You are NOT the Main Character

and that's okay...

If you’re active on social media, you’ve probably heard the term ‘main character syndrome.’ It’s a trend where people start seeing themselves as the stars of their own stories, convinced that their opinions are the only ones that matter. And with platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook pushing us to showcase our picture-perfect moments, it can feel like we’re constantly in the spotlight.

This constant focus on showing off our lives on social media naturally boosts our sense of self-importance. In fact, thinking you’re the star of your own story can make you believe that you’re the only one who’s truly special and unique. While there’s nothing wrong with believing that you can achieve greatness through hard work and a bit of luck, the trouble starts when this belief crosses the line into narcissism-where you start to think you’re more important than others. This inflated sense of importance can make it hard to accept a humbling truth: we are not that important.

Because let’s face it, the universe is around 13.8 billion years old and covers distances that our minds struggle to grasp. Our entire solar system is a mere dot in the Milky Way, which itself is a part of billions of galaxies. The moment we step back and think of the universe on a scale, our lives, regardless of how important they may feel are fleeting moments in an ever-expanding cosmos.

And we are still discovering new things about the universe as we progress more and more. So, yes the idea that each of us is super important sounds nice to hear, but it leads us to ignore the reality- we are just but a speck of dust in this big cosmos, one little blip in the history of the Earth.

Of course, this is not to diminish the value of our lives or the paths we follow to grow individually. But think about it: when we understand how small we are compared to the world we live in, the universe we inhabit, it can actually be liberating. How? Because it frees us from the pressure to be constantly perfect and from the need to seek validation from a world that, in the grand scheme, barely even knows we exist.

The beauty of this realization? We can step back and see the bigger picture. This shift in perspective helps us appreciate the beauty and mystery of the universe, recognize that life is precious because it’s fleeting, and find meaning in the simple, everyday moments we share with those around us.

Even better, it keeps us humble, reminding us that our knowledge, no matter how advanced, is still just a fragment of what there is to learn. This in turn encourages us to approach intellectual pursuits with an open mind, letting go of the arrogance that comes with thinking we know it all.

So, instead of seeing our smallness as a reason to stay away from deep thinking, it should inspire us to keep learning, questioning, and engaging in meaningful discourse. For even if we may never fully comprehend the universe, this very journey in pursuit of knowledge and understanding is valid in itself.

As Albert Einstein rightly said, "A human being is a part of the whole called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

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