Serendipitous Moments
June 12, 2025
Oftentimes, when I decide to create a new blog post, I have no real firm idea what I'm going to write about. Sure, I have a long list of great topics and a few files of material in the hopper, but what frequently happens when I'm pondering what to write about, is that a sudden, completely new, off-the-wall, inspirational idea will just pop up and wave it's hand wildly like Horshack on Welcome Back Kotter,
Oh, oh oh oh!That's sorta the way things went this evening as I sat down to begin writing this one.
Serendipity. Those unexpected moments of good fortune and discovery. Some people call it coincidental or a fluke. Others claim it's pure luck. It's even defined that way in the dictionary. But is it all just fortuitous? Well, I gotta say that serendipitous moments occur far too often in my life to believe they are merely random happenstance. I'll give you an example:
A couple weeks ago, I was at the dentist getting my teeth cleaned. It was a different dental hygienist than I usually see and she asked me if I use a waterpik. I've been asked this before and always conclude that my tooth brush and floss get the job done just fine. But this time, I thought I would look into them, see how much they cost, the benefits, yada yada. After researching them, I still wasn't sure I wanted (or needed) to spend the eighty bucks. Then a few days ago, I was on my way to the market to pick up a few groceries, when on a whim I took a detour and swung over to a thrift store I hadn't been to in awhile. As I was browsing around checking things out, low and behold, sitting on a shelf filled with a plethora of odds and ends, was a brand new waterpik still in its original, sealed box! I wasn't looking for one and certainly would never expect to find a brand new one at a thrift store, but there it was. I paid a measly $15.59 for it. Just a stroke of luck, right?
I don't see it that way. What I do notice about serendipitous moments, is that they often occur when we are inherently tuned in to our surroundings and react on impulse. Like when I was heading to get groceries, and suddenly got the idea to change course and head to the thrift store. It was totally spontaneous. I had no agenda and was merely going for the fun of it. (You can read more about my thrifty adventures here.)
So what if every moment is a serendipitous one, and we are simply unaware of how one thing leads to another, until we are further down the road looking back at our journey? Are we way more intuitive than we realize? Can one impromptu thought or action change everything? I tend to think so. Even our so-called mistakes and fails are serendipitous moments that lead to greater refinement, wisdom and opportunity. Serendipity and synchronicity seem to go hand-in-hand. When we experience a serendipitous moment, it often causes a sense of expanded awareness as we become fully synchronized with life itself.
I am always highly grateful, giddy and amazed by these serendipitous moments. They bring me such joy, for they offer a tiny glimpse into the true meaning and design of our lives, which is way more intricate than we can even fathom. Whenever we respond to promptings and ideas that seem to come out of the blue, everything tends to flow super smoothly, with little effort on our part. Much like this blog post, thanks to my muse, Horshack. 😄