Fate or Coincidence

I think if we were all to be truthful with ourselves, most of us would say that we all have a slight percentage of fatalism in our belief’s system. We may not be hard core fatalists who believe that every event in life happens in an exact manner of a predetermined plan; but we may reserve a small percentage of our beliefs to the fatalistic ideology. One could then argue that perhaps the small portion that we do reserve to believing that an event was due to fate are those events that touch us in a deeper or personal manner. Perhaps it’s an intrinsic quest for a deeper meaning behind certain events that we convince ourselves that fate was at play and there was a greater purpose to its occurrence rather than just chalking it up to good old coincidence.

As someone who studied the sciences in University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science; I would like to think that I have a pretty good sense of what is science, or what is not. A coincidence is just that, an event that occurred with very low statistical probability – no other greater force at play. So why is it then that I choose to believe otherwise with selective events? Events that are more personal and meaningful to me. Let’s take for example driving. If I were to hit every single green light on my way to a meeting that I was already running late for, I would not think that it was fate; I would most likely attribute it to be a coincidence; simply just a rare occurrence explained by very low statistical probability. However; my next example for you, one that did occur to me recently, well this event I do attribute to fate or to a greater being at play (which is not scientific at all!)

As many of you know I have been on a journey over the past few years to publish a book, an inspirational memoir aimed at helping readers to understand that while you can’t change many of the things that happen to you in life, you can control your outlook on those events and how they shape your future. After many years of many late nights of deep thought, reflection and writing, my book has published. The publishing process was such a fantastic learning experience, from editing, to cover design, to making decisions on distribution; there were so many moving parts that I really had no control on the final date of publication. One month ago, my husband and I sat down in our home office to get some work done on our computers, we typically tend to do this after we have put our daughter to bed, as it’s the only time that we have to catch up on work whether that be professional or personal. Luch was at his desk working on a presentation for work work and I was at my desk going through my personal emails. There it was, an email from my publisher with the subject line: Congratulations your book was officially published today!! I was so excited to read through the email and all the next steps and what to expect that it took me a few moments before I sat back in my chair to soak up the moment. As I sat back, I looked down at the corner of my screen and noticed the date… June 21st. Right away my arms got goose bumps and my eyes were watery. I turned to Luch who looked at me very strangely as I went from being super excited to what appeared to be very emotional. I looked at Luch through my watery eyes and said “Babes, the universe is talking to me” (Now more than ever Luch was really thinking that I had lost my marbles)…. I continued “Today is June 21st, my book published on June 21st, 18 years ago on this day I had my surgery”. This event to me is more than a coincidence, while the scientific/rational person in me is trying to tell me that it was just a rare occurrence, I know deep down in my soul (here is where my non-rational fatalistic belief is surfacing) that the energy of the universe, a greater being is sending me affirmation that the journey that I embarked on to share my story, to try and help others is one that was meant to be.

Often in life we may start things or do things that we are not fully convinced as to whether we should be doing what we are doing. Sometimes the doubt takes over and we may decide to stop the path we are on, and sometimes there is something that just keeps us going, and sometimes that “thing” is hard to put into words, it’s a feeling or an energy. In my case, the journey of sharing my story and deciding to publish it was one of those things that I always had, an energy or a feeling to keep going, to finish what I had started. The fact that the book was published on one the same day of one my biggest DNA moments (you have to read the book to understand what I mean by DNA moment) in life, is in of itself another DNA moment in the making.

Aristotle first coined the saying “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. The concept that helps us understand the energy and power of synergy; for me, I think I have hit the jackpot, 2 DNA moments on the same calendar day, 18 years apart; the whole is greater than the sum of the moments. The future is exciting, and I am filled with energy and gratitude.

Lina