that then bring more opportunities into my life! That is what I hope you discover in your life too.

Having a limited worldview and a closed mind does not leave much opportunity to discover new things, because a closed mind is not open to new possibilities! Considering viewpoints that directly conflict with our own worldview is also a healthy practice. When we hear out opposing worldviews, we can further confirm what we already know to be true, otherwise we discover truth in a whole new way! It is important to keep an open mind, and to be open to new ideas and new possibilities! When we do this, it makes way for new opportunities, new passions, new relationships, and much, much more to transpire in our lives! If you’d like answers to the deeper, more existential questions in life, it is good to remember that when you seek with all your heart, you are more than likely to discover the answers you’re looking for... you may even find some answers that you never knew existed such as I did! That is why we’ve created this website, so that you can discover and share the insights in life that mean the most to you, and so that we may always have a place where we can share the information that’s already made a positive difference in our own lives! We appreciate you taking the time with us to read this insight, and we’d love to hear your own two-cents on this topic in the comments section! Thank you for participating with us here at inanewway.com, and have a WONDER-FILLED rest of your day!