Sunday Scribblings #56 - Chance Encounter

Is there really such a thing as a chance encounter?

When I think seriously about it, I'm not sure that chance encounters truly exist.

There are a ga-jillion concepts related to the idea of chance encounters: unexpected events, luck, accidents, coincidence, etc. But really, I don't think that anything that happens is truly "out of the blue".

To me, concepts like fate, destiny, karma, serendipity, providence, synchronicity, and kismet are much more likely.

They suggest that there is something behind what happens in our lives. And there is a lot of truth in that for me. On the one hand, I believe that something bigger, something much more magnificent is more responsible for my life-script than I am.

Believing that means I'm surrendering to what Doris Day so brilliantly reminded us in her catchy/kitchy tune "Que sera, sera". She had a good point.

So call it chance, or likelihood, or probability, or whatever other statistical term you're familiar with, but this force that causes events to happen is just that - an energetic influence.

Was it chance that I experienced a brush with MS at the age of 20 that paralyzed the left side of my body and landed me in the hospital? No. Because that opened the door to a beautiful relationship with Paul, who has been my loving and caring husband for the last 5 years. That was part of something bigger and better than where I was at previously.

Was it just a coincidence that I was asked to take a mental health leave from my work at the Aphasia Institute in the fall of 2005? Nope. That led me to India, which led me to healing, and opened the door to a new life, one including Nia.

I could go on, but maybe you get the point?

I met a very wise woman when I was quite ill and managing the effects of Bipolar Disorder and Anorexia. Her name was L _ _ _ _ _ , and she and I attend a support group through the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario at Our Sister's Place.

When L _ _ _ _ _ _ became ill, she told her teenaged children that she was now releasing them to the universe to take care of them. She had faith that the universe was capable. And it was. And it is.

So, on the one hand, I'm saying there's something beyond just me. I like the idea that I am looked after by the universe. That's a beautiful concept that rests well within me.

On the other hand, I also think that I play a role in what happens to a certain extent. Not that I control what will happen, that's beyond me. More so that if I am living in a place of acceptance, I will be guided to what I need.

So here's what I'm working with these days. If I look closely enough, keep my eyes and ears open, talk to people, put myself in the right places, and live life with a readiness and openness to opportunity, it's all there. Everything I need is all there. And no way is anything just by accident.

A dear dear friend Andrea reminded me yesterday that events in our lives happen to teach us lessons. To inform us of our own power.

I'm beginning to see that what happens to me is simply moving me closer and closer to my own divinity.