We have a victory and a challenge in that photo of Earth, taken from the Cassini spacecraft while in orbit around Saturn.
The cozy conditions we find here on our planet-sized dot; liquid water standing miles deep on the outer surface, water vapor clouds actually dropping the solvent stuff from a thick and delicious atmosphere, a fairly consistent and relatively quiet ball of yellow fire at just the right distance, an awesome magnetic blanket protecting us from all sorts of scorching stuff coming from our yellow friend and every other corner of the universe; these conditions aren't to be found anyplace else within several trillion miles at the very least.
We’re riding a lonely little rock. All seven billion of us.
And I get one immediate thought from that:
We MUST work together.
We are all we have.
Whenever I'm feeling beshitted about the state of the world, or when I start thinking that humans are no good as caretakers, or that we're nothing but a pain in the ass, I remember that picture and the thought it brings.
I remember that we face enormous challenges.
I remember that we CAN handle them.
But I remember also that we live on a lonely little pebble, so we've no time for petty, bickering nonsense.
We've neither seen nor heard from any other persons than ourselves, or at least none with whom we can discuss anything deep, let alone politics. So getting nasty towards one another, at any time, over anything, helps precisely none of us.
Yes it’s true that we’ve been nasty to each other for the vast majority of our history. It’s a hard habit to break.
The fact remains that none of it helps any of us.
Instead be kind, understanding and generous in everything you do, because when compared to the full scale of the universe we are NOTHING if not together.
Though to be sure such a thing is not easy to comprehend.
But there it waits.