Black Swan
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| Photo Credit: Quora | Do Black Swans Exist? |
Black Swan
When we think of
swans, we picturise a very graceful, huge, gentle bird which is pure white and it
is also considered to be an epitome of love. The black swan was discovered in
Australia in the late seventeenth century and till then the black swan was just
a myth. A black swan is a metaphor that describes something rare, impossible or
non-existent. Now, if we consider human beings in comparison with the size of
the Universe – would we then call ourselves Black Swans? It is said that there
are more than 2 trillion galaxies in the universe, there are about a 100
billion planets our Milky Way galaxy, Earth is just one of those planets, there
are 10 million species of life on earth and the human population is 7.6
billion!
Just being alive is a
blessing, a rarity when you compare it to the vastness of the universe. So, considering
the above as Taleb in his book ‘Black Swan’ said that all humans too are black
swans. This is because in the universal scheme of things we are less than the
tiniest speck of dust, we are so insignificant that it really does not matter.
As Taleb writes in his book, “Imagine a speck of dust next to a planet a billion
times the size of the earth. The speck of dust represents the odds in favour of
you being born; the huge planet would be the odds against it.”
After billions of
years of evolution, we need to sit and introspect on how we actually got here.
Humans do not show gratitude for even being alive, which itself is the rarity.
We rarely express gratitude or remorse, taking life for granted – this shows up
in different ways in our life – complaining bitterness, jealousy and
discontentment. What is worse is that this jealousy and discontent is passed on
from generation to generation – we have witnessed this throughout history even
though gratitude has been given primacy in all religious and philosophical theories.
Despite its known importance we forget to express our gratitude and over time,
unknowingly we are weighed down by our problems and our troubles, which then
begin to define us.
Albert Einstein said,
“The value of a man resides in what he gives and not what he is capable of
receiving.” Be grateful for what you have and can give. Remember the universal
law, whatever we get in excess is meant to be shared with those who do not have
it. We can start giving more the moment we change our mindset from ‘I need’ to ‘I’m
grateful for….’. Once you start becoming grateful it changes the way you see
the world and your place in it. The effort to change the mindset is minimal but
the effect is disproportionately monumental and beneficial. Remember that you
are a Black Swan – very rare – make use of your life on earth to share joy,
love, happiness, peace and kindness – the more you give, the more you get – a cardinal principle of karma.
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