Day 100 Part 2: What are the odds?

Fitting that this would have two parts (due to my random urges to start/stop writing). Fitting because Day 100 was 37 hours due to flying back in time. I lived it twice. Once with my girlfriend and once with Nobuyuki Satoh. A great day. But what are the odds I'd randomly choose to end my journey on a day that ended up being day 100. What are the odds that I would find my host family purely by memories from over 9 years ago. Well, we can try to figure that out: Assuming the route I took to get to the house from the station included lets say 10 choices. 10 "turns" or directional judgements I had to make. That is 10 different times I could have failed to get to my goal. Not that much, but really, there is much more to it. Each time I felt like turning back. Each moment when I was deciding whether or not to come. Each time I thought of just grabbing some Ramen instead. Each time I questioned myself, questioned my goal; those weer all opportunities to fail. And if I failed, I would have been blissfully ignorant, none the wiser of what my other fate was. I could have spent the day in Yoyogi park, or eating ramen, still happy since finding the Satohs seemed improbably anyway.  But now, knowing what that day meant and what its full potential was, it feels weird to think I could have lost all that I experienced had I made any 'small' decision differently.

It seems that is what life is about. Its full of small and big decisions. The ones that seem small at first may snowball to something huge or life-changing. Often times, it is the decisions that seem the biggest that end up being inconsequential in some manner. Maybe not inconsequential, but it is likely that either way you go, you will be making a good decision. Which college you go to, for example, can feel like a huge decision at the time. And it is. But looking back now, I feel confident that no matter which university I chose, I would have had fun, met great people, and eventually have gotten a great job. Granted life would be much different now had I chosen U Miami instead of Carnegie Mellon, but I think I'd still have a good life and enjoy it all. That's why these big decisions seem "inconsequential" and honestly kinda bore me. It's the small ones that often can hold the most opportunity. Or they can mean nothing at all. I guess it is just the not knowing that makes these little choices more appealing. In life, we are all pretty much going the same way. We may take different routes to get there but it seems like a lot of those different paths are still well-traveled highways with many people on them as well. Nothing wrong with that, but sometimes you want to try to find a different path or something new. Sometimes you more enjoyment in stopping off on the small side streets for a bit. You'll be making progress in your own way. Even if you don't progress, it can be nice to get away from all the traffic.