Sometimes I think, "What are the odds?"

My most pervasive "What are the odds?" question has to do with having been born and raised as a member of the white middle class in the United States. What percentage of the world has this leg up as a matter of the luck of the draw, just by being born? What a huge advantage I started out with! Oh sure, I could've been born with even a bigger advantage, I suppose, by having been born into great wealth (or even moderate wealth; my family belonged to what I think is called the "working class"). But the odds are so much greater that a baby born in 1956, as I was, would be born in the third world, in abject poverty.

[And allow me to ignore the entire gender issue, except to mention that being male is clearly an advantage with regard to achieving financial and political success in this world, and those women who do achieve greatness have to overcome an additional barrier.]

I wonder, is it possible that my soul, my persona, whatever it is that is me, would still be the same thing if it were inside a different body, one that was born in a different part of the world without the big lead out of the starting gate? And if it is, would that "me" overcome the disadvantages I haven't had to overcome just because of the luck of the draw?

We hear a lot about people who overcame significant disadvantages and disabilities to achieve greatness. We like those stories, I guess. But aren't they the exception? I'm guessing that most people who achieve greatness (however that's measured) start out with that big lead, even bigger than mine.

It makes me put my complaints, my troubles, my woes, such as they are, in perspective. Even on a bad day, my life is so much better than a huge percentage of the rest of the world, and it's not because I'm more entitled to a better life. It's just because I was lucky.

What are the odds?

I should make a New Year's resolution out of this, I suppose. I should resolve to be more deserving of my good fortune. I should resolve to give back more by volunteering and by contributing to charity. I should resolve to do less to adversely affect the environment.

But I don't believe in New Year's resolutions. So I'm just going to make a commitment every day to make a positive difference in the world.

Happy New Year to the handful who read this. And wishes of better times ahead to the victims of tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, and immoral military actions.