Hurdling Life's Purpose

I heard an ad for the Summer Olympics this morning. In it, Morgan Freeman stated there are 6,000,000,000 people in the world, and for one moment, every four years, we all come together.

6 billion people. Where did they all come from? When Bob Hayes won the 100 meter dash in 1964 to claim the title, "World's Fastest Man", he only had 3 billion competitors. How awesome would it be to know you are the world's best something? Even if you finished last in the 100, you could claim to be the "World's 8th Fastest Man".

I can't imagine being one of the best anything. Best blogger? Technorati has me ranked 4,978,471 on their list. I'm not proud of that. Best golfer? Of the 26.2 million golfers in America, my handicap would put me in the middle of the pack, or "America's 13,478,945th Best Golfer". I think I am going to print that on the back of my business card.

Julie says everyone brings something unique to the world. She identified her best trait as optimism. She chooses to be happy instead of sad and wakes up smiling; we are a ying and yang couple. She wants to bring good feelings to everyone she meets every day of her life. She is the "World's Nicest Person".

She asked me what I thought I brought to the world? I couldn't think of a damn thing. I'm lost in the sea of 6 billion people. I'm one of the other guys in a Where's Waldo picture - a human lemming. Ever hopeful, Julie said my contribution to the world is my forgiving nature.

I'm not sure her assessment is correct, but that's okay.