The Philosophical Awakening

I was driving along the backroads through the Arkansas hill country and came to a startling discovery.  Every house that I passed (though they were few and far between) had someone living in it.  Every gas station I stopped at was fully stocked with employees...and so were the ones that I didn't stop at.  You see, I'm not the only person in this world.  I know this is a painfully obvious connection that I should have made eons ago, but it's still hard to formulate in practice.  I mean, what's the point of those other workers?  If I choose to go to the BP station, why should the Shell workers do anything at all?  They have no bearing on my life.  They needn't exist.  They play no role in how I live.  And that's the realization: other people live.  Other people have lives that are important in their own way.  They have thoughts and feelings.  They don't exist simply to make my life complete, even though it's so easy to think that sometimes.  

Here's another example...I was in Mississippi and observed some road construction.  My first thought was, "Why are they even doing this?  I'm from Michigan."  My next thought was, "Hey look!  They're doing this just so I have some road to drive on!  How forward thinking these people are."  My final thought was, "How much more self-centered could I be?"  So which is it?  Are any of these thoughts correct?  Are any wrong?  What's the right line on this?  Aren't each of us focused primarily on our own lives?  Shouldn't we be?  

It's just so difficult for me to remember that life goes on whether I'm associated with it or not.  Every sick day I take, school/work continues.  Everytime I go on vacation, my friends and family get along without me.  We're wired to make ourselves as happy as possible, so it goes the other way as well.  I mean, when I question why everyone else is in this world if they're not directly affecting me, so too do other people live without me in their lives.  They couldn't care less whether I live or die.  There are billions of people on this earth who know nothing about me.  What is my purpose then?  I'm only impacting an infinitesimal amount of people.  This is heavy stuff...

So was I awoken?  Did I learn anything?  What happened?  I don't know.  Still don't.  But that's what road trips are about.  I went into the deeper recesses of my soul and came out changed.