You know how you jump out of bed on a Monday morning and vow, ‘I’m going to have the best week EVER!’ Schedule organized? Check. Resources apportioned? Check. Strategies written, meetings arranged, logistics managed? Check, check and check. That was me today. I planned my day down to snack time! Everything was going according to plan until I locked myself out of my apartment. If someone had been available to take me to a hospital, I would have banged my head on concrete! Sadly, I was alone so didn’t have the pleasure of personal mutilation. (Just kidding) There goes my week huh?

Self Pity meets Serendipity

Isn’t it funny that when something bad happens, we’re convinced it’s because something worse (or maybe something better) was going to happen and a trade took place? ‘You had a flat tire because there might be robbers up ahead’. ‘You failed that exam because maybe when you repeat that class you'll meet the love of your life’. ‘Your purse got stolen because it wasn’t a very fashionable one to begin with!' In this age of positivity, we refuse to take defeat lying down! ‘You lost the job? A better one is around the corner’. ‘Thugs beat you to a pulp? They didn’t kill you- it means there’s greatness in your future.’ 'He dumped you? Good for you! He'll probably be broke in a year.'  Amazing!

Hard as I tried though, I couldn’t think up a 'look on the bright side' that would justify the time, money, and perfectly good 'top of the week' mood wasted on my lock-out. Unfortunately, I'm one of those whose creative juices are poisoned when I'm grumpy. Oh I'll write- just don't expect it to be pretty. Anyways, I turned to TV for a distraction and came across the classic romantic comedy, ‘Serendipity’ John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale. After a few minutes, my furrowed brows relaxed as I watched the syrupy narrative about 2 people who believed fate had brought them together for one purpose: love. If you haven’t seen it, a quick recap: Strangers meet, are attracted to each other but committed to others. The lady decides that if they are meant to be, they will meet again. They then set up seemingly impossible tests and part ways with nothing but their first names and the memories of a fun and romantic meeting. Fast forward a few years later, they are both on the brink of marriage to different people but decide to run out on their mates. Fate rewards them by miraculously bringing them together. Convenient but good entertainment – it’s high on the feel good factor.

 I heard Poju Oyemade speak on what he called a ‘personal recognition system’. To paraphrase, he said once your mind/consciousness is actively aware of a thought, notion, belief, new understanding or revelation, you will start experiencing that new realization frequently in your natural/physical world. Big talk. I'll break it down with an example:

I saw a car the other day that was the color of grape jelly. Nice, deep, metallic, purple. ‘So cool!’ I told the owner. ‘And unique too’, I gushed. And it was. Until I saw the same color the next day, and the next, and the next. Was it a conspiracy? Did car manufacturers hear about me through the grapevine? ;) Was the memo accompanied by a frantic ‘to the factory, all of you!!’? No. See because I had an encounter with her car, I became sensitized to the color and suddenly could recognize it everywhere. That’s the power of awareness. 

To look at it another way, we could say the same thing would happen if preparation and/or expectation met opportunity. Katie Holmes says she always dreamt she would marry Tom Cruise. No other actor. Specifically Tom Cruise. Creepy as it is, that’s exactly who she waited for. Opportunity met preparedness and TomKat was born. Mark Zuckerberg had been designing programs since his teens. When his colleagues at Harvard clamored for a website that would take social networking to a new level, Facebook was born. Opportunity met preparedness. When a particular subject matter is all you can think about; when a vision is so clear in your mind that you eat, breathe and think it, you attract its physical equivalent to yourself. Sadly, it works for both good and bad thoughts. Ever heard the phrase 'my greatest fear has come upon me?' Like it or not, your expectation of that incident pulls it from the realm of thought to reality. You were prepared. And fear took it's opportunity.

I noticed that in the movie, John and Kate kept their hope alive by thinking of each other constantly. Memories of their 'chance' encounter was an active part of their consciousness. They wanted fate to bring them together. They didn’t just sit by idly waiting for stuff to happen, they were on a constant lookout for each other, willing for it to happen; ready to pounce when it did.

I think Serendipity is a term coined by those that can’t deny that there's a ‘higher power’ at work but would rather said power remain nameless. I won't beat about the bush to be socially correct so I feel free to say I don’t believe in chance. Rather, I believe in God and His blessings and His miracles. Still, it’s not enough for me to wait for Him to orchestrate things while I twiddle my thumbs. God says that a diligent man (or in this case, a prepared man) will appear before kings and not ordinary men. In other words, the man that is actively preparing will have a shot at greatness. Once again, opportunity will meet preparedness.

I’m glad I got to watch Serendipity. Maybe I should latch on to that as the reason I got locked out- ‘cos if I wasn’t I’d have gone along with my perfect day plans and possibly missed this train of thought entirely. So if that was the price to pay, I’ll take it. I’m now actively on the lookout for my date with destiny. How about you? One day soon, someone is going to come around offering what you have wanted your whole life. Will you be ready or will you be slacking off somewhere?

On the flip side, let's say we were to 'keep it real'. There is no special plan. I got locked out because I was careless- finito. What then? Well then thank God for Tuesdays! Who needs a perfect Monday anyway?

p.s: I’ve been longing for a new look! What do you guys think of this one?