August 25, 2009; In which it is my birthday

Twenty-one years ago today, I was born.

Twenty-one years ago today, I had no idea who I would be after twenty full years of life. I had no concept of life, or time, or goals, or friendship or family or love or even concepts themselves. I had my basic needs. I ate, I slept, I pooped, I smiled at the nice people who took care of me and I cried when they weren't doing it fast enough or in the exact right way that only a baby or someone with a wicked insight or instinct can understand.

When you think about it, all of us have infinite potential at the moment of our birth. Well, maybe not infinite. I don't think anyone is going to spring fully-grown from the womb then start break dancing and reciting the Magna Carta in Swahili, but short of intense improbabilities we aren't all that limited at the beginning. Look at any baby. It could be a president, an astronaut, an engineer, a rock star, a lion tamer, a burger flipper, a parent, a doctor, just about anything you can think of. From the first choice we make, though, we limit ourselves more and more to a specific path. Usually, by the time a child is in his early teens, his path has probably already been largely decided. The rest is just walking it. And yet, occasionally, despite every choice that limits us and focuses us and directs us into whatever endeavours we'll end up in for most of our lives, the rare choice can open more doors than it closes.

No, I don't have an example in mind. I'm just talking about possibility.

I guess I could go into worldlines and dimensional theories to further illustrate that point, but there's no need. What I'm really meaning to say is pretty simple. As I look back along the lines of the last twenty years, I find that, in general, I'm pretty happy with where I've ended up. I've made some bad choices in the past, but I'd bet you that there's no one in the world who can honestly say that they never made a bad choice. I live with almost no regrets, I'm doing something I love, and I've still got some good long years (hopefully) ahead of me. Life is good. Happy birthday to me.