A Miraculous and Precious Gift
A poem that reflects on the extraordinary improbability of individual existence.
Chance unfolds in numbers too vast to count, a cosmic dance of genes, parents, moments folding into this singular spark: YOU. Against endless possibilities, a rare alignment, a breath held in the chaos of time and space, making this life not given, but won. Each heartbeat, a reminder— this presence, so unlikely, so fragile— a chance too grand to ignore. Do not let days slip, slide like forgotten echoes; hold tight to this breath, this pulse, a gift carved from improbability. In every glance, every step, feel awe rise (not for what is easy, but for what was almost never). Live as though born twice, once from stars, once from wonder, a miracle to cherish, a story that belongs only to you.
Author’s Note
This poem came from some thoughts that have been with me for quite some time. For a long time, I’ve thought about how unlikely it is that any of us are here at all. Neil deGrasse Tyson shares this idea using numbers and science, highlighting that the chance of your unique self being born is almost beyond what words can fully capture. I wanted to take that thought and turn it into something more personal.
I attempted to evoke the wonder and awe that come from realizing how rare and precious life truly is. I also wanted the poem to remind us that each of us (in our current form) is the result of countless moments, choices, and circumstances coming together in a way that’s almost miraculous.
Above all, I hope you read these words and find in them a way to see your life as something amazing, something worth cherishing and living to the fullest. When you think about just HOW improbable your existence is, then EVERY day you are here is special and beautiful, not to be taken for granted.
Upcoming…
November’s writing prompt:
One Hundred-Word Wonders, 19 November 2025
For those who want a head start, this month’s prompt: A FAMILY SECRET. Write in exactly 100 words, a story, poem, or creative non-fiction in any genre, using the prompt. Pieces should be exactly 100 words, no more or less. The 100-word count does not include the title. Hold your piece until the 19th!
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Monty Python's "Galaxy" Song, From The Meaning of Life, one of Monty Python's most brilliant creations is the "Galaxy" song, recounting all the mathematics and distances and speeds by which the Universe and all its parts move.
Whenever life gets you down, Mrs. Brown,
And things seem hard or tough
And people are stupid, obnoxious or daft
And you feel that you've had quite enough...
Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour;
That's orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it's reckoned,
A sun that is the source of all our power.
The sun, and you and me, and all the stars that we can see
Are moving at a million miles a day
In an outer spiral arm at forty thousand miles an hour
Of the galaxy we call the Milky Way.
Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars;
It's a hundred thousand light years side-to-side.
It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand lightyears thick,
But out by us it's just three thousand lightyears wide.
We're thirty thousand lightyears from galactic central point;
We go round every two hundred million years.
And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe.
The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding
In all of the directions it can whiz
As fast as it can go--the speed of light, you know--
Twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is.
So remember when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth,
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space
'Cause there's bugger-all down here on Earth.
YouTube has the whole song sung and acted out by the Python gang. It can make you laugh and cry.
Always in awe, forever grateful and in love with life. 🙏♥️