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I love to say serendipity.
It tests my verbal dexterity as it trips from my lips. But I love the magic that serendipity brings to life even more. Serendipity is a fairy tale ending to a boring tale. It is discovering magic in the mundane; finding gold in the trash can and meeting your soul mate in a fender bender. In short it is an unexpected but wonderful outcome.
I am revisiting Serendipity today to emphasize the importance of making yourself open to opportunities . Today I want to urge you not to wait and hope for serendipity. I suggest that you stalk her relentlessly.
Society teaches us many false lessons. One of these is about luck. We are told that people are lucky or unlucky. Good fortune is the result of fate and not something that we can control. The bottom line is that people are conditioned to accept their lot in life without complaining or asking for more. Isn’t that what you learned? Well if you bought that story up to now in your life, I’m telling you that if you want your retirement to be outrageous, it is time to learn a new lesson. You make your own luck.
Serendipity is illusive.
It is true that you can’t plan serendipity. Neither can you predict it or make it happen. But you aren’t helpless because you can choose activities that make serendipity more likely. Is your retirement lifestyle boring and predictable? Do you sleepwalk through each day’s activities, hoping that something magical and unexpected will slap you in the face and make you feel alive again? Do you long for an intervention that will exhilarate you? If you do then today is your lucky day because that intervention is here and it is totally under your control.
That intervention is you.
You have the power.
In retirement, you have total control over your activities and your relationships. If you are bored doing what you do now with whomever you do it with, then change. Pick some new activities. Meet some new people. Learn some new skills. Get our of your own rut because nobody is making you stay there. This change will impact everything about your life. You may be challenged; you may be uncomfortable but you certainly won’t be bored. You will wake up eager to face a challenging new day and learn new lessons.
But the most important reason for challenging your comfort zone is that when you do, you increase the odds of finding serendipity. The first reason for this boost is that you increase the number and variety of interactions in your life giving you so many more ways to discover those wonderful new opportunities. The second reason is that when you are excited, you are more open to new ideas. You will find new ideas even in old places and old connections. Serendipity can find you anywhere but make yourself a target by enriching your daily experience. Don’t wait for luck.
Make your own!
Ralph, the world is indeed our oyster.
Bill
Ashton-under-Lyne, UK
Bill Murney’s last Blog Post ..The Husband Creche
And I love oysters!
Leaving oneself open to possibilities adds a lot to life, especially as we tend to get in familiar, but not particularly exciting ruts.
Hansi’s last Blog Post ..Wrestling at the Olympic
Hansi,
Those ruts can be so comfortable – and so boring.
“In retirement, you have total control over your activities and your relationships.” In this life I’m not sure that statement is true in or out of retirement. Unless you are a hermit living high in the Rockies, your activities are under some degree of control by your abilities, financial situation, the government, and temperament.
But, I wholeheartedly agree in the power of serendipitous living. Some of the greatest or most important events in my life have happened this way. As you note, planning has nothing to do with it. Being open does.
Satisfyingretirement’s last Blog Post ..One Decade Later- Has Retirement Changed Me
Maybe I did get a bit carried away with that statement but you do have more control than when you were working.
Serendipity is my favourite word Ralph. ‘Unexpected pleasure.’ It’s the unexpected part that makes it so enjoyable. As you said though, you can take action to make the unexpected more likely.
Luck is in our hands.
I play chess a lot online. I find that the harder I think about moves, the luckier I get. It’s the same in all parts of our life. Effort equals luck.
John
Feeling lucky in Leamington Spa, England
John McNally@Blogging for Pleasure and Profit’s last Blog Post ..How to AVOID the Finger!
John,
And sometimes serendipity is something that your ignored and finally saw a whole new way.