Episode 3: Introduction to the Aerial View

Welcome back to episode three of wisdom from the aerial view. When we last talked, we were in the middle of a conversation about purpose and that's extremely important. Let's keep going with that. Let's take that a little one step further. So I leave it up to you, Dr. Klein, let's talk a little bit more about purpose and where that leads us.

So the first thing we have to do is get rid of this Dr. Klein stuff. Because you've known me since I'm, know, 10 or whatever. So I will call you Dr. Enid. How's that? OK, why don't we try that? It did work for her.

darn. Well you can call me doctor too. I've always wanted somebody to call me doctor. just, you know. I kind of like that, like Dr. Ruth. It works for her. Okay and I'll speak with a little German accent and... Okay Mark, tell me a little bit about... I know my purpose. What's yours? Keep going.

Okay. So we talked about purpose before and how the clues we looked at, the fact that our lives appear to be backwards, smart, we're old when it seems to be the least valuable, stupid when we're young when we're really valuable.

Wait,

We talked about some things that we repeat history again and again, that if just as individuals, we do what our parents and grandparents did, societies repeat the same thing again, the ups and downs of society, the fact that we still have wars, cetera, et cetera. And we talked about how longevity really cannot be the purpose of life, that it's not why we're here. And also that fame and fortune and power cannot be the purpose of life because they go to zero the minute we die. There's another reason, by the way, they can't be.

That's good, yeah, yes.

And this is because the way the universe works, we got to talk about reality for a minute. I know we didn't plan to talk about this, but I'm going to throw you a little bit of a curve ball, right? So reality, people think, well, reality is just while we're in. Everybody's in the middle of reality, right? And I wake up in the morning and I walk and I step right out in the middle of reality and who knows what's going to happen. Reality is very interesting. Because first of all, reality is in the eyes of the beholder. And the reason that is, and we won't spend a lot of time on this, one of the things Albert Einstein showed when he did all this thing, that special relativity, is that what you think happens at a particular moment is not the same as what I think happens at a particular moment if one of us is moving. Now, at the slow speeds we move on Earth, we don't notice this, but it is very important. There's no such thing as a total objective reality. If people are moving relative to each other, they're gonna think something happened at a different time. It's not a physics course, we're not gonna go into that.

of the Albert Einstein showed when he did all this thing, especially all activities, is that what you think happens at particular moment is not the same as what I think happens at a particular moment if one of us is moving. Now, at the slow speed we move on Earth, we don't notice it, but it is very important. There's no such thing as a total objective reality. People are moving well through each other. They're gonna think something happened at a different time. It's not a physics course, we're not gonna go into that. I'm gonna ask you to take that on faith. Reality is different for people after moving at different

I'm going to ask you to take that on faith. Reality is different for people after moving at different speeds. It's infinitesimally different, but if you get going fast enough, like some fraction of speed of light, then it's really different. But that's one thing. Reality is in the eyes of the beholder. Here's the other thing. Each one of us participates equally in the creation of reality. Now, somebody would say, wait a minute, I just saw Elon Musk on TV yesterday, and this is richest guy in the world, and then he was sitting next to Donald Trump.

this is richest guy in the world, and then they sit next to Donald Trump, who's probably gonna be the most, or probably already is the most powerful person in the world, so you're gonna tell me that my effect on reality is equal to Elon Musk or Donald Trump. I have the same effect on reality as they do. And I'm gonna tell you, yeah, actually you do. I know, it sounds crazy, right? This is a lot of thinking. We talked earlier about questioning how things work. Okay, I'm gonna give an example. So when you make a choice or a decision,

who is probably going to be the most or probably already is the most powerful person in the world. So you're going to tell me that my effect on reality is equal to Elon Musk or Donald Trump's, that I have the same impact on reality as they do. And I'm going to tell you, yeah, actually you do. I know it sounds crazy, right? This is a lot of things. We talked earlier about questioning how things work. Okay, I'm going to give you an example. So when you make a choice or a decision, hang on, my phone was on, unfortunately.

You're very popular. This is you're very popular.

And I'm going to turn this off if I can figure out how to do it, which I should have done a long time ago. But at any rate, here we go. Let's turn this thing off. And there we go. So when you make a decision, imagine that you're releasing a bubble. You know, like in the comic books, there's a bubble over somebody saying what they're thinking. OK, so we're going to have a different kind of bubble, the thought bubble. Yeah, thank you. We're going to have a different kind of bubble. It's called the choice bubble, or the decision bubble. So you make a decision. You say, OK, I'm going to

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a thought bubble. Okay. Okay. Okay.

turn left here and walk down the street this way instead of turning right and walking down the street that way. So that's a bubble you release into the world. Now, as soon as that bubble leaves you, that choice leaves you, guess what? It's going to ram into the billions of other decisions and bubbles coming from everybody else on the planet. Obviously, more importantly, the people that are around you, but not necessarily. So all these bubbles are banging into each other.

Probably will,

And your bubble looks exactly the same as Donald Trump's bubble. So you could say, well, Donald Trump can push a button, we will in January, we're to be able to blow up the world. Okay. No politics, no politics. but you would say, well, that's proof that he has more control. But that's only if you limit reality to our little planet, which is one of a tiny little speck of dust in the old universe. The universe doesn't really care.

Okay. the universe doesn't really care whether there's life on earth or not. It's not important to the universe. The universe doesn't care. We are less than a tiny speck in the universe. So the fact that whether people are here or not, there's species on this planet or not, it may be important to us, but to the universe, it doesn't matter one bit. So the truth is, your choices and decisions, your bubble can have an effect that you cannot imagine. I'll give you an example. This is from a story, short story. The guy who I...

whether there's life on Earth or not. It's not important to the universe. The universe doesn't care. We are less than a tiny speck in the overall universe. So the fact that whether people are here or not, whether a species on this planet exists or not, it may be important to us, but to the universe, it doesn't matter one bit. So the truth is, your choices and decisions, your bubble can have an effect that you cannot imagine. I'll give you an example. This is from a story, a short story. The guy who I wrote this in the book is a...

wrote this in the book as a businessman in Philadelphia. He walks out of his office and he's trying to decide whether to go to the pharmacy, which is to the left, pick up some shaving cream, or go to the right and go home. He looks at his watch, he goes, you know, and he's got somebody waiting for him in his house, he's got a contractor or somebody meet that night. So he looks at his watch, he goes, you know what, if I hurry, I can get to that pharmacy, is right down the street, pick up some shaving cream, head back, okay.

businessman in Philadelphia. He walks out of his office and he's trying to decide whether to go to the pharmacy, which is to the left, to pick up some shaving cream or go to the right and go home. He looks at his watch, he goes, know, and he's got somebody waiting for in his house, he's got a contractor or somebody he's got to meet that night. So he looks at his watch, he goes, you know what, if I hurry, I can get to that pharmacy. which is right down the street, pick up some shaving cream, head back. Okay. So instead of going to the right out of his building towards his car to drive home, he goes to the left towards the pharmacy and he runs down, jogs down the street, gets to the corner, there's a traffic light and he slips and he tumbles and knocks over an elderly woman and she breaks her hip. It feels terrible, but this has happened. Turns out the woman lives alone and her daughter lives across the country in California, so she's got to fly to

So instead of going to the right out his building towards his car to drive home, he goes to the left towards the pharmacy. And he runs down, jogs down the street, gets to the corner, there's a traffic light, and he slips. And he tumbles and knocks over an elderly woman. And she breaks her head. It feels terrible, but this has happened. Turns out the woman lives alone, and her daughter lives across the country in California, so she's got to fly to Philadelphia to help her mother. Her mother recovers, but she's got to be there for a period of

Philadelphia to help her mother. Her mother recovers, but she's got to be there for a short period of time. Nobody dies in my stories, by the way. Nothing terrible happens. Anyway, so she leaves her family, her husband and two teenage kids in California. The husband goes to work the next day. The kids go to school and the teenager is like 14 or 15, decides, you know what? I'm going to help my dad. I'm going to make some dinner before he gets out. I can boil water. I can make some

Nobody dies in my stories. Anyway, so she leaves her family, her husband and two teenage kids in California. The husband goes to work the next day, the kids go to school, and the teenager's like 14 or 15, decides, you know what? I'm gonna help my dad. I'm gonna make some dinner before he gets home. I can boil water. I can make some spaghetti or something.

some spaghetti or something. So he puts a pot of water on the stove, boils it, doesn't realize there's a dish towel there, starts a little fire. His sister picks up the phone and calls the fire department. They come, just need a fire extinguisher, put it out. Just then the husband, the father comes home, sees what's happened, looks at the fireman who's there and he goes, hey, we went to high school together. Just like kind of you and me in it, right? He goes, hey, how you been? I haven't seen you in like 20 years, blah, blah. He goes, you know what? Why don't we get together, have dinner next week? Fine. So they make a plan to get dinner.

Right, right.

So two weeks go by, the fireman is going to meet his friend for dinner. He drives, he parks his car, and he's walking down the street and he looks across the street and he sees smoke coming out of her row house. He's a fireman. His instinct is, crap, I got to go do something. He runs across the street, smashes open the door, and there's a young child huddling under a kitchen table. He pulls her out. He also goes in and rescues her mother who was there. And the child, everybody survives. And that child...

the fireman is going to meet his friend for dinner. He drives and parks his car. He's walking down the street and he looks across the street and he sees smoke coming out of a row house. He's a fireman. His instinct is, crap, I gotta go do something. He runs across the street, smashes open the door, and there's a young child huddling under a kitchen table. He pulls her out. He also goes in and rescues her mother who was there, and child, everybody survives. And that child then goes on, years later, to get a PhD.

then goes on years later to get a PhD and she discovers the cure for malaria and millions of children worldwide are saved because millions of people die every year from malaria. So that decision for this guy back in Philadelphia, the businessman, to make a left out of his building instead of a right, right? He knocks over the woman, the whole thing ensues, blah, blah. And at the end of this little story, the fireman rushes the kid who then, who otherwise would have died in the fire, now lives.

and she discovers the cure for malaria. Millions of children worldwide are safe because millions of children die every year from malaria. So that decision for this guy back in Philadelphia, the businessman, to make a left out of his building instead of a right, right? He knocks over the woman, the whole thing ensues, blah, blah. And at the end of this little story, the fireman rushes the kid who otherwise would have died in the fire, now lives, and creates a cure for malaria. Wow.

and creates a cure for malaria. Wow, that little tiny decision to make a left instead of a right saved millions of children from malaria? Now it's possible somebody else would have discovered a cure for malaria. The point is even the tiniest little decisions have this ripple effect. You know that butterfly effect, the butterfly in Asia creates a hurricane and you

that little tiny decision to make a left instead of a right, save millions of children from malaria, how it's possible somebody else wouldn't be able to it for them. The point is, even the tiniest little decisions have this ripple effect. You know that butterfly effect, the butterfly in Asia creates a hurricane and But did the guy ever get a shaving cream? I'm just curious. okay, good, good. So is this unintended consequences? Is this what we're talking about? This is the way the world works.

He did get his share. No, it's just the way the world works that every, here's the point, each of us contributes equally to reality. This guy's decision to make a left to get shaving cream turns out creates the saving, leads to the saving of this young girl who goes on to cure malaria 20 years later. It's just a decision because

So it was the right decision? Okay. So is there ever a wrong decision? Yeah.

So in our lives, there are things that can be that we can think will be smarter decisions, but you never really know. So the point is this is going to take if you are listening to this now, you're going to learn something that I guarantee will help will make you feel better. It'll be worth your time spending for this one podcast. Even if you never come back. This is a big one. OK, when you make a decision, you're releasing that bubble like this guy did that left decision, his bubble interact with everybody else's decisions and boom.

going to take, if you are listening to this now, you're going to learn something that I guarantee will make you feel better. even if you never come back, this is a big one. When you make a decision, releasing that bubble, like this guy did, that left decision, his bubble interacted with everybody else's decision, boom, you got the cure for malaria 20 years later. Crazy, right? That's how every decision we make is. We always want to say, I want to make the right decision, I want to make the best decision. But once you release that bubble, it's out of your hands. You don't know what's going to happen to that decision.

We got the cure for malaria 20 years later. Crazy, right? That's how every decision we make is. But we try, we always want to say, I want to make the right decision. I want to make the best decision. But once you release that bubble, it's out of your hands. You don't know what's going to happen to that decision. All these interactions, all these 8 billion bubbles smashing into it are going to affect it. You have no idea if it's the right decision. So when you make a decision, it's wise to make the best decision. But once you make that decision,

So when you make a decision, it's wise to make the best decision, right? But once you make that decision, you have no idea what's gonna happen. So you gotta let it go. So in that sense, there's no such thing as a right or best decision, because you don't know what's gonna happen. You make a decision, you walk out the door, and you get hit by a truck, right? That was a bad decision. Well, it looked at the time like it was a good decision, so what you were going to do is interview for the job of your life. So I'm gonna leave right now to get to the interview.

You have no idea what's going to happen. So you got to let it go. So in that sense, there's no such thing as a right or best decision because you don't know what's going to happen. You make a decision, you walk out the door and you get hit by a truck, right? That was a bad decision. Well, it looked at the time like it was a good decision. So what you were going to do is interview for the job of your life. So I'm going to leave right now to get to the interview of my life on time. Turns out it was a bad decision because just at that moment, the bus came and hit you. So was that the right decision? No, it was just a decision. You can't control it because that bus driver was also making a decision when to put his foot, his or her foot on the gas to go from the previous stop to that stop. You can't control this. All those other bubbles, all those other billions of decisions are going to smack into yours. So when you make a decision, try and make what you think is a thoughtful, right decision and then let it go.

But that's the point. I use the word thoughtful. There has to be a thought process involved in this whole thing or otherwise nothing happens.

But it could be wrong. It could be 100 % wrong. Any decision you make could turn out to be wrong because you don't know what's going to happen. You don't know what other decisions are going to influence it. So that's why you can let these go.

Right, right. But the thought process about making the decision still has to be thoughtful. You still have to think it through, Right.

Because the way the world works is these are all probabilities. It's probably the right decision. It's probably, yes, because the world is probabilistic. It's a quantum world, right? Quantum physics. There's no such thing as 100 % of anything. You can only evaluate the probability of something. So you make a decision, you think probably this is the right decision. In fact, I'm 99 % sure this is the right decision.

Probabilistic, you talk about probabilistic in the book.

Right.

but you can't be sure it's 100 % because that bus could knock you over two seconds later. So when you make a decision, the point is let it go. Let it go. Don't fret about it because you have no idea how it's going to work out. There are too many other variables, is those 88 billion other decisions flying at you every second that banging into your bubble, your decision. So that's why when you make a decision, there's no such thing as a best or right decision because you don't know what's going to happen. You have to let it go.

Right.

So yes, be thoughtful, take your probabilities. This is probably the right decision, but then don't worry about it because it's out of your control at that point. Yes, you don't know.

Take your probability, is probably the right decision, but then don't worry about it. Right. And that's half of our stress is about, my God, I shouldn't have, I should have, should have. Okay, and you're saying, okay, I make a decision, stick with the decision. Stick by it. Whatever happens, happens. If it was good, good, it was bad, let it go. Let it go.

Well, it shouldn't be if it's good, good, or bad. It's if the outcome is good, or if the outcome is bad, you have no idea. Right? So you do the best you can, but understand that you don't control the world. You control one thing, which is your decisions. And we're going to talk about something else that's very important, how you feel about what happens to you. That's very important. We'll get to that in another episode, I think. But for this purpose of this discussion right now, when you make a decision,

Okay, right, okay. That's what I mean. Right. You have no idea.

use probability to say what's the best choice, but after that you need to let it go because the outcome of that decision is not only unknown, it is impossible to know. So it's not like if you had all the information available in the universe, you could know that this was the right decision. It doesn't work that way. You can never know with 100 % certainty the outcome of any decision. And the reason is because all these other decisions that choices that people are making are banging into yours. It's not just, by the way, it's not just people.

impossible to know. So it's not like if you had all the information available in the universe, you could know that this

Right.

Sometimes an animal will make a decision. Well, down the road will affect you. you're walking your dog and that dog decides, whoa, that looks like a really good place to go and yanks you across the street and breaks your wrist, right? So it's all these decisions, all these choices that are being made, you cannot know the outcome. So you make your best choice and then you let it go. So imagine that. Imagine making a decision and not having to fret about is it the right one, is it the wrong one? Because you don't know what the outcome of any decision will be. It's the way the world works.

So then, all right, this is wonderful because then I'm relieving my stress. So now we've made a decision and the outcome was not so good. It not so good. It was a bad outcome. I'm now stressed again because I have a bad outcome. How do I relieve that? How do I get that miscegasse off of me? Yeah.

for that, we need to go to the aerial view. So this is why the aerial view, which we've been talking about for three episodes now, maybe it's time we actually told people what this is. All right, let's talk about it.

Okay.

Right. Yes. Let's talk about it. Yeah, because I made a decision, the outcome wasn't good, God, now what?

OK, so now we're going to go to one of my favorite metaphors, which is the novel, right? The book. And it's going to be a nonfiction book. It's going to be a novel. So each of us is the protagonist, the main character in our novel, right? So let's talk about a novel that we're not the protagonist. Let's think of, I don't know, I read a book not too long ago, one of my favorites by Emer Tull, it's called The Gentleman in Moscow. I don't if you read The Gentleman of Moscow. There's also a TV series. It was great. I really enjoyed it. So we're watching the story of this guy who is, this is back in the days of the communists taking over Russia back in the early 20th century. And he's a very rich guy. And it turns out, of course, he's on the wrong side of this because the Bolsheviks take over, blah, blah, blah. Okay. And he gets imprisoned. They imprison him, turns out, in a hotel, right? And he's stuck in this hotel. And he is not allowed to leave the hotel for any reason.

So we're watching.

So we watch what happens to him from the time he's incarcerated in this hotel, and we read this book and we see all the things that happened to him. And if we read the whole book, we know at the end what's happened to him. But in any one page in the book, he's in the middle of it. He has no idea what the end is going to be. He can't see the future. So he's stuck on that page. But let's say we read the book a second time and we see,

So we watch what happens to him from the time he's incarcerated in this hotel, and we read this book and we see all the things that happened to right? And if we read the whole book, we know at the end what's happened to him. But in any one page in the book, he's in the middle of it. He has no idea what the end's gonna be. He can't see the future. So he's stuck on that page, right? But let's say we read the book a second time and we see,

He runs into this horrible situation that occurs and he thinks this could be the end of him. But we know, well, the book's got 300 pages left. So, A, even if we hadn't read the book, we know he's the main character. He's on page 100, there's 400 pages. He's not going anywhere. He's going to be there. It's like a James Bond movie, right? Somebody's got a gun to his head. We know, no, no. It's an hour and a half left in the movie. James Bond isn't dying at this point. So we're outside the book. We know what's going to happen, but the protagonist, James Bond or...

He's in, right, right, right.

or the guy, a gentleman from Moscow, whoever, they're stuck on the page. They can't see what's happening. They don't understand the significance. They don't understand the relevance or the relative situation relative to their entire life. We see their entire story. They're stuck on the page. They can't. Well, that's how our lives are. So right now, you or I are on page whatever of our book. we're closer to the end of the book than we are at the beginning. But in each of us, we're still somewhere in our book.

they're stuck on the page. They can't see what's happening. They don't understand the significance. They don't understand the relevance or the relative situation relative to their entire life. We see their entire story. They're stuck on the page. can't. Well, that's how our lives are. So right now, you or I are on page whatever of our book. you know, we're closer to the end of the book than we are at the beginning, but in each of us, we're still somewhere in our book, and we don't know what's going to happen. But somebody outside the

And we don't know what's going to happen, but somebody outside the book who is reading the story of our lives, they would say, she's got nothing to worry about. She's going to be around for 30 more years and all these cool things are going to happen. She shouldn't be worrying at all about it, right? But you're on the page, you're stuck on the page, you're worried. So being the protagonist in the book, being stuck on the page is what I refer to as the street view. We all live in the street view.

reading the story of our lives, they would say, she's got nothing to worry about. She's going to be around for 30 more years and all these cool things are going to happen. She shouldn't be worrying at all. But you're on the page, you're stuck on the page. So being the protagonist in the book, being stuck on the page is what I refer to as the street. We all live in the street. We have to eat in the street if we don't eat, we're going to get very hungry and we're going to die. have to drink.

We have to eat in the street view. If we don't eat, we're going to get very hungry and we're going to die. We have to drink, we're going to die. We can't go out in the freezing cold without any clothes on. We're going to have hypothermia, we're going to die. So there are consequences to living in the street view. We all get our relationships, our jobs, whatever, all these things are all in the street view. And they're very important. That's because we all live in the street view. But then there's something called the aerial view. Now in the aerial view, we come off the page, we come out of our story, and now we, the protagonist,

can't go out in freezing cold, that and the clothes on. We're have hypothermia, we're gonna die. So there are consequences to living in the street. We all get our relationships, our jobs, all these things are all in the street. And they're very important. That's because we all live in the streets. But then there's something called the aerial view. Now in the aerial view, we come off the page, we come out of our story, and now we, the protagonists on the page, are viewing our life as if you're the reader holding your story in their hands.

on the page are viewing our life as if you're the reader holding your story in their hands. So you've actually left your own story. You've become, instead of the protagonist, you've become the disinterested observer. Now this again, as I mentioned, I think in episode one or whatever of our podcast, this is not a new idea, right? This has been going on. Idea has been recycled for, you know, again and again for centuries, millennia. But we forget this.

So you've actually left your own story. You've become, instead of the protagonist, you've become the disinterested observer. Now this again, as I mentioned, I think in episode one or whatever of our podcast, this is not a new idea, right? This is an idea that we started to recycle for, know, again and again for centuries, millennia. But we forget this. We don't understand it in our natural state, because we live in street. But we can get off the page and become the disinterested observer.

We don't understand it in our natural state because we live in the street view, but we can get off the page and become the disinterested observer. And I'm going to give you a quick example. So when I had about 12 to 13 years ago, I diagnosed my own kidney cancer, which was kind of an interesting story by itself. luckily, I found it. And I went to a hospital, a major medical center, and they had a great surgeon and he took it out. Took half my kidney with him, but that's OK.

I'm going to give you a quick example. Please.

I still had half that kidney left. And I went home two days later, I felt great. And 12 hours later, I was back in the hospital with a major complication. Not life threatening, but extremely painful. So I pained days, right? Okay. So when I got back to the hospital, I went to the emergency room and the emergency room was packed and the hospital was filled. And I ended up spending 36 hours in the emergency room. So after the first 12 of this, all in pain, right? So...

not life threatening but extremely painful. I pained for days, right? Okay. So when I got back to the hospital, I went to the emergency room and the emergency room was packed and the hospital was filled and I ended up spending 36 hours in the emergency room. They have to transfer a cell to the room all in pain, right? So after that 12 hours they moved me to the back of this gigantic emergency, a huge medical cell, moved me to the back where there were a couple of patient rooms and I was by myself, right? I had

After about 12 hours, they moved me to the back of this gigantic emergency. It was a huge medical center. They moved me to the back where there are a couple of patient rooms and I was by myself, right? I had an IV in my hand. I had catheters and tubes in places I don't even want to discuss and I was in a lot of pain. And now it's like midnight or one o'clock in the morning. I'm all by myself. My wife had gone home. There's nobody around me. I'm in this room by myself. I'm in terrible pain and I try and get comfortable. can't get comfortable. I stand up. Now I'm standing up.

Right.

with a hospital gown on, it doesn't made of like candy wrappers, I'm standing there freezing, shivering in pain and this close to tears. I don't cry very, I cry at like commercials and rom-coms, but I don't generally cry too much. I do, I'm not kidding. But anyway, so I'm just about to lose it and start to cry. And at that point I went, eh, wait a minute, let's head to the aerial view. and I removed myself from the person in pain in the street view and became for a very short time the disinterested observer watching this and recognized that this is only one moment in my entire life, including all the past we've talked about that's still alive and all the future that I can't appreciate yet. So this is this one single record in that jukebox of time that we talked about. I'm on this one single record and I look and I go, okay, and I said to myself, this stinks.

I'm on this one single record and I look at it I go, okay, and I said to myself, this stinks, but it is interesting, right? That's what I said. This stinks, but it is interesting. Wow, a human being going through this, not particularly pleasant, but yeah, this is part of the human experience. It's kind of interesting. You know, I couldn't hang out in the area of Luke too long. I flopped right back in the street view, back in pain, but I didn't cry. And I realized this too shall pass.

But it is interesting, right? That's what I said. This stinks, but it is interesting. Wow. A human being going through this, not particularly pleasant, but yeah, this is part of the human experience. It's kind of interesting. You know, I couldn't hang out in the area for too long. I flopped right back to the street view, back in pain, but I didn't cry. And I realized this too shall pass. It's all part of my story. It's all part of the book that now I'm back on the page again, living through. I don't know what the next page has or the pages after that.

It's all part of my story. It's all part of the book that now I'm back on the page again, living through. I don't know what the next page has or the pages after that. But I recognize that it's just this one record of the entire jukebox. Now, we talked about the jukebox of time with every moment representing, every record representing a moment of time. This is very interesting. So the moment we're born, that's record number one for our lifespan. And the day we die is the last record for our lifespan.

but I recognize that it's just this one record of the entire jukebox. Now, we talked about the jukebox of time with every record representing a moment of time. This is very interesting. So the moment we're born, that's record number one for our lifespan, and the day we die is the last record for our lifespan. So now we have this little short group of records that represents our lifespan in this gigantic jukebox of records that go on infinitely far in either direction, right? In the past and future, okay. So we think, God,

So now we have this little short group of records that represents our lifespan, this gigantic jukebox of records that go on infinitely far in the direction, right, past and future. So, okay. So we think, God, what happens after that record, that last record I'm on? I won't be here anymore, I'll be gone, right? But we don't worry about the fact that we weren't all the records before we showed up. Think about that for a second. Right, we never worry about the records.

What happens after that record, that last record I'm on? I won't be here anymore, I'll be gone, right? But we don't worry about the fact that we were in all the records before we showed up. Think about that for a second. We never worry about the records the time before we were here. We only worry about what happened, the fact that we're gonna end, that we're gonna get to that last record, that last moment, and we're gonna die. Stop and think about that for a second. This is fascinating, right? Fascinating that our lifespans

the time before we were here. We only worry about what happens, that the fact that we're gonna end, that we're gonna get to that last record, that last moment, done. Stop and think about that for a second. This is fascinating, right? Fascinating that our life spans, a whole lot happened before then that we don't give a crap about. But we worry about what happens after that last record, after the day of our death. That's really peculiar, right? So from the area of view, you can see this, you see,

A whole lot happened before then that we don't give a crap about, but we worry about what happens after that last record, or the day of our death. That's really peculiar, right? So from the area of view, you can see this, you see, you can see all of time, the entire jukebox, right? And in particular, you see your records that you've been living on and the people you know, your family, your friends, and so on, but you recognize them, they're just a small part of the whole thing. And that all this existed before you showed up?

You can see all upon the entire jukebox, right? And particularly you see your records that you're living on and the people you know, your family, your friends and so on. But you recognize that it's just a small part of the whole thing and that all this existed before you showed up and a lot's gonna exist after you show up. And so when you have that perspective, right, it's very liberating. But yes, I do, because I think the purpose of the...

and a lot's going to exist after you show up. And so when you have that perspective, right, it's very, in a sense, very liberating. You want to say something?

people listening and me, because I'm listening too, you have to explain to me how you're writhing in pain, you're sitting there practically buck naked with your tuchus hanging out.

All true.

And yet you could then say, a minute, and you can get out, tell me what's the secret to getting from the street view to the area of view when you're in, in a moment in time in your life that you're literally hanging on the edge there. How, how, how did you do it?

Okay, because the first thing you have to appreciate that there's something else exists called the aerial view. There is another place to go. The perspective of life that we live on, the street view, is not the only thing. And it is real for sure, right? We all know that. But the aerial view is also just as real. Now people go, come on, that's a figment of your imagination, blah, blah, blah, you're making this up. No, no. There is something called the aerial view, which is when you pull yourself out of the page. You become the disinterested observer and then you see that whole jukebox you see all of time and you see what your life is. You start on this record, you end on this record and there are an infinite number of records going in each direction that you're not on. You weren't in the records from the 14 billion years that the universe has been around and you're not on the records after the day you die but they all exist. And you get this perspective that's wholly macro. My life is just a tiny little fragment of this. It's not irrelevant. It's not unimportant.

records in the 14 billion years.

but it gives you a perspective of it. so I wasn't on those records beforehand. I can see my life when I was a child. I can now see that there is something, not after you die, but after that moment that you're in, when I was freezing cold and shivering and standing there half naked, or almost completely naked, and in pain, I could see that there's more. There's more.

So I wasn't on those records beforehand. I can see my life when I was a child. I can now see that there is something, there's something not to say after you die, but after that moment that you're in, when I was freezing cold and shivering and standing there half naked. that and in pain I could see that there's more, there's more. Now don't know how many of those moments I'm gonna be alive on, I'll be on those records, but I for sure see there's more of time, there's more of history, infinitely in the future. so I know I've heard, wow, my lifespan is only a tiny part, or my life is only a tiny part of the whole story. That's extremely liberating. It's not that it's not important, because we talked about purpose last time. You do have a purpose, and we're gonna get into that in

Now, I don't know how many of those moments I'm going to be alive on. I'll be on those records, but I for sure see there's more of time, there's more of history, infinitely in the future. so I know I have hope. Wow, my lifespan is only a tiny part of my life is only a tiny part of the whole story. That's extremely liberating. It's not that it's not important because we talked about purpose last time. You do have a purpose and we'll get into that in a couple of minutes or maybe in the next time we don't have time.

minutes or maybe the next time without time. once you learn to remove yourself from the street view, understand that there's another perspective, everything changes. I could look at myself and say, yeah, this is things, but it's interesting. Now, I couldn't stay there. I'm still going to be in pain. But when I went back, the pain was I experienced the pain differently. I hated it. I didn't like it. It was very intense. But I recognized A, it wasn't going to last forever. I know there's a future here. It's not going to last forever. Two is it's an important.

Once you learn to remove yourself in the street, you understand that there's another perspective, everything changes. I could look at myself and say, yeah, this stinks, but it's interesting. Now, I couldn't stay there. I'm still going to be in pain. But when I went back, the pain was I experienced the pain differently. I hated it. I didn't like it. It was very intense. But I recognized A, it wasn't going to last forever. I know there's a future here. It's not going to last forever. Two is it's an important, it's just as important as any other moment in my life. We think that the

Just as important as any other moment in my life. think that happy moments for our life are the ones that count, and the unhappy or painful ones are awful and don't count. No. They all count. They're all part of the story we're writing in our book. And that story is about our purpose in getting us to evolve from the ignorant person we were as an infant to the selfish infant we were to become the caring and generous person we want to be. Because the short answer is the purpose for our

happy moments of our life are the ones that count and the unhappy or painful ones are awful and don't count. No, they all count. They're all part of the story we're writing in our book. And that story is about our purpose in getting us to evolve from the ignorant person we were as an infant to the selfish infant we were to become the caring and generous person we want to be. Because the short answer is the purpose to our lives is to evolve from being selfish. and inward focus to being selfless and outward focused.

Now let's talk about that. Tell me about that. Tell me what you mean, because you talk a lot about going from inward focus to outward focus. Is that part of the aerial view? Is that the street view versus the aerial view? And how do you get there? And another question. Do you think your training as a physician made you understand in that moment of time that, eventually this pain will go away and I'm not going to die. But me, I would be sitting there thinking, I'm obviously going to be dead. Give me 10 minutes, I'll be dead. I can't stop this pain. Did that come into being? In other words, your understanding of physiology and biology and other, you knew you were not about to die. so you could go to that area of you. But I, who was an anxious lunatic would think I'm gonna die and I can't go anywhere because I'm gonna die.

Supposing I had been stabbed instead. So I wouldn't know whether I was going to live or die. I wouldn't know, but it wouldn't have changed anything. Right? So yes, I have the, it's a big advantage being a doctor because you get a pain and you go, that's not an important pain. I don't know what it is, but it's not important because we all get pains. You get a different pain, you go, that's an important pain. I got to pay attention to that. So yes, there's an advantage to being a doctor in that sense. But had I been stabbed and not known, it wouldn't have changed anything. Because again, you still need to look at your life in perspective.

Okay. Okay.

Yeah.

You know, we live in a very selfie world, right? Selfies, everybody's taking... You could have camp, you know, with sticks to put a selfie camera to focus on you. No, the whole idea is to turn that camera around, outward-focused. That's the key, to be outward-focused. That's because that's part of the purpose. You need to make that evolution, which is why we go through this crazy life of all this stuff, because we have to learn it's not about me, it's about everybody else. Because I'm in, again, we're getting back to the idea of preparation.

Yes.

I know.

In order to be prepared appropriately for what comes next, you have to make that evolution from inward focus to outward focus, from selfish to selfless. That's the point. That's what all these clues we've already talked about point to. There is a purpose. We're preparing for something, which is why we're stupid when we're young and old when we're smart when we're old. We're preparing. And part of that, to complete that, you have to make that evolution from being all about me to all about somebody else. And when you do that, guess what happens? Anxiety goes away, worry goes away, fear goes away. All these things go away because now I can say to you, I care more about you than I care about me because I know it's not that I'm like this great, you know, beneficent person. No, I get it that by changing my focus to you, I'm preparing myself appropriately. I'm doing the right thing. I'm getting ready. And of course, you know this better than anybody. You spent your entire life helping people.

Right.

You know, people who are hungry, by the those who don't know, even spent a good portion of their lives feeding people and still does, right? She was CEO of a major organization that fed people. Now she takes care of all the... She is the real star, by the way, of this podcast because she is the one that's the walk the walk. She's taking care of people. You know, when you do this, what happens? You feel like a million bucks, right? That's where the joy of life comes from, right?

Yeah, you do. Yeah, Yes, it is. Yes, it is. But I still but but It's just fascinating to me, because I agree with you. mean, everybody's got, you know, they're doing this and they're looking at themselves and it just, it's always me, me, me, me, me. And you're right. We've got to stop being me, me, me, me, me and start looking outward. Start from going from selfish to selfless.

Well, I think we've lost Enid, so we're going to say goodbye on this podcast temporarily and we'll pick this up next time. But we're get back to Purpose and we're going to get back to the aerial view and how you get there. So thank you for listening. We'll see you next time. Bye, Enid.