On the utility of algebra...

Who I am, and who I am tomorrow, are ever so slightly different. But the
me of tomorrow would not exist, were it not for the me of today. The path I
tread, today tomorrow and forever, is the only one that leads from the
path I took to get here.

Fed by the bits and pieces of the universe of paths that I might have taken.

The interesting part here is that I could, with a little effort, recall
every choice, between here and tomorrow, and retread that path. I could,
in effect, stand still. For a day, perhaps. But the focus needed to see
the choices starts to get a little heavy, and the number of choices I have
to recall from, large, the more steps I take.

Can I ever come back from where I will be, if I lose track of where I've
been?

And what on earth does any of this have to do with algebra, you, dear reader,
ask?

Maybe the question really is, what sort of story this is leading to...

Ah. But that would be telling.