Serendipitous Serendipity
The human brain amuses me to a great extent. Being not much more than a curious mix of chemicals and electricity, it is an organ that operates and coordinates all thoughts and operations of the body. This it accomplishes through a combination of accumulating data and through a rational, analytical and intuitive thought process using which it identifies and executes the most optimal solution. Knowingly or unknowingly, we come to a conclusion that any outcome other than what we think to be optimal, as a failure. To us, any failure that occurs is because of lack of any of the above mentioned layman brain characteristics. Surprisingly, the outcome is not always a failure.
The definition of serendipity might differ from person to person. The collapse of a bubble right in front of a child’s eye, the happiness while riding the bicycle without the balance wheels for the first time, the feeling when someone you have a crush on unexpectedly says something nice about you, realising that you passed in an exam that you thought you’d fail, the hike in salary while being promoted and getting a loving kiss on your cheek from an infant when your face looks old and wrinkled are examples of serendipities we come across in our lives
“When love feels like magic, you call it destiny. When destiny has a sense of humour, you call it serendipity” – Unknown
Serendipities are strange moments we encounter in our lives. From a psychological perspective, it deals purely with the unconscious part of us. Contemplation stops at that moment when we’ve achieved our goal. Our mind doesn’t say “Wait a minute. Now, how did that happen?” We just move on thinking it was something that was “bound to happen”!
We only classify those moments under serendipity because other unexpected results are undesirable. Our mind clearly demarcates incidents by success or failure but not the process involved or advent of the situation we’re dealing with. We can have a better understanding about serendipity if we look through it. Most of us dwell too much in the past or present, which leads us to have an unclear impression on our minds. We all are aware of the rudimentary rule that being clear in what you carefully choose will help you in all aspects. Stuff like serendipity is best suited for movies, cartoons or bedtime stories. Instead of waiting for serendipity to strike, it is perhaps advisable that we stay focused and alert.
After all, history is an intricate web of timing, people, circumstances, and serendipity.
-Don Rittner
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