A Lucky Start

Sometimes when I think back on my life, I can't help feeling that I have been very lucky to end up where I am today. So many times have coincidences and things out of my control turned out in my favor and moved me towards where I am now.

However, I am convinced that the luckiest moment of my life was where it started. The fact that, in 1976, I was one of the babies born in Norway, and because of that got to grow up here. Using the UNDP Human Development Index, what probably is the best index to tell how good a country is to grow up in, we see that Norway now is the second best country. Number one is Iceland. The total population of these two countries is just above 5 million. So, if you're born in Norway or Iceland, you are one of the 5 million persons that live in the best two countries in the world to live in.

It is pretty lucky to be amongst those 5 million. To illustrate how lucky, imagine you play heads or tails with a friend. The first time the coin is flipped, it lands on the side you picked. The second time it does the same. The same for the 3rd time. You're very pleased with your luck today. And you keep playing. And it keeps landing on the side you pick. The 4th time, the 5th time and the 6th time. This is unbelievable! And there's no cheating, it really is just pure luck. Again, the same happens the 7th time, the 8th time, the 9th time and even the 10th time.



We all know this kind of luck never happens in real life, right? Well, it happened to me when I was one of the babies born in Norway... And every baby born in Iceland or Norway has the same luck. For every single person living in Norway or Iceland, there are about 1300 persons living in countries below Norway in the UNDP index.



I will forever be grateful for that stroke of luck :)