Accidents

When you relinquish illusions about the nature of life, death and creation, you can accept the reality that we are all the products of and the subjects of accidents. The greatest accident which befalls our lives is the accident of birth. One sperm hits one egg and you are it. Which particular sperm hits which particular egg basically determines what kind of body you will have, what kind of upbringing you will have, and what your social position will be ultimately. Beauty queens and wealthy trust funders will be aghast at the concept that they haven't "made it on their own with hard work". Yet the reality is that most of what we are is an accident of genetics. If you can learn to accept this view of life, you will be blessed with a whole new view of the world and your place in it. There is no need, for example, to fear accidents. Accidents can actually change your life for the better as easily as change it for the worse. You can be released from the fear of death, because you will have to accept that your death will be an accident, unless you end it yourself. Fear of failure diminishes when you realize that whatever you may do could be destroyed or enhanced by an accident. While planning and living with hope for an accident-free future are human qualities which can be used to make our lives more bearable, it is just as helpful to maintain a basic awareness that life is rooted in the great accident of evolution. One large meteor could end this accident of life on earth in an instant.