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Serendipity (n.) the phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for

It’s when something great falls into your lap; something you weren’t expecting, and had no idea was coming. Not like winning the lottery; people who play the lottery ALL expect to win. Not like that at all.

It’s like… well, like back in February when I happened to mention in a post that I was thinking of finally moving the Zone from Blogger to its own domain. My buddy Tully (whom I’d only just recently met on-line) just up and volunteered to set the whole thing up for me! Totally out of the blue and highly appreciated, let me tell you!

Well, the other day I related a somewhat, uh, shocking incident that happened to me in Venezuela (yes, this is a shameless link to a previous post, so if you have no idea what I’m talking about, you’ll just have to read it). The truth is, that assignment was probably one of the hardest I’ve ever had to endure, but there was a truly serendipitous moment that happened on the way to Venezuela.

The thing was, travel arrangements turned out to be rather convoluted. Since there were no direct flights to our destination, my co-worker and I had to fly from Houston to Miami, from there to Aruba (!), and then catch a puddle-jumper to Punta Cardón.

Anyway, by some quirk of the system, our company reserved “unbooked” tickets (I’d never heard of these before) for the final leg to Punta Cardón, and when we arrived in Aruba were supposed to book the flight and go straight there. To our surprise (and here’s the good part), it turned out all flights were full.

Well! How about that, eh? We were forced (kicking and screaming, of course) to spend the rest of the day and a night in Aruba – with all expenses paid (well, food and hotel at least). Not bad; not bad at all. We checked into the Hotel Sonesta (renamed the Renaissance now) and spent the rest of the day at their private island, had a great dinner at Tony Roma’s rib joint, and slept pretty well that night.

But wait! Hold your applause – it gets better.

The next day we packed up everything again and headed down to the Queen Beatrix International Airport (the name was almost bigger than the place) to book our flight out. Wouldn’t you know it – all flights were still full. “In fact,” the ticket agent told us, “we’re booked solid for two more days. I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait.”

Well, it took a superhuman effort to hide our disappointment, but like the dedicated troopers we were, we drug ourselves back to the hotel for two more days of excruciating, painful waiting. Yep, we were two sad cookies – NOT!

So, how did I spend my unscheduled, all-expenses-paid vacation? Well, I’m glad you asked, my friends, so I’ll tell ya: doing absolutely nothing!

Actually, for most of those three days, I spent them sitting under a thatched-roof shelter on the hotel’s private island, reading a thick paperback book I’d brought with me, slowly but steadily turning into a well-tanned vegetable. I can’t remember when I’ve ever been so relaxed.

The photo above is of the actual beach - and it really was that empty (all the tourists with children were at the other beach). I was virtually alone, with nothing to do but enjoy the incredibly blue Caribbean waters. About every, oh, hour or so, a waiter appeared with another non-alcoholic piña colada (since, you know, this was such hard work). Yep, life was pretty good for a few days.

You know, sometimes serendipity just happens, but I have to say, it certainly sweetened the three months I spent in Venezuela (which turned out to be probably one of the hardest assignments I’ve ever had – but that’s another story). All I had to do was remember those days on the beach (sortof like “going to that ’happy place’ “).

Oddly enough, there are people who just can’t be comfortable accepting a windfall. Can you believe it? They’ll worry themselves sick over it, wondering when, not if, somebody will discover the mistake and lower the boom. Sadly, these people can’t find it in themselves to enjoy life to the fullest, even when it’s handed to them on a silver platter.

So, have you ever experienced serendipity? What was it, and how did you handle it?

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