Do you believe in Serendipity?

 

Do you ever feel like going to a meeting or an event is a waste of time only to be pleasantly surprised of something that happens there?  That in a nutshell is "Serendipity" (I also know it's a delicious ice cream restaurant in New York and Miami Beach but let's try to stay focused).  The official definition of "serendipity" by Dictionary.com is "an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident."  If you think about it, this definition sounds just like the definition of "luck" except that the word "aptitude" makes it seem like it's an ability that one can possess.

This past week, I attended a conference in Baltimore called The General Assembly put on by The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA).  The General Assembly's mission is to bring together all the organizations in the Jewish world that are helping take care of the needy in our communities, in Israel and around the world.  Although it was great to see friends and listen to great speakers, I often thought of why was I there and did I really need to be away from my family and business.

Then Serendipity happened.  I was walking around the Baltimore Inner Harbor trying to grab lunch where the Dolphins game would be on TV and I ran into some friends of mine who I ended up having lunch with.  I then was supposed to have dinner with a big group of friends but ended up only being 3 female friends and I.  My fear was that this would be a long dinner talking about shoes but it ended up being a very meaningful conversation about life and spirituality.  The next night, I went to a dinner with other participants from Miami and the only seat left was next to one of the Rabbis of our community which led to a great conversation about our day schools.  The next day, I went to a session on politics and ended up sitting next to two college students who I was able to help out with some contacts for a job in Washington.  I felt great that these moments kept happening so I started a mission to create those moments instead of just waiting for them. 

If you went into every conversation, meeting or meal believing that something good was going to come from it, you will be pleasantly surprised that something good will come but not because you are lucky or serendipitous, but because you made it happen.

This is what the Live As If blog is all about.  Live your life as though there is some connection or higher power guiding us and you will live a much more meaningful and fulfilling life.  Please comment below regarding serendipitous moments you have had.  Now let's go have Serendipity Ice Cream!

Editors Note:  Many people have commented that they enjoy reading our blog and that they would like to write a post.  This blog was meant to be a conversation so if you would like to write a post, please let Craig or I know.

Is Lance Armstrong is a liar and a fraud, or is he an inspiration to millions of people?

I love a great bike ride, just like the rest of you I'm sure. I get up insanely early just so I can ride with the least amount of traffic and to be home by 6:15am to wake the kids for school. I get dressed in the dark into my riding bib shorts and multi-colored cycling jersey with defeat socks and Specialized Pro road shoes. I put on my helmet and gloves and make sure the lights (two on the back and front are charged and working well). At this point I usually think to myself that I’m glad my wife is still sleeping so I do not have to hear her laughing at me again for the outfit I wear on my bike.

But I love to ride and like millions of people around the world, looked to Lance Armstrong as the American ambassador to the world of cycling. We denied the reports, said they’re just jealous that he won seven (count them…. seven) Tour De France victories. We supported him even though there were rumors of doping and rode along anyway.

Lance Armstrong became one of the two or three most transcendent American sports stars of our generation despite the fact that hardly anyone in America cares at all about cycling. The ratio of passionate Lance Armstrong fans to people who have ever actually watched Lance Armstrong race except for maybe a few minutes during the Tour de France is just crazily out of whack, but in America it's almost definitely the case that more people have seen Lance Armstrong commercials than have seen Lance Armstrong compete. Which is all just to state the obvious, that it was his story that made him a superstar: his comeback from near-fatal cancer, the hope he offered other cancer patients, his charitable work through the Livestrong Foundation, the yellow bracelets, the sense of larger purpose? Cycling wasn't the cause here so much as the arbitrary venue in which the cause could prove itself noteworthy. He could be broadcast as pure information, or whatever the emotional equivalent of information is. He was a hero of feeling, not a hero of sports.

I want to write: "I would rather be devastated by the truth than comforted by a lie" and be able to believe it. But that's easy to say when you're outside the drift of the regular world, writing away on our little blog as I wonder what the sports fanatic as well as the cancer survivors are saying.

Lance Armstrong may be a liar, and a fraud, and is an inspiration to millions of people, and the trees in the north have begun to change their leaves, and basketball season has just begun….

 How will situations like this effect or change your life? Or will it?