What are the odds?

Recently a thought came to me as to just how unlikely it is that I was ever born?  I began researching online and came up with multiple rather complex calculations.  The short version is somewhere between 400 trillion to one and 700 trillion to one.

When you also consider the odds of everything else that has made me who I am, it makes my head hurt!  In a nutshell, it is absolutely, unbelievably, remarkably amazing that I am alive!  Go figure!

There is a saying regarding this in Buddhism, but I could not trace its origins, and is referred to as “this precious incarnation.” 

Imagine there was one life preserver thrown somewhere in some ocean, with exactly one turtle in all of these oceans, swimming underwater somewhere.  The probability that you came about is the same as that turtle sticking its head out of the water --- into the middle of that life preserver.  On one try.

Albeit I’m generally a logic driven individual, I believe I like the latter the best.  I can grasp the enormity.

So, this goes beyond the knowledge that I should very much cherish and love every moment, good or bad, that I am alive.  It also means I should cherish every moment of every one of my loved ones as well.  What are the odds that I would have the privilege of being the father and dad (there is a difference – a later blog) of three remarkable young men? 

I remember each of their births as if it were yesterday and will forever love and be grateful to their Mother and Mom.  I have had the immense pleasure of watching them grow into beautiful adults who I have at times witnessed them caring more about others than themselves.  One is already a father and dad himself and another is soon to be.  I know all three will be remarkable dads.  I love that it is a touch of my immortality.  Selfish perhaps, but meant only in love and the continuation of that love.

Not intending to be morbid, but just stating my wishes for all those I love, my family and friends, when my time has ended, do not mourn.  Celebrate.  Celebrate the miracle of life.  Celebrate the miracle of your life.  Work to make the miracle of life a celebration for others who can’t see it because they are hungry, frightened, abused, or living in places that stifle celebration.  Work to spread the celebration of life.

Namaste

The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.  -  Pablo Casais (Spanish Musician, 12/29/1876 – 10/22/1973)