An Existence of Nonexistence

Andrew Wu

September 30, 2022

Life, a condition you are currently experiencing. This experience is often taken for granted. The chances of being born are incredibly slim. You see, if one person in your large family lineage didn’t do what they did, one link, you wouldn’t exist at all. Every family member so happened to have an opportunity to meet another specific person, then somehow decided to have children. Both events are extremely rare in and of itself, thus a chain of these events is a borderline miracle.

There could have been much more worthy individuals that could have been born, but instead you exist, out of the myriads of possibilities. Ceos, presidents, famous actors, and powerful world-changing people could have been born, yet you. You’re probably living a dull lifestyle and could’ve done better things with your time but you just had to be born.

The chances of life is like winning the lottery, but only multiple times in a row against all the odds and the people of the world. If you’re still having trouble visualizing here’s another analogy “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.” - Buddhist Analogy, let that sink in (pun not intended).

Moreover, reading this article is something for the ones who don’t exist, don’t get to experience. Don’t you feel privileged being on this Earth? Humans in general, take our lives for granted as we see our fellow “lottery winners” but never contemplate their chances of existence. To breathe, to smell, to feel, to see, and experience something is truly priceless, as your existence is a miracle. 

All the time wasted could’ve been allocated to productive tasks. However, that does not mean you have to be productive 24/7 and realistically that’s impossibly and an insane amount of stress. Though people should stop acting as if they have all the time in the world. Everyday everyone walks one step closer to death’s doorstep. That is also exactly why death essential to live a fulfilling life, without a time limit you could procrastinate on anything as long as you want and nothing would get done. That is why you must cherish and use every waking second. The clock is ticking as you read, don’t live your entire life in regret, realize this sooner rather than later. 

Think what will you being doing other than school/work and survival. What’s your purpose? How will you benefit your community and the entire world? Will you endlessly be chasing money and follow a set-path created by society? Will you follow your dreams? Or will you waste your entire winning prize of the lottery, life.