This cosmic perspective exercise shrinks our ego-driven concerns to their proper size. When we truly grasp the brevity of human life against the vastness of space and time, our urgent anxieties about reputation, power, and even suffering lose their overwhelming grip on us. This isn't nihilism but healthy perspective - our problems remain real but become manageable when seen from the 'view from above.' It liberates us from the exhausting need to be important or to avoid all discomfort, allowing us to focus on what genuinely matters: living virtuously in whatever time we have.