I don’t mean in the existential sense, I mean here, right here; look down at your feet. Have you ever wondered what kind of bad luck, Karma or whatever, it takes to be struck by lightning or hit on the head by a falling branch?

You’ve tempted fate, driven recklessly, flown in storms and maybe even poked a screwdriver into an electrical socket and still, somehow, you’ve survived.

Yet one day, you’re in a park full of trees and people, and somehow, in all this randomness, lighting strikes the exact spot where you’re standing.

So, why were you at that exact spot, at that exact second on that very day?

Because you were supposed to be.

Somewhere in your distant past, somebody connected to you, moved; maybe an inch, maybe a thousand miles and inevitably, a path was formed.

That somebody had a somebody, who, uncertain of their future, looked down at their feet and back from whence they came and took a step, extending the ancient path

Each time we interact with someone or something, we adjust our direction, but always continuing on the path that preceded us.

From what may appear to be chaos, comes order. If one could stand back far enough and see their ancient path from its beginning to the present day, tomorrow’s direction would become quite clear.

You were struck by lightning because your path in life began thousands of years ago and the place that you were standing, at that very minute, on that very day, was exactly the place where you were supposed to be.

Neither you nor the lightning is random.

M. S. McCown
2019