• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of, and finding treatments for, complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

RANDOM THOUGHTS ....It’s Incredible That Any Of Us Are Actually Here …. OR …. The Unbelievable Odds Of Just Being Us ….

1675338194653.png

“And what would humans be without love?" ….
"RARE, said Death” ― Terry Pratchett
1675338207294.png

​

1675338264452.png
I’m guessing that not too many of us have stopped to consider the absolutely infinitesimal, miniscule, teensy-weensy, tiny little odds of just being the ‘us’ that we’re so used to being that we’ve almost certainly ceased to see it as any sort of miracle at all. I know that I haven’t considered that, even on my rare ‘Hey, got a brain today !!!” days …..


1675338341452.png
​
And of course, with the addition of this crabby, crappy total little toadstool of an illness, ‘miracles’ are hard to fold into the mixture, at least for me. At least most of the time ….. and I suspect that’s probably true for you, as well, tho I could be wrong …. it’s been known to happen ….


1675338481799.png
But here’s something astonishing that I found to be a real eye-opener ….

"The odds of you being you, taking into account parentage, ancestry, genetics, eggs,
sperm, etc., is equivalent to 2 million people, each rolling a trillion-sided die,
and having each person roll precisely the same number
(approximately 1 in 10^2,685,000) at exactly the same time..."
​
That’s a deeply daunting bit of math …..

1675339774103.png
​
And to add to this already confounding brew, here’s an odd little digit of information I picked up somewhere ….

One of the reasons that female babies are more potentially likely than males is that, while male sperm swim faster and more vigorously than their female counterparts, outpacing them almost immediately right out of the gate in their mad rush to get to The Precious, they also tire pretty fast. It’s the tortoise and the hare all over again.


1675338915338.png
soooooo ..... the male sperm exhaust themselves pretty quickly, then slow down, then slow waaaaay down, while the female sperm, unperturbed and unruffled, continue at their steady pace, and all other things being equal, triumphantly attain the goal while the male sperm are still snoozin’


1675338995993.png
​
And if you still doubt the miracle of actually “being” at all, let alone being you, consider this, a thought-provoking excerpt from Richard Dawkins …

“We are all going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones.

Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people
who could have been here in my place, but who will in fact never see the light of day, outnumber the
grains of sand in all the deserts of Arabia.

Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton.
Artists greater than Da Vinci. Thinkers greater than Einstein. We know this because
the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people.

In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here.
We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds…. “

UNWEAVING THE RAINBOW; Science, Delusion, and the Appetite for Wonder …
Richard Dawkins
​

1675339171822.png
So the next time we’re bemoaning our fate at being the 1 or 2 in 1,000, give or take, that are flailing, failing, and often falling under the burden of this thing that ails us, we might find comfort in shifting our attention to contemplating the incredible series of circumstances, accidents, miracles, mishaps, and odd little blessings that actually made us at all.


1675339268041.png
And then remember that however encumbered we
may be by circumstance, however debilitated by our shared burden of illness, we each have something unique to offer, something that only we can give, something that we didn’t imitate, borrow, or copy from someone else, but that’s singularly ours, something incredibly special to contribute to the greater good, to ourselves, and to each other …..

We may not know what it is yet, but we absolutely need to believe that it’s in there, snoozing quietly, waiting patiently for us to discover it and rouse it into action ….


1675339385630.png
​
And we should celebrate that truth, and be grateful that we’re here to prove it ….. or here at all, for that matter, wrapped up tightly in all our splendid, awesome, singularly awful challenges and debilities, which are the very things that make us …… uniquely irreplaceable …

1675339467733.png

A dove struggling in a storm grows stronger than an eagle
soaring in sunshine — Matshona Dhliwayo
1675339473326.png

​
  • Like
Reactions: Mariaba, Rufous McKinney and Jyoti

Comments

Jyoti
however debilitated by our shared burden of illness, we each have something unique to offer, something that only we can give, something that we didn’t imitate, borrow, or copy from someone else, but that’s singularly ours, something incredibly special to contribute to the greater good, to ourselves, and to each other …..
Click to expand...

It is hard to imagine some days, that I have anything of any value to offer to anyone! But this brings to mind my grandfather and something he gave me at his most debilitated, ringing with the truth of the above in a way that I might not have imagined if it wasn't something I experienced, received.

My grandfather was an incredibly garrulous and social man. He knew a lot of cool stuff and taught me much about the natural world. I have loads of cherished memories of time spent with him when I was young and I am ever grateful to have known him.

As he got older, he suffered a series of strokes and lost the ability to talk and to read, two of his favorite pastimes. He lost the ability as well to command the room, and I felt terribly badly--maybe a bit ashamed-- for him, as a young adult.

In time, he needed a lot of personal care and once in a while, I was called upon to spend the weekend and fill in for his regular caregivers. I was happy to do it in principle, but when it came to bathing him, I was terrified. Not to do the work, but of what would happen to that which I imagined to be the shreds of his dignity, as his granddaughter tended him like a baby.

He couldn't talk and yet his dignity and composure, his understanding of what was really going on there allowed him to reassure me, to put me at my ease, to help me to find my own permission to care for him. He was masterful, grounded, fully in control of the situation. I found that I felt not a whit of pity for him; simply joy in the opportunity to serve him in a manner he needed, just as he had served me in the manner I needed when I was a little girl.

This memory is the biggest, most prominent one I have of him. I saw who he really was when under duress and he was magnificent. I learned from him that inner power and potency come not from words or even actions, but from their source. From the core of our being-ness.

Which we all possess, ME or no. As @YippeeKi YOW !! has noted! Harder to find it sometimes when we are really sick, but in my grandfather's case, it was indeed his loss of access to that which came easily which brought out that which was truly luminous.
 
YippeeKi YOW !!
Oh, @Jyoti, what a perfect, beautiful, and forgive the repetition of the word, but I can't think of another as good, totally LUMINOUS illustration of the much longer winded version I posted.

There is, within each of us, a special gift, or aptitude, or ability, that even ME, that crafty little sneak-thief, cant steal from us. But it's like a muscle, it has to be used ....

It was a lovely gift, a perfect illustration, and I thank you :woot::woot: :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: :hug::hug:!!!!
 
Rufous McKinney
so far, I love the title!

(hello, Rufous is checking in for four seconds)

I am on baby watch.

First thing this morning, we noticed dust and cob webs are going on the chain of wool felt Amanita's hanging in my dining room as decor. From Xmas 2021.

We stopped at an Oregon rest stop once, there on the majestic Pacific coast. And everywhere covering the ground, were red Amanita's pouring forth.

And no reindeers or Santas to consume them!
 
Rufous McKinney
Jyoti said:
But this brings to mind my grandfather and something he gave me at his most debilitated, ringing with the truth
Click to expand...

what a beautiful experience you've shared!

There is no greater gift or privilege ,than to help another living being feel love and safety and healing.

I recall when I was extremely ill (acute THIS), after the fires and living in an RV in our friends' yard and I was so sick and had not washed my hair properly BEFORE I got worse sick, and the get so much more sick took over.

Our friend took me in her house, and put me in her bathtub and she washed my hair and poured warm water over me with a pitcher.

I was like a baby.

It was an almost religious experience.
 
YippeeKi YOW !!
@Rufous McKinney ....

For some masochistic reason, and also because of a bunch of shite I've been dealing with lately, I started thinking about what it must feel like to lose absolutely everything, and the many degrees and types of trauma that come attached to that, like limpet mines. ANd how it strips you of so many layers of self-identity, and how you manage to come back from all that, as you've done, ME to one side ....

And I think the loving kindness of others is really the only hope we have in sooooo many situations, large and small. And how much harder that sometimes is to find, especially in our current climate.
Rufous McKinney said:
I was like a baby.
Click to expand...
Rufous McKinney said:
It was an almost religious experience.
Click to expand...

I dunno if you need the 'almost'. It sounds like a religious experience from where I sit, but then, I wasn't there and have very little right to speak on it. It made me think of Jesus' washing of the feet, and his instructions to his disciples to do the same for each other ....

It was an almost numinous gesture of love and caring and understanding and knowing and ... most important of all, as in @Jyoti 's case .... of DOING ....

That was a lovely, affirming thing to post here, Red, and thank you so much for it .... :hug::hug::hug: ....
 
Rufous McKinney
YippeeKi YOW !! said:
ANd how it strips you of so many layers of self-identity, and how you manage to come back from all that, as you've done, ME to one side ....
Click to expand...

did you mean this comment directly to me? Or just generally.

I dipped into MOOJI quite a bit for a while. Hang it up outside the door. Yup.

I have mostly done that quite successfully.

___
RE: "The odds of you being you,"

I do have many opinions about this topic. I just am not able to get into it too much right now.

That math is sort of related to physical bodies. Physical bodies and DNA, and sperm and eggs and probabilities.

But "I" have visited here at least about 1,587 times according to somebody who figured that out for me. (laugh no wonder I'm sometimes tired)
 
YippeeKi YOW !!
Rufous McKinney said:
did you mean this comment directly to me? Or just generally.
Click to expand...
Both.

I've been thru a much lesser version of what you went thru, and I have some idea of the cost and pain it inflicts.

But I WAS thinking of how much you lost, and how courageously, even defiantly, you've managed to survive those effects .... so we're back to ... you're an Undefeatable Warrior Queen !!!
Rufous McKinney said:
I dipped into MOOJI quite a bit for a while.
Click to expand...
Need translation help, I have no idea what MOOJI is, but it sounds like something I'd like to know ....:hug::hug::hug:
 

Blog entry information

Author
YippeeKi YOW !!
Read time
3 min read
Views
422
Comments
8
Last update

More entries in User Blogs

More entries from YippeeKi YOW !!

Share this entry