Wanted to bump the thread, since it's such a good one, and Capp's contributions in particular are very moving.

I myself believe that "life" in a never-ending process. I don't mean the life once is living at the moment, of course. But I'm not sure if I'm talking about reincarnation, either...reincarnation is in an interesting idea, but I find it's too simplistic an explanation for what I'm thinking of.

I just feel that what makes us us keeps going and going beyond this mortal life, whatever that is worth. And I feel that those little moments, like the one Capp described - those little choices - play a major role in shaping how we navigate through whatever it is we're going through.

Also, somehow, though, I feel like we are guided in a way we can't understand. Quick story - many years ago, I was at a low point in my life and I felt the urge to do something drastic. I bolted out of my parents' house ready to do...well, I don't know what - something bad to myself. But before I left, I did a few incredibly stupid things - stupid in the sense that they prevented me from accomplishing my goal. I threw my car keys out of my pocket, along with most of my money. I also forgot to take the phone number of a very dear friend of mine who was living out of town, which I had written down (the # had changed recently so I didn't know it from memory). If I was going to do something to myself, I wanted to speak to this person first. But I could not go back and face my parents...I was stuck wandering through town.

Things got even weirder, though. I tried calling 411, but still I could not get my friend's new number, as it was unlisted. Then I thought I could e-mail her...there were 2 Internet cafes in town at the time (remember this is many years ago...also remember these were the days before everyone had a cell phone). I went to the first one and it had gone out of business. I then went to the second, and it was inexplicably closed for the evening - just that evening, for whatever reason, it closed early. And since I had no car, I was walking/bussing around town, and the whole experience just wore me out so much that I went back home and faced the music. It was tough, but after that day I no longer felt such a strong urge to harm myself.

It was just such a strange series of coincidences that I still think about today. Why did I drop my car keys and money? Why was it impossible to contact my friend, by phone or by e-mail? Why, at the lowest point in my life, was every obstacle thrown in my path to prevent me from doing something really bad to myself?

Anyway, just wanted to share that, and see what people thought. Cheers.