We all come from the same beginning

My father posted this picture of me on Facebook a couple weeks ago. It was taken by my mother when I was just a few months old. Incidentally, my dad and I are the only two people in this photo who are still living.

The woman holding me is my great-grandmother, and beside us, my great-grandfather. To the right is my grandpa, who passed away in 1992; and looking down at me is my grandmother, who just passed away in November.

I've heard it said that death is the great equalizer. That may be true, but if it is, so is the beginning of life.

Regardless of what title you have, what you've achieved, how much money you earn, how many friends you have, where you live, where you've been, what battles you've won in life, or how much power you wield, you have at least one commonality with everyone who has acquired none of your worldly accolades.

You started out as a helpless infant who was utterly dependent on other human beings who had come before you — for your very survival.

You couldn't walk, talk, or reason. You couldn't feed or clothe yourself or use the restroom. Someone else had to change your dirty diapers. Someone else had to keep you warm, give you a safe place to sleep, and care for you when you were sick.

You couldn't even learn to do any of those things for yourself without the help of someone else — again, people who came before you, who learned things and had experiences and faced pain and joy and all emotions in between, before you were even conceived.

Think of the people you love the most, and then think of the ones you can't stand. Remember that they, like you, all started out the same way, no matter where they are now, or where they're going.

It makes the status symbols of this world seem so trivial.

It's so obvious — and yet, so humbling. So human.