Nothing I perceive or experience is “real.” It doesn’t exist. The stars I see when I look up into the night sky are light-years away. The light I’m seeing left its source a long time ago. Even the light I am looking at right now coming from the screen of my phone took a fraction of a second to reach my eyes. Very fast, but not instantaneous. And then, even when it reaches my eyes I still haven’t perceived it. The sensors that registered the light have to send electrical signals to my brain, which then have to be processed before I can become aware that I am seeing something. There is no such thing as “real-time.”  Everything I am perceiving has already happened. Sometimes only a fraction of second ago, and sometimes millions of years ago. This thought (which also already happened by the time I became aware of it) could leave me feeling lost and alone and hopeless. “Nothing is real. Life is meaningless. What is the point of anything?” But instead, I am feeling excited and enlivened. Awe and wonder are washing over me. Albert Einstein said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” If everything I perceive is only an echo of what has already occurred then it is a miracle that I can find any meaning at all in anything, let alone in everything. But here I am, absolutely rocking this miracle. And since the way that I perceive the world is absolutely unique to me, the fact that I can find connection with anyone else is also miraculous. And yet, it happens all the time. I am finding connection with people I’ve never even met. I have no idea what their voice sounds like, but I share a sense of connection with them. I am a walking, talking, living, breathing miracle. And so are you, and so are we all. I find empowering freedom in this awareness. I get to choose how I experience my life. I get to choose how I experience myself. It’s all happened already, so I’m simply making sense of it after the fact. I might as well make it amazing.