52!

Day 48

There was once in economics that we learned the permutations of a deck of cards is 52! (80,658,175,170,943,878,571,660,636,856,4…) and that number is so huge the human mind cannot even begin to conceive it. There are more permutations of a deck of 52 cards than there are number of seconds since the beginning of time. Each time you shuffle a deck of cards, you have just created a brand new sequence that has never been made before.

Applying this, we make so many decisions and the possible outcomes are infinite considering that in our lifetime we have made more than 52 possible sequence of decisions. I'm a firm believer in fate. I don't believe fate is set per se, but I do think of fate as a bigger picture that is ever-changing. Every decision we make could make an impact on our destiny.

Reflecting over just the past couple of months of big decisions I have made. I baffle over how everything fell into place and how minor decisions that impulsively came to me could alter the course of my experiences. In retrospect, when I was applying for studying abroad in Hong Kong we are allowed two choices. UT has two exchange partners in Hong Kong, HKUST and CUHK. If you really wanted to be in HK, you would put both as your two choices. I really did no research nor cared too much about detailed course offerings. I impulsively selected HKUST as my first choice right before submitting my application. Then I was granted a certain hall. We received the opportunity to apply to live in the new hall which has different living communities in which you are suppose to participate in. 10 minutes before the deadline, I impulsively scrapped up the application even though I decided to stick with my original hall the day before and submitted it. I wonder at how different my experience would be if I didn't live in Hall VII (Ebe wouldn't be my room mate) or how different it would be if I was at CUHK instead.

Although many can regard this progression of events random or a coincidence, I feel as though there is a bigger meaning to why I happen to be where I am instead of the millions of other possible outcomes. I believe fate opens opportunities to you and guide you down the path of where you need to go. It's up to you to make the most of the signs and signals you get to make sure you cross paths with the events and people that are suppose to impact your destiny.

Working to discover why in October 12, 2009 instead of any other season, time, or year, I am in Hong Kong studying in HKUST and crossing paths with this unique combination of people from all over the world.