20% Loaded

I’m turning 20 years old tomorrow, so here is a brief reflection.

One of your fathers once stood on this Earth with a sword in his hand. Yes, your ancestor, your blood, your DNA. He stood on the battlefield, or perhaps the plains. He might’ve killed somebody, or perhaps he might’ve been killed. But he first created a son, or a daughter, who created another, and another, and another. All the way down to you.

Imagine this. There were men standing beside him a thousand years ago who have no living children today. Through all the wars, pestilance, famine, migration, and persecution that happened in the last thousand years, your bloodline survived. You have the blood of champions, alongside everyone who stands on Earth today.

My grandfather is the last to live entirely in India. My father is the only to live in both India and become a father in a different country. His son is the first to grow up in a new country. A remarkable point in history.

The temples I visited recently were built thirteen centuries ago. And those who built Acropolis sweat thirteen centuries before that. We have a long history, but doesn’t mean our actions don’t matter. Remember you once had a father who held a weapon, fierce to protect and preserve, and you’re afraid of what? Well, perhaps so was he. What mattered was what happened next.