For you - you are the absolute center of the universe. You are conscious and aware of yourself 24-7 [besides, maybe, when you sleep].
For 99.99999 percent of the population - you don't even exist.
For most of the other .000000001 percent - you only exist when you are physically present with them in the room.
This can humble one and give perspective.
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My daughter recently had emergency surgery. I announced this in shul and asked people to daven. Only one person inquired as to her well being.
So to me - the absolute most important person on earth. I was in crisis mode. To everyone else - not even worth the effort of a polite interest in her situation [or even to stay in shul when I said two pirkei tehillim aloud after davening].
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When I was in high school in 10th grade - I suddenly disappeared. I just didn't show up for about five months. Nobody knew where I was. [Except for me....:-)]. My chemistry teacher Mr. Tarendash would call my name when he took attendance. "Where is Ehrman???" He would cry out in exasperation. [Or so I was told. A possible epitaph for me: "I would rather be here than in chemistry class"]. After some time, one boy in my class called my house to inquire about me. One out of about 100. [Maybe it was two]. Recently when I was sitting shiva, a mother of one of my former classmates brought this up and was like "where did you disappear to??" [The correct answer is of course "Jupiter"].
This experience made me realize that I matter to people much less than maybe I would like.
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A חייל is killed. To most of us - a sad story, forgotten within minutes [how many soldiers can you name of the over 800 who have been killed in this war?]. To them - the end of their physical existence forever. To their families - a lifetime of grief.
A חייל has his legs blown away. He will never have an easy day in his life. For us? We might have never even heard of him.
And, may I add, these people are defending US [wherever we are].
