The Lottery of Birth — All the Things You Don’t Control in Life
The Lottery of Birth — All the Things You Don’t Control in Life
By Kyle Kowalski
The reality of the lottery of birth (also known as the lottery of life, birth lottery, and/or life lottery) is something we seem to forget over and over again.
We like to think that we are in control of our lives. That we are responsible for our successes and failures. That we can and should take credit or blame. But, as you’ll quickly see here, life isn’t that simple. In fact, there may be far more out of our control than what is actually in our control. Buckle up! Your ego is about to take a humbling ride.
“Birth is life’s first lottery ticket.” — Jeffrey Archer
The Lottery of Birth — All the Things You Don’t Control in Life
What is the Lottery of Birth?
Start by watching this short TED Talk by Raoul Martinez. It should be required viewing for all humanity. I also watched Raoul’s full documentary Creating Freedom: The Lottery of Birth, but I actually think his TED Talk is more impactful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAYBgR8zlu0
Let’s recap what Raoul is telling us:
“We do not choose to exist.”
“As newborns, we’re not responsible for our own natures, we’re endowed with genes that we didn’t ask for.”
“We’re faced with a world that we played no part in creating.”
“We do not choose what environment we grow up in.”
“We do not choose our identity, we inherit it.”
“Our starting point in life is one of complete dependence on forces—genetic and environmental—that we don’t control. And these forces can shape us into many things … The people we become, the lives that we lead, the beliefs and values that we learn to hold, owe much to the lottery of our birth.”
Real Life Examples of the Lottery of Birth
What ticket did you get in the lottery of life? This is an incredibly powerful TED Talk by Christina Rickardsson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO_YztdQbzM&t=6s
As is this one by Yasmine Mustafa:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLMlxvCroP0
To continue reading, please go to the original article here: