When I was a kid, “Wanna bet?” was a common phrase in the neighborhood. And if I asked you, “Wanna bet whether when you go out for a walk tonight you’ll see someone in a yellow jacket wearing a sharp-looking hat?” you’d probably bet against it—I mean, what are the odds?
So on my walk I saw seven people, and if I had bet on whether I’d see them, of course the odds would have been against seeing those particular people, in that particular order, wearing whatever they were wearing, walking or not walking whatever dog (or pig or cat or gerbil—whatever).
And if I were to bet on every aspect of myself, tall or short, young or old, my interests, my habits, my strengths and weaknesses, my thoughts and feelings and inclinations, the odds against this exact combination would be astronomical. And even further than that, what about the odds against the exact situation this moment—where I’m sitting, what’s around me, what activity is going on, and every component of this moment’s experience? How much had to happen to bring together all the components that make you you? How many other things had to be exactly the way they are in order for you to be where you are, how you are, whatever you’re doing, whatever’s going on? Too many things to even list. Here you are, against all odds, uniquely you, uniquely here, uniquely now, in this place, in this time. A special and ever-changing creation, always a miracle, always against all odds.
© 2022 Shanti Natania Grace
Art by Vincent Van Gogh – Portrait of Armand Roulin
Cartoon by Mick Stevens
