Serendipity
“The best things that happened for our practice happened without our planning.” This comment came from my partner, Dr. Richard Kennedy. He was responding to my desire to develop a detailed plan to grow our business. The things he was referencing were heartworm disease, parvo virus, and a general societal change which elevated the importance of pets. All of them increased the flow of people and their animals through our clinic door.
Serendipity is defined as “the occurrence and development by chance in a happy or beneficial way.” Obviously, heartworm disease and parvo virus were not happy or beneficial for dogs, but both were hugely helpful to the bottom line at our veterinary practice during the nineteen-eighties.
I have many other examples of serendipity in my life, and also of situations where the end result was very different from my expectations. I am blessed that most of the time I am grateful for where I end up. The lesson for me, which I wish I could incorporate more completely into my subconscious mind, is that the future is very difficult to predict. God has provided very well for me for seventy-five yeas, and I wish my faith was strong enough to keep me from worrying about the future. I am not there yet.
My most recent example of serendipity came in an area of life that is not very important, which is fantasy football. I enjoy watching football, especially if the Eagles are playing, but I am not knowledgeable about the game. Therefore, I engage in fantasy football as a mildly interesting diversion. I do know that Jalen Hurts scores a lot of touchdowns via the Push-Tush, and, knowing that he would be available to me with the second choice of the fantasy draft, I planned to choose him as my first player.
I was just finishing up breakfast when our league's draft began and I misjudged the time. When I opened my phone, I saw that I had only thirty seconds left. Then my phone froze on me! By the time I got it operational, I had about five seconds. I found Jalen and moved my finger to choose him just as I was informed that my time had expired, and “auto-draft” had given me Ja’Marr Chase! I was very disappointed in myself for not being more aware of the time.
The first week of competition, Ja’Marr Chase got me 3 points, while Jalen Hurts got my son-in-law 24. Boy, was I disappointed. Yet somehow, I was victorious. This week, Ja’marr garnered 29 points, while Jalen recorded only 11. And I won again. I suspect I will do just as well with “auto-draft” as I would have with my own choices, but that remains to be seen.
Although fantasy football has no direct impact on my overall quality of life, I cannot help but notice that my experience with it reflects real-life situations. The future truly is hard to predict, and most of the time I fare quite well with the hand that God deals me. Now if only I can remember that the next time I stress out over events of the day.
