How the hell can something like serendipity have rules? A fortunate happenstance or a pleasant surprise just shows up, right? Yes and No, and Maybe Not. Still enjoying the events of Thanksgiving week and all its serendipity made me wonder how that all came along?

First and foremost you must be open to the possibilities. If you’re always looking for something but never recognizing the other thing that comes along you won’t notice serendipity. Consider Alexander Flemings’ accidental discovery of penicillin or the invention of the Post-It note by Spencer Silver. Nobel Prize laureate Paul Flory suggests that significant inventions are not mere accidents but people paying attention. Many outstanding researchers recognize and appreciate the unexpected and new hypotheses emerge from contrary data.

Be willing to drop everything. In a not so lofty happening as research or significant inventions I got a great text from some dear friends that found themselves in a peach of a situation at our favorite restaurant. We just recently had lunch there and I didn’t expect to see them until well into the month of December. But because they texted a can-you-believe that I took as an invitation there we were. Without any hesitation I dropped everything and just went. It was delightfully unexpected and incredibly fun to spend time with David and Jan in the week of Thanksgiving.

Take a chance. Saying “what the hell” out loud, in retrospect, has produced a good share of serendipitous events. For instance, I had an offhanded conversation with a colleague about whether he knew anyone who was renting a house on the Cape. I wound up with a darling rental close to friends and the beach and my wonderful new friend, Wanda. A wonderful new “old friend” who I had the most heartwarming conversation with on Thanksgiving evening and who I don’t see moving out of my life any time soon all because I said what the hell, let me ask.

Expect serendipity. If you search for synonyms of serendipity you’ll find: chance, fate, destiny, karma, providence, luck, fortune, coincidence. There are those who beg to differ like the New Oxford Dictionary. Their definition defines serendipity as the occurrence and development of events by chance in a satisfactory or beneficial way, understanding the chance as any event that takes place in the absence of any obvious project, which is not relevant to any present need, or in which the cause is unknown. Whew.  You weren’t looking for something but got something fabulous. But the individuals that made those discoveries “were able to see bridges where others saw holes”. They further define chance as an event, serendipity as a capacity. I love that.

Give it thanks. I have been blessed in the biggest of ways and the tiniest of ways. After everyone left on Thanksgiving and I chatted with my friend Wanda, I was exhausted. There was so much food, so much wine, so much laughter, and so much ease to the day. The next morning I was keenly aware of all of the “so much” and wondered if I was going to make it to the gym. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let a little (little???) hangover get in the way.

My text to my nearest and dearest went like this: That moment when your trainer cancels and even you think to yourself “of course he did” because you were definitely over-served and couldn’t even begin to think about working out but damn it you were going…my universe is incredibly kind…just saying.

I gave that bit of serendipity big thanks. HUGE