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You're alive! Isn't it a bloody miracle?
Wednesday, 28 March 2007
Sometimes we all get so caught up in our day-to-day routine, that we forget what a miracle it is that we're here at all. Take a moment to look up from these words and look around you. Take in the smells, the sounds, the detail of the scene. You're alive, for God's sake. Right here, right now you exist.
What a bloody miracle!
And of course it didn't have to be this way. If a different sperm had reached your mother's egg, things would have been different. If something had gone wrong with your mother meeting your father, or your grandmother your grandfather, or your great-grandmother your great-grandfather, you wouldn't be here right now. And these astonishing coincidences of your ancestors meeting, deciding to have children, and the right sperm meeting the right egg, continued down through the ages. Ultimately this all led to you.
The chances of you ever existing at all were so tiny as to be virtually zero. And yet here you are!
Not only that, you're alive right now. The universe existed for billions of years before you were born and will likely exist for billions more after you die. Among all this long and endless time is one tiny sliver of a few decades when you will actually exist - at least in your present form.
And in all this long line of time, those few short decades are right now. There's a billion years of nothingness either side, but right now you have something.
You're alive dammit! Right here, right now.
Look around at the world you live in and take in all it's richness. Think of the miracle of nature - The Grand Canyon, The Great Barrier Reef, Victoria Falls and Mount Everest. Consider all the wonderful art - Shakespeare, Michelangelo, Beethoven. Or even the cheap but entertaining TV shows we all enjoy. Think of all the fun activities you can participate in - sport, games, food, holidays.
Not only does all this wonderful stuff exist, but you're here right now to witness it all. No matter what life throws at you, always remember that it's a miracle you're here at all. Take a step back from your everyday concerns, and just enjoy.
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