when i consider the short duration of my life. swallowed up in the eternity that lies before and after it. when i consider the little space i fill and see. engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces of which i am ignorant and which know me not, i rest frightened and astonished. for there is no reason why i should be here rather than there. why now rather than then? who has put me here? by whose order and direction have this place and time have been ascribed to me? sometimes i wonder to myself. why am i here? what purpose do i serve in the circle of life? it has occured to me that nothing i have done has been to better myself in a dramatic way. reflecting back on all the choices that i have made as an adolescent. none have had any benefit for a brighter tomorrow..