The Incredible Odds of You

Why Your Life is a Miracle and a Duty

Introduction

This idea for the article came from my sister, Lorraine. She began to explain, in her thoughtful way, just how rare and incredibly special each one of us really is. That got me thinking — and the more I dug into the numbers and the story of life itself, the more gob-smacked I became.

Up until now, I’ll admit, this whole idea of how special we are — our journey from the very first cell that ever existed to you and me as living human beings — was something I pretty much took for granted.

It’s only in the last few years, as knowledge and experience have combined into wisdom, and as I’ve become more aware of my own mortality, that I’ve been able to think about these things in this way. And the deeper I go, the more astonishing it becomes.So here it is, an exploration of the odds of you being alive today, and why that truth should make you marvel at yourself — and train, nourish, and live with purpose.

Making sense of the numbers

Before we go any further, let's clear up what these big "odds" mean. When you see something like 1 in 10^40, here's what it means:

10^3 = 1,000 (a thousand)

0^6 = 1,000,000 (a million)

10^9 = 1,000,000,000 (a billion)10^12 = 1,000,000,000,000 (a trillion)

So 10^40 is:10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

That's a one with forty zeros after it.

If you had a jar with 10^40 marbles and only one was red, the chance of you pulling out that single red marble in one try would be 1 in 10^40. In plain English: so close to impossible that it may as well be a big zero.

Word pictures to make it real

Numbers this big can feel abstract, so here are some word pictures:

The grain of sand: Imagine all the sand on all the beaches of Earth. The odds of you being you are like picking the one exact grain that belongs to you.

The drop of water: Think of every drop in every ocean, river, and lake. The chance of you is like choosing the one single drop that carries your name.

The shuffled deck: Shuffling a deck of cards into one exact order is a 1 in 10^68 chance. The odds of you are even smaller — like shuffling every deck of cards ever printed, throughout all time, and getting the same sequence.

The star in the universe: There are 100 billion galaxies, each with 100 billion stars. Imagine pointing blindfolded at the night sky and landing on your star. That chance is still greater than the chance of you existing.So when we talk about odds like 1 in 10^40, this is what we mean: something so improbable it defies comprehension. And yet, here you are. I hope you are starting to appreciate just how special you are!

From the first cell to you

The first spark of life on Earth was not inevitable. Scientists estimate the odds of life emerging spontaneously as 1 in 10^40 or worse. From there, the odds of that first single-celled organism becoming a complex, multi-celled animal, then surviving mass extinctions and evolving into mammals, primates, and eventually humans, are each astronomically small.By conservative mathematics, the probability of Homo Sapiens existing at all is around 1 in 10^71. Yet here you are, a living, breathing human.

The unbroken lineage

Every one of your ancestors — stretching back thousands of generations — had to survive birth, childhood, disease, famine, war, predators, and misfortune long enough to reproduce. If even one had failed, the line would have ended and you would not be here. That sounds very special to me!

And along that journey, something extraordinary has been passed down without interruption: your genetic code.

Your Godscript

Your DNA — your genome — is nothing less than your Godscript. It is the sacred text of life itself, written over billions of years, honed through countless generations of trial, error, survival, and adaptation.

This script contains not just the instructions for building a human body, but the record of life's entire evolutionary journey. Every successful ancestor has left a line in that script. It is the most precious inheritance you own — more valuable than money, land, or possessions.

And here's the point: it is not ours to tamper with lightly.Biotech corporations talk casually about rewriting the code of life — through genetic engineering, mRNA technology, or designer embryos — as if it were a software update. But our genome is not a computer program. It is the sacred script of life, written with wisdom and a complexity beyond our comprehension. To meddle with it is to risk corrupting a text we barely understand. We risk corrupting life itself.

The sperm-and-egg lottery race

Now for the fun part. Let’s not forget the last miracle that brought you into being - conception.A healthy man produces up to 2 trillion enthusiastic "spermers" (sperm) over his lifetime. Each ejaculation carries about 200 million of these miraculous and keen swimmers, all wriggling like tiny Olympians, thrashing their tails in a frantic race for glory. Only one makes it to the egg.

A woman is born with about half a million eggs, but will only release around 400 across her lifetime. So, of those trillions of enthusiastic spermers and hundreds of thousands of eggs, it was one particular swimmer — the heroic champion — who smashed through the tape and merged with the one egg of the month. And that, against all odds, was the start of you.Odds? Roughly 1 in 80 billion for that single conception event.

Multiply that across every generation before you and the numbers become beyond absurd — so close to zero it's not even worth talking about. And yet, here you are, proof that the most impossible of the impossible happens.

You are a miracle

You are not an accident. You are the product of an unbroken chain of survival stretching back to the dawn of life. Against odds so huge they defy comprehension, you are here, alive, thinking, breathing, moving. That is not just a marvel — it is a responsibility.

And within you lies the Godscript, the unbroken genetic code, the story of life itself, shared with all lifeforms. It is your inheritance, your blueprint, your sacred text. It is not to be corrupted by careless experimentation or corporate profit. It is to be honoured, protected, and passed on intact.

Honour and protect your Godscript

If life has gone to such staggering lengths to produce you, what are you doing with it? Will you squander the gift on idleness, sugar, screens, and fear? Or will you honour it by building strength, resilience, and vitality?

Train your body. Movement is life. Use it or lose it.

Nourish with real food. Food is your medicine.

Seek challenge. Stress plus recovery builds resilience.

Connect. We are tribal, communal creatures who thrive on love and purpose.

Conclusion

The odds of your existence are beyond astronomical. You are a once-in-forever event. Your DNA is your Godscript — the sacred record of life’s long journey, entrusted to you. Guard it. Train hard, eat well, live with integrity, and honour the miracle of being you.

Protect the environment, and what sustains all forms of life. Leave Earth in better condition than you found it.

As the person who keeps the Code of Life, your duty is to pass on your Godscript and the eternal and pure nature that it represents, undamaged, to the next generation.

And I'll say this: for most of my life, I've taken all of this for granted. I never really questioned or fully understood how special and unlikely our existence is. But with the years — as knowledge and experience combine into wisdom, and as I've become more aware of my own mortality — I've begun to see it differently. Thanks to Lorraine for sparking this reflection, I've come to realise life is far too rare and precious not to make it count.

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Medical Disclaimer: The reflections here are personal and philosophical. They are not medical advice. For personal health matters, seek a qualified professional.