What a Fantastic Voyage to Undertake

The final thoughts from Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers” have left a lasting impression on me.  Why?  Because, as I mentioned previously, the book is about opportunity and how a myriad of variables all slide into place to produce what Mr. Gladwell calls “outliers.”  The book is essential an exploration of the human condition that finds its genesis in statistical analysis.  It’s about the human data points that exist outside the standard deviation for what we perceive as “success.”

In essence, a standard deviation is a way of measuring how far a data point falls outside what one would expect to be the norm.  So, for example, if a data point is within one standard deviation of the norm, then it’s not as statistically significant as a data point that is, say, two standard deviations.  Outliers are the people who exist as data point way outside the norm.  We’re talking about the Bill Gates’, Robert Oppenheimer’s, and…well…Malcolm Gladwell’s of the world.  It’s not as mathematical as I may be leading you to believe.  It is a gift of a book that is as compelling as it is because Mr. Gladwell has a way with words and weaving those words into stories that prove the point.  I could not recommend it more highly.

But I digress.  What has my mind spinning is this idea that I am where I am today precisely because of all the little variables and all the big variables that improbably slid into place to set me down this path I am on.  My hard work plays a part.  My laziness plays a part.  Luck plays a part.  Chance plays a part.  My genes play a part.  My family history plays a part.  Culture plays a part.  No duh, right?  Right.  I know; it’s common sense.  However, sometimes common sense is all too uncommon and, when analyzed, doesn’t make as much intuitive sense as we would like.

And it’s not only about me.  There are the bigger pieces that slide into place.  I am a product of the history of the United States of America.  The day of the month on which I was born plays a part.  The month in which I was born plays a part.  The year I was born plays a part.  The places I lived play a part.  The history of Los Estados Unidos de Mexico plays a part.  The colonia I lived in during the years I lived there play a part.  The Colegio Americano, it’s history, and the administration in place when I was there play a part.  Every cuate, compadre, amigo, amiga, novio, novia, and companero(a) de clase I ever came into contact with play a part.  

My life is as much about my efforts as it is the efforts of the billions of people with whom I share the Earth.

As HH Dalai Lama reminds us every chance he gets, we are all interconnected.  Our currency is love and compassion.  Everything that happens to me, affects all of you.  Everything that affects to all of you, affects me.  Degrees may vary, sure, but we are attuned to every vibration in this Universe.  

I feel overwhelming gratitude right now for the totality of humanity.  It is an odd thing to feel, and it is an even odder thing to try and express.  It’s an odd thing to go out on a skinny limb and profess, too.

I feel an obligation to myself and my own evolution as a human being to begin to understand all the personal variables that played a part in getting me to this point.  I feel the drive to find these, acknowledge them, and experience true, focused gratitude for them.  What a fantastic voyage to undertake.