Can you think of a wonderful gift that simply fell into your lap with no effort on your part? Have you ever received money that came in the mail just when you needed it? Have you thought about someone you haven’t seen for a long time, and then received a call from them?
Have you ever met someone that came into your life when you felt despondent and alone? Did you have a dream about someone you cared about and heard from them the very next day? Or was there a book you wanted to read, a word you couldn’t find that suddenly appears. If you have had any of these experiences, you have entered the world of serendipity.
Serendipity has a fairly narrow meaning, one that concerns finding pleasing things that you had not been looking for. It can also be defined as a happy chance, a fluke, a fortuitous break. Those are all words that can make you smile and think of pleasant things that you would like to have happen to you. The outcome of a serendipitous event will be a feeling of wonder at your good fortune. There is no downside to it, only happiness.
What is the difference between serendipity and luck?
Serendipity is not fate. Nor is it luck. Although fate and luck are close cousins, they differ from serendipity in some important ways. The former is defined as “the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for,” and while fate likewise may be concerned with “something that happens to a person,” it need not be (in fact, often is not) pleasant. Among the meanings of fate are “an inevitable and often adverse outcome, condition, or end,” and “circumstances that befall someone or something.”
There is considerable similarity between luck and serendipity, but there are also settings in which one word might be more apt than the other. Luck has a somewhat broader range with meanings such as “a force that brings good fortune or adversity,” “success,” and “the events or circumstances that operate for or against an individual”. You might also be said to have luck that is bad, which you would not say of serendipity.
A classic experience of serendipity is in the realm of love. We meet a series of people over our lives, each of them right of us in different ways. If you meet one that is right for you in enough ways, you try to build a life with that person—until one or the other of you changes too much, and then the process starts again.
Sometimes that person seems so right for you that you imagine he or she is the only person for you. You can’t imagine anyone else being as right and you believe that you were meant for each other.
Those feelings are fantastic, but you must be careful not to put the cart before the horse. This person is right for you because you fit, not because the universe told you he or she is the right person.
How is serendipity used in other parts of speech?
To me, the word sounds onomatopoeic. “Serendipity” somehow sounds like its definition: languid at first, with a delicious, mischievous, unexpected burst at the tail end of it.
Its etymology is unique. It doesn’t come from Greek or Latin. The 18th century author, Horace Walpole coined the term because he felt it was a quality possessed by the characters of the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip.
The word serendipity is a noun. The adjective form is serendipitous, and the adverb is serendipitously. A serendipitist is “one who finds valuable or agreeable things not sought for”.
How can you experience serendipity?
- By putting yourself in situations where there are a number of things happening that you don’t control or didn’t plan, a number of independently moving parts. More people. More stuff happening. More input.
- By paying better attention. Notice, with an open mind, the things that are happening in your life. Be ready to discover something new and unexpected about them. Don’t think. Observe.
- By getting in touch with your inner compass, your intuition. Don’t always count on your ability to analyze the situation and predict what will happen. Part of you will be able to discover hints of what to do, even though you don’t consciously understand why.
- When something happens, look for the silver lining. Start expecting that there probably is something great about it, even if it didn’t seem like it at first. Look closer. Expect to be delighted. Don’t explain it away with logic. Enjoy it.
- A certain balance is required. If there’s too much happening, it can get overwhelming. If you get obsessive about all the trees, you might miss the forest. If you’re too positive about everything, you might miss the real magic. Serendipity is more likely when you have a light approach.
Some examples of serendipity in my own life:
When my daughter, who is a talented singer, was performing at a local concert, an agent was in the audience. After the event, he approached her, and offered to launch her professional singing career, which sustained her for many years.
When my mother was working at Teddy’s Lunch Counter in Edmonton and a man came in and said “What is a beautiful woman like you doing working here?” and helped her get a job at Woodwards, where she gained permanent employment.
When my husband and I were on a vacation without a plan or an itinerary, and we made a hasty decision after we landed on Vancouver Island on a holiday when he said, “Which way, right or left?” I said “right”, and we ended up in Miracle Beach, eventually settling in the area for years.
When I chose to buy the condominium, I’m living in now, and met a neighbor, who has become a close friend.
There are many more, too numerous to mention here. But they remain in my memory and in my heart, as I recall them and credit the forces that bring serendipity into our lives and think how much better off we are for it!
More to think about:
Sometimes a feeling of being lost might be the best thing that ever happened to you.
Open your eyes. Open your heart. Set goals but learn to recognize unexpected opportunity.
Life has more wonderful things in store for you— more than anything you could anticipate, but you will not see it unless you are receptive.
In truth, serendipity only accounts for 1% of our gifts in life, work, and love. The remaining 99% is thanks to our own efforts.