Have you ever thought that some of the best twists and turns of life just happen by chance? Even striking discoveries in science and technology are sometimes subjected to the same "blind luck" or "happy coincidence."
In this article, I want to discuss serendipity, these happy coincidences that turn out to be much more than something that happens by chance. I invite you to explore this field and ... who knows what serendipity itself brings in the way!
What a complicated word: serendipity! Is the access to it also complicated?
Many of us have learned the word serendipity from the movie with the same title now to be about 20 years ago. However, the word was invented by the British writer Horace Walpole in the 18th century, using it while detailing how the three princes of Serendip, protagonists of a Persian story, often made accidental discoveries. Since then, the word has been taken up in vocabulary, not necessarily much used, but meant to name the meeting, finding, understanding of something or someone unplanned or unintentional, later finding out that what has been found is perhaps much more useful and important than what was wanted.
Serendipity in science and technology
It is well known in science and technology that many of the great discoveries are based on “hazard”, a set of circumstances whose cause remains shrouded in mystery, being spontaneous and unanticipated. We often hear about unforeseen events, about chance. Perhaps the best-known example in this area is the discovery of penicillin. Fleming goes on vacation leaving some bacteria in a Petri dish and when he returns, he sees that the bacteria had been killed by something, he does not throw away the pot, but analyzes the phenomenon. And that is how he discovers penicillin.
Louis Pasteur also stated that "In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind", a concept that has been taken over in many areas where research or study protocols include unexpected events that actually increase the likelihood of serendipity. Isaac Asimov commented with great amusement that the expression that accompanies the great discoveries of science is not that "eureka!" spoken in a sober scientist's voice, but on the contrary the expression "that's funny!" as Fleming seems to have said in front of the blue mold. You cannot react this way, unless you are open to the new, the unforeseen, without wanting things to be a certain way.
So, what is serendipity really?
Therefore, serendipity is not a magical act, or a result of a long calculation, but what happens when we are active in what we do - including in our lives - and we are also very attentive to what happens around us. There may be unusual events that occur, errors, leaks, gaps, something that seems irrelevant and then turns out to be significant, a result of an unintentional process, with no obvious connection to the initial action or concern.
Examples of serendipity
We have countless well-known examples of serendipity, from the validation of "Fuchsian" functions in mathematics, to the periodic table of Mendeleev's elements, to the creation of graphic interfaces by Steve Jobs, or to the discovery of carbon molecules that underlie nanotechnology.
Even in our daily lives, serendipity is present. We do not have to be scientists to benefit from its effects.
Serendipity in everyday life
It can be about finding a masterful solution in a life situation you face; knowing a person to make it easier for you to enter somewhere; information you really needed; knowing the one who will become your friend or lover; a new client - as was my situation when last year in a foreign country I got lost on a mountain trail, met someone from Romania who had also got lost, traveled part of the way together and found that she needed exactly the services I offer while having also that good resonance with me - because you know what it's like in my field of activity you can't work well with someone you don't resonate with. And so, from a so-called happy coincidence, you find exactly what is needed even though you were not explicitly looking for it.
Seek serendipity in your life!
So, now I ask you to think about your life, to go through the important events in your mind, thinking about what is at the base of them; what triggered them. Think that you are telling someone the story of your life in 20 sentences and pay attention to serendipity. Where you find its presence, look more closely.
In the next article, I will present a series of tips on how to bring serendipity into your life. But until then, please look for the moments when it made its entrance into your daily life. Find positive examples, those sudden inspirations, miraculous or masterful solutions, perhaps even in absolutely banal situations.
First, observe things in order to be afterward able to act targeted to achieve your goals!
If you need help and guidance in the life situations you face, contact me for a coaching session!
I wish you good luck and I am looking forward to meeting you!
