We are the lucky ones
A Singular Chance
Every human life is a once-in-eternity chance. The atoms that make you will never again assemble in quite this way. This moment, this breath, this chance to savor existence — it is yours alone. Never to be duplicated.
It’s easy to forget. Life’s ordinariness dulls us, its hardships weary us, its routines put us to sleep. But beneath the blur of familiarity lies something astonishing: we exist at all.
Richard Dawkins reminded us: “We are 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.” Out of all the possible people who never were, you are here.
That alone is reason to pause in wonder.
The Parable of the Strawberry
Zen offers a parable that speaks to this urgency. A man is chased by a tiger and finds himself dangling from a vine over a cliff. Above him: the tiger. Below him: the abyss.
And there, in front of him, is a single wild strawberry. He plucks it and eats it. How sweet it tastes.
That strawberry is life. Fleeting, precarious, hemmed in by death above and below. But in the moment we must try to savor it, as it is delicious beyond measure.
Why Mortality Matters
The parable is not about resignation. It is about clarity. The cliff edge and the tiger are not mistakes in the design — they are part of what makes the strawberry sweet.
Mortality is what sharpens the flavor of life. If we were immortal, we would postpone wonder indefinitely. Because we are mortal, we savor now.
Death does not diminish life. It illuminates it. It is the dark sky against which every star of our experience—and every chance to have an experience—shines brighter.
A Child, Briefly
Think of a child running through sprinklers on a summer day. The water arcs, the sun flares, laughter rings out.
One day, that child will grow old. One day, they will die. But right now, they are here, drenched in joy, radiant with being alive.
That moment is not practice. It is not rehearsal. It is the strawberry — fleeting, precarious, precious. It must be seized while it is there.
The sweetness of that moment is sharpened by the fact that it will not last forever.
The Aesthetic Dimension
This is why life must be seen as art. Each moment is a brushstroke on the canvas of our one existence. Some strokes are dark, some luminous, but together they form the singular masterpiece of a life.
To reduce existence to survival or obligation alone is to miss its aesthetic power. To see it as gift is to elevate it into meaning.
Practical Reflections
- Pause for strawberries. Look for the fleeting sweetnesses in your day: a taste, a glance, a laugh. Savor them as if they were the last.
- Let mortality clarify. Remember: the clock is ticking, and that is what makes this hour the best, and worth treasuring.
- Treat your life as art. Don’t measure only by productivity. Measure by the beauty you create and experience. And by the beauty you let yourself appreciate.
Closing Thought
We are not here forever. But we are here now. And that now is something. In fact, it is everything.
Your existence is not owed, not guaranteed, not repeatable. It is a once-in-eternity gift.
So taste the strawberry. Let it burst on your tongue. Let wonder flood you, even if only for a moment.
Because this is it — your life, your chance, your once-in-eternity sweetness.
