Sometimes I get pretty down on myself (especially after I act immature, irresponsible, or hurt someone else's feelings), but one of the best things for me when I start to get too self critical is to realize just how short life is and how small we are in the role of the universe.

Feeling insignificant is liberating because it makes it so much easier to be flawed without drawing on the flaws so much that they become the focus of your life, and a source of endless negative energy.

Once you think of yourself as being insignificant in the grand picture it makes you more willing to seek and explore and find what you really should be. You can think of yourself as being like an item an auctioneer once described to the bidders... "only a little bit broken." :)

And for most people, the broken parts are just as likely (if not more likely) to help you find purpose and happiness instead of being a source of depression or isolation, at least if you leverage your broken bits correctly.

Everything is broken. Everything is recycled. Everything is in a constant state of change. But that is what makes life interesting. You have to leave your comfort zones if you want to grow.