The sun is vital to life. All life. From the smallest creatures to the biggest trees, without the sun our planet would’ve never had an opportunity to host such an immense diversity of living beings. And yet, because it has been there since the very day we opened our eyes, sometimes we fail to realize that the source of the privilege of living is a gargantuan fireball in the sky.
The sun is by no means unique. There are billions (maybe trillions) of sun-like stars across the universe, and others much, much larger than the one we call our own. But life seems to be a lot more unusual. Why is that? If there are trillions of suns out there, why aren’t there more planets that also host living creatures, like ours?
Two answers come to mind. The first one is obvious. Maybe we haven’t found them yet. But the other one, in my opinion, is even more unique. Its all about location, location, location, baby.
You see, the Earth orbits the sun at the exact needed distance for life to be able to form. If it was a little further, the temperatures would drop so dramatically everything would freeze to death, and if it was just a bit closer, we would all go up into flames. A planet can have the privilege of orbiting an impressive star, but if its not in the right place at the right time, nothing there will ever come to life.
Thinking about this made me realize that a great lesson can be learned here and applied into our everyday life. We must keep things and people at the right distance in order for them to have the greatest impact in our lives. Sometimes getting too close or too involved with someone can have detrimental effects. Sometimes keeping them too far away will not allow us to learn to love them and appreciate them as friends. In either case we can end up thinking they are undeserving of our love, and sometimes we will even blame ourselves. If you find yourself in a similar situation, it would be wise to think about the relationship between the sun and the earth.
Keep everything and everyone in the right place, and you can enjoy them and love them in the most fulfilling way. Who knew a fireball would have such great wisdom to share!