Butterfly Effect

: a property of chaotic systems (such as the atmosphere) by which small changes in initial conditions can lead to large-scale and unpredictable variation in the future state of the system.

In simple terms, during our lifetimes we make small decisions, small actions or even small non actions or decisions that affect what happens later on in our lives. One area that gets very little recognition is the fact that some of these things would’ve happened anyways. I’m not much of a proponent of that but there is a lot of merit to it.

I hear people speak and say such beautiful poetic things such as we were destined to meet, it was destiny it was in the cards. The chance of two people meeting in this lifetime it’s basically pretty damn small. I don’t really believe in that destiny stuff.

Things happen for a reason, in my humble opinion they don’t. Maybe it is all these little variations and tangents in our lives that lead to what we perceive as our destiny. Let’s take one small example, Actually I was thinking about the decision I made not to make a move during the early stages of my career.

My company wanted me to move to Boaz Alabama. I think Boaz is in Alabama and I think Alabama’s is in United States. Sorry for the gentle jab at Alabama. Then again, I could have moved to Alabama many years ago and who knows what direction that decision would have taken.

If I decided to make that move, who knows if I would’ve decided to go back to grad school, decided to move back to Pennsylvania, continue with my running career and you can see the variations in between. By all means, there is a connector in that equation as my dad got sick and this could get one back on my the original path as intended. Who knows, we have so many variations on a theme. And like stated elsewhere, and I assume implied in quantum physics, there are not thousands of possible lives, rather there are an infinite number of permutations and still you insist that it is destiny you met your cellmate. (sic)

I know that sounds a bit snarky but we are not always talking about love, romance or having babies. How did I end up with the best dog in the world or in a more concrete sense in the house I reside.

It is very much possible, I would like to think unlikely, but I could’ve become a NASCAR loving light beer swelling southern gentleman who goes bass fishing on the weekends. It’s all possible and we have so many different lives that may or may not of happened.

There are some who argue that many of these tangents are simply predetermined. It is predetermined that tomorrow one will walk beside a road, be overcome with the beauty of a butterfly, forget a reflective vest, the driver glances down at the radio, a dog runs out in the road and the car veers off the road. The driver never saw you and that is the end.