Lottery of life

February 13th, 2023

Mine is a dizzying country in which the Lottery is a major element of reality: a place where the number of drawings is infinite, no decision is final and all branch into others

Jorge Luis Borges “The Lottery in Babylon”

Isn’t it the best description of life and our options in it? It seems difficult to understand that within all that surrounds us and wights us down, our options are infinite. But it is the truth — our lives are a lottery, a lottery of our backgrounds, our families and upbringing, places of birth, economic statuses, genders and races, and religions (or lack thereof). We might complain about being given a bad break, a bad hand, or a bad draw. But we still have an option of another drawing in and for our lives that happens daily for as long as we are able and willing to participate. No bad break or a bad hand or a bad draw that was given to us at any time in our lives so far is final. We can start anew at any given time, we might not know what draw we will get, but even with the bad one — there still will be another one tomorrow. One bad draw or even a hundred bad draws in a row doesn’t mean that the next one will be bad as well. Possibilities are endless and opportunities are open with each next draw, with each next day. The more days we have, the more chances we have. And there is no need to reinvent who and how we are — just another step forward that we take from the current into the next day, grants us a ticket for new prospects of a new reality for our lives. It is good to keep it in mind through all the tough times, tomorrow we will get another draw and another hand will be dealt to us — it might be just the one we are waiting for.