A short daily “plus one” podcast episode (hosted by Brian Johnson) that uses astronomical facts — distance to the sun, speed of light, distance to Proxima Centauri, and estimated counts of stars — to provoke awe and perspective. The episode contrasts the vast, mostly empty universe with quotidian complaints, urging listeners to practice gratitude, humility, and service to something bigger as a daily prompt.
Hey hero, if you're enjoying these daily plus ones, make sure you head to heroic us to check out all of the other goodness we have to help you activate your best every day. And now, today's plus one.
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic plus one. In our last plus one, we use the sun as a trigger prompt cue to practice our philosophy and put the virtues of gratitude and humility and awe into action. As you may recall, we reflected on the fact that the sun is a staggering 93 million miles away. Somehow its rays are so powerful that even after taking 8 minutes and 20 seconds to arrive on planet Earth, you can soak up their warmth and beauty. I don't know about you, but I think that's crazy when you think about it. But here's what's even crazier. I casually mention the fact that the next closest star, Proxima Centauri, Is. Is 4.2 light years away. You know how far that is? Neither did I until I read Michael Singer's book, living untethered. God bless you if you do, in which he walks us through the creation of the universe and some physics lessons to help us get perspective on our lives. Get this. Imagine holding a flashlight above the Earth. Turn it on for one second, that light will go around the Earth seven and a half times in a single second. Soak that in for a moment. That's the speed of light. Now, if you want to go from the sun to the next closest star, you'd need to move at that speed for 4.2 years. You know how far that is? Well, a light year is about 6 trillion miles. So if my math is right, the next closest star is about 2.5 quadrillion miles away. My brain just exploded. And you know what exists between the sun and that next star? Absolutely nothing. And you know how many stars are in the universe? 200 billion. And you know what exists between the light years separating every one of those 200 billion stars? Absolutely nothing. As Singer tells us, 99.999% of the entire mind bogglingly big universe is filled with absolutely nothing but darkness. And yet here we are on planet Earth, failing to appreciate the miracle that is our existence, complaining about the weather on the way to work and the slow Internet connection on our zoom call today and or whatever other trivial things we're letting bother us. And that's today's plus one. If you feel so inspired, the next time you look up at the sun, look beyond it, appreciate the vastness of our universe and the preciousness of our lives. Then feel your feet on the earth and say thank you to whatever power you believe created all this magic. As you get back to work being your best, most heroic self in service to something infinitely bigger than yourself. All in day one. Let's go, hero.
We hope you enjoyed today's heroic plus one. For more ancient wisdom, modern science and practical tools to help you flourish in energy, work and love, head to Heroic US where you can get started on your heroic journey for free.
