This Quote From “The Good Place” Will Make You See Life in a Beautifully Different Way

Life is nothing more than a wave that forms, rolls, crashes, and withdraws

There has never been a single show I’ve watched that has consistently delivered deeply philosophical gems about life and death in the same light-hearted, digestible, and comedic ways that The Good Place has.

But there was one standout moment from the show. A moment that I’ll remember for a long time. A moment that immensely moved me.

It was in the very last episode when one of the main characters tells a short monologue about the concept of life and death.

Picture a wave. In the ocean. You can see it, measure it, its height, the way the sunlight refracts when it passes through. And it’s there. And you can see it, you know what it is. It’s a wave.

And then it crashes in the shore and it’s gone. But the water is still there. The wave was just a different way for the water to be, for a little while. You know it’s one conception of death for Buddhists: the wave returns to the ocean, where it came from and where it’s supposed to be.

If you ever get the chance to listen to this quote spoken directly by the character in the show, I can assure you that it’ll move you to tears. It moved me.

Even as I re-read and write this quote down, I feel this sort of calm and inner peace wash over me — like a constant stream of epiphanies originating from a singular saying that manages to pull my head out of the clouds down into the beauty of reality.

That no matter what, everything will always be okay now and forever.

This saying though really packs a punch and has condensed a lot of thought-provoking insights into a few short sentences. That being said, it withholds a powerful and useful meaning that I think can transform your perspective about life, death, and purpose.

I know that sounds heavy, but what it really comes down to, is that it’s a quote about loving life, loving existence, and loving the world all around you while you exist finitely as a different way for nature to be.

We Are All Part of The Same Ocean

It’s hard to argue if by nature humans are either inherently selfish or altruistic. But what we can say for sure is that every human has an “ego” and is in some way, shape, or form driven by that ego.

It’s much too easy to see the world trapped within the realms of your own perspective rather than adopting an all-encompassing, empathetic view of the world around you. You see the goals and thoughts you have, but you might not understand the thoughts of others, the functions of each blade of grass on your front lawn, or how connected this whole world really is. You really only see and understand what you do and what other people tell you unless you actively adopt a different way of thinking.

The truth is that we are all part of the same world and the same species just as every wave on the planet emerges and regresses back into the same vast, interconnected ocean.

It’s important to remember this idea whenever you find yourself judging someone else’s character based on geography or culture, you find yourself disrespecting or lacking appreciation of nature, or you find yourself thinking of all other creatures other than humans as lesser beings.

We don’t all share the same experiences, but we all emerge from the same place. We feed, live, and thrive off all other existing systems this world has to offer connected in unimaginable ways through this vastly complicated network of living and non-living organisms.

You need to remember that no matter what, your actions and decisions will ripple into the lives and states of all organisms around you. It’s inevitable. Just like how each wave disturbs the state of another wave. And each wave that crashes erodes away the sand on the beach.

So that being said, why shouldn’t you treat everyone with kindness, without judgment, and try to be grateful for all of the beautiful things that nature has to offer?

It is the Finite State of the Wave That Makes Life Meaningful

Waves don’t last forever. They eventually crash and regress, just as humans live and die.

But knowing that you’ll die and that there is an end, is exactly what gives life meaning. Imagine if you were immortal: Would you feel any urgency to do anything in this life? Would you be able to convince yourself to achieve great things? Would there be any purpose in having goals, finding love, or being happy?

It’s our own mortality that makes life meaningful. Otherwise, we’d just be bored. We’d run out of things to do. We’d just be a wave going on forever and ever with no end in sight.

I know that when I look out into the vastness of the ocean, part of its beauty is the way waves crash into shore and drawback into the ocean just to make room for another wave to crash. The beauty behind the idea that people and dolphins see these waves and decide to ride them in enjoyment. That what makes these waves so enjoyable for them is the simple fact that they get to experience the temporary thrill of riding that wave during its lifetime — but that thrill would disappear if they were to ride it forever.

Keep on riding your wave and remember that this is only a temporary and thrilling ride — Memento Mori, remember that you will die. Having conscious knowledge of this timestamp is sort of uplifting in the way that it creates an urgency to live life to its absolute fullest. Thinking about death has changed the way I live my life, hopefully, it’ll energize you in the same way.

“If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete.”― Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

A Wave Eventually Crashes, But Its Contents Last Forever

Remember that a wave will crash, but it’s still water. Its form and body are still there, forever a part of the ocean. We may not see it again, but we know it’s there and we know it existed.

No matter what, the impact that you make will always find itself to become a part of the larger whole. A unique footprint that you leave behind on the world. A remnant of who you once were. That’s why, more than ever, it’s important to do all that you can in the life that you do live.

Don’t think of death as if you’d be descending into nothing to be forgotten forever, but rather, think of death as a motivator to live the best life that you possibly can — a unique opportunity to fossilize your presence in the minds of others. To impact as many individual lives as you possibly can. To do as much good as you possibly can. Live this way so that you can confidently leave life knowing a memento of who you once were will forever be imprinted in the minds of those lives you touched and changed — that alone should be a very heartwarming and calming thought.

Just as every wave crashes and erodes down the rocky grains of sand on the beach, the life that you lead will change some tiny part of the world as well.

Keep on Riding Your Wave

Life is temporary and that in itself should be invigorating. Realizing and constantly reminding myself this revitalized my energy and allowed me to find meaning and happiness in the thought that there will be an end to my story.

That being said, just keep on riding your wave and keep on marching forward. That’s the only direction that you can go, not backward, not faster — just forward. So the only option you really have is to enjoy this swell fully and entirely in the moment. Not worrying about when you’ll crash nor worrying about the waves behind you.

Happiness is found in the life that you live right now and the decisions that you choose to make, so stop trying to find perceived value in the past or the future, but rather fully try to maintain finding value and meaning in everything around you in this very moment.

Learn to love life for the mere reason of having the opportunity to live it.