It is astonishing to think that the particles and atoms that make up the whole of matter were created from reactions going on from the instant of the big bang through the seconds and minutes afterwards. Not the least to think that the atoms inside our bodies, the ones that made it to Earth, may include some of those particles and even if they do not they certainly include a large number of atoms that are as old as the Earth.
Which means when I was born I was at least four billion years old.
It puts into perspective our focus upon the length we are animate (our lives), and our assumption that our lives are all there is to us and after our lives some other agency has to take over if we are to continue to exist. In actual fact we are the beneficiaries of a highly mobile eco-system that continually creates using the same materials. There are parts of us that were dinosaurs, even our own ancestors.
Now we are aware that our minds do not remember any of that and we assume since we cannot remember it is isn’t us, wasn’t us ‘there’ and is of no relevance to who we are. But perhaps those bits and pieces of us that are ancient don’t think our ‘thoughts’ on the subject are all that relevant.