As I was driving to work today, getting frustrated by slow drivers and then by having someone ride my as...tail...for 10km, I was thinking about how crazy it is that there are currently 6 billion people on the earth, and another who-know's-how-many billion who have lived and died, and how all of us are unique. I mean, we've all been told we're like snow-flakes -- no two are identical (unless you're a twin, in which case no three are alike, unless you're a triplet, in which case...oh forget it). But I'm talking about a different unique.

Think about. We're all unique in that we're all separate. None of us are the same person, not exactly, never completely. Sure, there are a lot of people who share same characteristics -- language, skin colour, gender, favourite meal, preferred colour of nail polish (I'm not one of them). But no two people have everything in common. There's always something different. Always some difference somewhere down the line. And even more amazing, we're all separate entities. We all have our own soul, our own body, our own mind. No one else is me. No one else is you. You will always be you, even after you're dead. And I will always be Kyle Stewart, even after Kyle Stewart is dead. No one past or present or future will ever be who I am, or who you are.

That might seem pretty juvenile, I know. But it just amazes me. It makes the word "individual" mean so much more in my head. "Person" suddenly doesn't seem so generic. God has created 6 billion + however many unique, unduplicated, irreplaceable human beings, with no signs of stopping (ok, there are signs -- and it will end someday. See Bible for more details. Apocalypse sold separately.). But what creativity! It's incredible.

It seems to me life has more meaning than maybe I once thought. If I can be someone that no one else can ever be exactly, why should I apologize for that? Why should I ever be ashamed of that? I know I'm not like everyone. No one is like everyone! No one is like anyone, for that matter! Not really, anyway. Such a strange thought.

It's also made me appreciate other people. Those people who are driving really slow on the highway, they're incredibly complex, unduplicatable (new word!) human beings, with their own histories, their own presents and futures, jobs, families, mistakes, victories, illnesses, flaws, body parts, thoughts, dreams, destinies. It reminds me of a quote (which I think I even posted up here once before):

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
(Plato)

And I do need to remember that. To respect what God has made, to embrace that uniqueness and individuality in myself and every other person I meet (or drive behind).

Really, how hard can it be?! {insert eye-roll here}