My previous life

I've always believed in reincarnation, ever since I was a little kid.
I guess I can blame it on my parents for introducing me to Buddhism (though not properly and thoroughly) , or I can blame it on myself for watching too many Hong Kong movies and TV series growing up.

There's one thing I couldn't seem to straighten out in my understanding of the concept, though.
The question has been bothering me ever since I learned how humans have multiplied significantly from the days of Adam and Eve.
(I'm so screwed up, I know..... Well, this is what you get from sending a kid to a Catholic school and feeding him/her Buddhism at home. )

But anyway, so if everyone of us has gone through several rounds of reincarnation before, I couldn't explain to myself how the world's population just keeps growing and growing.
"Where did all these newbies come from?", I thought.
Especially when you take out those who have reached nirvana.... aren't they supposed to stop reincarnating then?
(Again, I told you I don't have the whole picture of Buddhism.... I know there must be some serious glitches in my interpretation of it. )

One day I found the answer:
I learned at school about the extinction of tons of species and how there used to be dinosaurs just chillin' and eating up each other. Though there were also nice dinosaurs that were vegetarians.

Then I remembered something they taught us in my Buddhist Sunday class:
If you do good things and create good karma, you'll lead a better life in your next one, one step closer to nirvana. On the contrary, if you do bad things, you make bad karma, and you might end up as an animal in your next life.
(well, this wasn't the teacher's exact words... but it was my interpretation as a 6-year old kid).

I remember asking my mom if that meant I'd turn into a cockroach if I did bad things.
" Uh huh.... ", my mom said without even looking at me.
I remember for quite a while after that, I couldn't help but stare at my brother's dog and goldfish, wondering what they had done in their previous lifes.

Anyway, so the whole puzzle was solved with the help of my science teacher.

Now I know what I was in my previous life(s)!!!

I must have been a really, really NICE dinosaur.