The story of celebrating my birthday at Niagara Falls in America

My birthday in the second year of junior high school.
I was standing in front of
**Niagara Falls**
, which stretches across the border between America and Canada. Based on my diary from that day, I will write about it.

I visited the Niagara Falls on the New York State side of America.

I parked the car near
**Niagara Falls State Park**, the state park closest to the falls.

This became the starting point for my sightseeing on the American side.

First observation point

When you enter the park, the first thing you see is Prospect Point.

This is an observation area where you can see the American Falls from the front.
There is an observation tower right next to it, from which you can see the Niagara River flowing below and the cruise ship boarding area.

Because you can get a panoramic view of the entire falls, standing here first helps you understand the scale.

Features of viewing from the American side

On the American side, you are "close" to the falls.
On the Canadian side, you "see the whole thing."

The cruises enter the basin area shared by both countries, but
the flow from the American side is simpler, and everything is contained within the state park.

Cruise boarding location

On the American side, the cruise is operated by
**Maid of the Mist**.

The boarding location is the
Maid of the Mist Boat Tour Dock.

The structure involves taking an elevator down from the Prospect Point observation tower
to the pier along the river.

After checking in, a blue poncho is distributed.
The guide told us that if we didn't wear it, we would get soaked.

Cruise route

The ship first passes in front of
the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls.

Next, it heads toward the massive semicircular falls on the Canadian side,
**Horseshoe Falls**.

This is the biggest highlight.

The boat moves slowly toward the basin of the falls.
The spray turns into a mist, and the view turns white.
The wind and water pressure make it hard to even stand.

The sound is at a level where conversation is impossible.
All that surrounds you is water and mist.

A physical experience

The distance is closer than I imagined.
It is not just water droplets, but a volume of water like rain.

Water gets inside my poncho.
My feet get wet, too.

The boat stops right in front of the falls and stays there for a few minutes.
After that, it turns around and heads back to the starting point.

The duration is about 20 minutes.

Sound, water, and scale

What overwhelmed me first was the volume of water and the sound.

The falls spread out across my entire field of vision.
Water falling incessantly.
The vibration transmitted from beneath my feet.

The word "big" was not enough.
It felt like nature was moving in earnest.

What I learned from this experience in my second year of junior high

An incomparable scale

The water at Niagara has been flowing for thousands of years.
My worries are on a scale of months, or at most, a few years.

Nature is vast, and time is long.
Within that, my worries are nothing more than a temporary wave.

The scale of nature and the scale of my problems.
When placed side by side, they are clearly different.

The world is wide.
Nature is overwhelmingly large.
My worries are not enough to change its flow.

At that time, I had many worries.

The language barrier.
My standing at school.
Anxiety about the future.

They were significant to me.
However, the falls continue to flow as if nothing had happened.

From that experience, I felt a sense of clarity in my thoughts.
It was also an understanding that I do not need to carry everything on my own shoulders.

There are a few things I learned.

1. The world does not revolve around me.

The world moves independently of my own emotions.

Even if I am anxious, the waterfall continues to flow.
Even if I am depressed, the volume of water does not decrease.
Even if I am impatient, time does not stop.

In other words, the principles of the world's movement are separate from my inner state.

This is not a cold statement.
It is a statement about structure.

The world moves according to physical laws and the passage of time.
My emotions are merely a small part of that.

Why we are prone to the illusion of being the 'center'

People can only see the world from their own perspective.

Therefore, when a problem arises,
it feels like the central issue of the world.

But in reality,
my problems only appear the largest within my own coordinate system.

When you broaden your perspective,
others have their own problems,
society moves according to different logic,
and nature exists on an entirely different scale.

The effect this understanding brings

The first is liberation from an excessive sense of self-responsibility.

Everything is not my fault.
Even if I am not perfect, the world moves on.

The second is the clarification of the scope of control.

I cannot move the entire world.
However, I can move my own actions.

Once you realize the world does not revolve around you,
you can conversely see the 'range in which you can act'.

Smallness is not weakness.

The smallness I felt in front of the waterfall was not a negation.

In the midst of vast nature,
I am merely a part of it.

But precisely because I am a part of it,
I can focus on my own role.

There is no need to carry the world on my shoulders.
I just need to focus on putting my own immediate surroundings in order.

Even if I feel down, nature does not stop.
Even if I am anxious, time moves forward.

This fact is harsh, but at the same time, it is also a relief.

I do not need to try to control everything.
I just need to focus on the range I can influence.

2. Worries are not things to be erased, but things to be managed

Worries change their form when the environment changes.

Once the anxiety about language disappears,
then worries about grades and career paths emerge.

Once a career path is decided,
then worries about work and human relationships emerge.

In other words, worries are not objects that completely disappear from life.

If you make "erasing them" your goal,
you will always be in a state of non-achievement.

The true nature of worry is "unorganized information"

Many worries look like lumps of emotion, but
structurally, they can be classified into one of the following:

・Things you cannot control
・Things you have not yet decided
・Things that are uncertain due to lack of information
・Excessive reactions to the evaluations of others

What I understood standing before the waterfall was
the fact that "the entire world cannot be controlled."

The moment I accepted that,
only the parts I could manage remained.

What does it mean to manage?

To handle something means to divide it into three parts.

1. Separate what you cannot change
2. Make what you can change concrete
3. Decide on one thing to do right now

For example,
the worry of "being anxious about the future" is too abstract.

However,
if you break it down into the concrete issue of "lacking English proficiency,"
it becomes an action, such as learning 20 vocabulary words a day.

Worries look huge when they remain abstract.
They become manageable when made concrete.

The technique of measuring size

The water at Niagara never stops.
You cannot stop it with your own emotions.

That fact
gave me a standard: "my worries are not on a global scale."

With this standard,
you can measure the size of your worries.

Will it still be a problem in five years?
Will it still have an impact in ten years?

Most things are temporary.

It is okay to have worries

What is important is
not to deny the act of having worries itself.

Worries are also signs of areas for improvement and room for growth.

Instead of erasing them,
break them down, categorize them, and turn them into actions.

That is what it means to "handle" them.

Worries will never disappear.
However, if you know their size, the way you handle them changes.

What I felt in front of the overwhelming power of nature was
the fact that "it is okay for worries to exist."

However, there is no need to be controlled by them.

3. The flow does not stop

Waterfall water flows from upstream, falls, and moves downstream.
It does not get lost along the way.

Time has the same structure.

・It moves forward even if you are anxious
・It moves forward even if you are lost
・It moves forward even if you are not prepared

Even while you are thinking, "I'll move after thinking a little more,"
time is passing.

You are the only one standing still,
the flow of the world does not stop.

Pausing and stopping are different

Resting is necessary.
However, a complete stop does not exist.

The choice to do nothing
also becomes a decision within time.

Since the flow does not stop,
"choosing nothing" also becomes a direction.

In other words,
it is important to understand the premise that you are in the flow.

What you can do in the flow

You cannot change the flow of the entire world.

However, you can adjust the angle at which you move forward.

The water of a waterfall cannot change the direction it falls,
but people can choose their path.

・What environment to place yourself in
・Who to interact with
・What to build up

Precisely because the flow does not stop,
the choice of direction has meaning.

Change is a premise

The fact that it does not stop
also means that it is constantly changing.

The environment changes.
Your position changes.
Your abilities also change.

If you prepare on the assumption that things won't change, you will feel anxious, but
if you design on the assumption that they will change, it becomes rational.

For me as an eighth grader,
environmental changes were mandatory.

However, what I understood while looking at the waterfall was that
change is not an exception, but the default state.

The waterfall does not stop.
Time does not stop either.

If that is the case, rather than continuing to stand still,
it is more rational to move, even if only a little.

Precisely because the world is vast,
my actions are nothing more than a accumulation.

Finally

In front of Niagara Falls where I stood on my eighth-grade birthday.

What I learned on that day was,

The world does not revolve around me.
Worries are not things to be erased, but things to be managed.
The flow does not stop.

These are the three things.
However, understanding these three things changes the criteria for viewing things.

Worries will never become zero.
Environmental changes will not disappear.
Time will not wait for you either.

Even so, if you have criteria, you will not be excessively shaken.

The world is big.
Nature is overwhelming.
In the midst of that, I am small.

But, precisely because I am small,
I can organize my own scope, choose my direction, and build up.

The waterfall that day
did not give me courage, nor did it give me answers.

It just gave me criteria.

Knowing the vastness of the world is
the first step toward correctly managing your own worries.

That is the lesson from that birthday that still remains with me today.