Help! I Have So Many Coincidences In My Life: Is It Coincidence, Luck, Grace, Or A Pattern?
Posted: Tuesday, May 31, 2011
by Fran Larson
http://www.franniesquotes.com/
Here I am in another dilemma or maybe I should say “coincidence.” It seems to happen to me frequently. Does it happen to you? Maybe you could help me figure this out.
I recently had a friend approach me not once, but 2 times about a job offer. I don’t mean this in a boasting way at all, so please don’t think that is why I am writing this. Anyway, this friend apparently is well liked by a very prestigious restaurant/gift shop in our little town. She approached me a few days ago about a job opening as a part-time waitress/hostess. I told her I was not interested (because when I worked at the tea room, I was told I was too slow). Then, just yesterday, she approached me again and said the manager was really anxious to talk to me. (I know I should not let others convince me that I am slow, fast, or any other thing, but still it sticks in my mind. That day was extremely busy and they tossed a family member in that day with no experience who took food to the wrong tables, etc.) Part of me thinks it would be nice to get back to work and not be so isolated, but the other part of me screams that every time I believe something is just “meant to be” or “coincidence” or “God’s whisper,” it is usually a wrong decision for me. Go figure. Mind you, I don’t expect things to be perfect, but it seems these decisions that I make are wrong.
Some do not believe in coincidence, but let me give you another example. A few years ago, Jim and I sold our home in Florida. It was so stressful, we decided to go to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to try and relax and forget about it. (We had a few days before the final papers were to be signed). One day in Pigeon Forge, we couldn’t believe our eyes. The couple who bought the house from us and were giving us so much grief were right there in Pigeon Forge at the same shopping center we were at. Perhaps there thoughts were exactly like ours (stress, lets-get away and not think about that couple that is giving us so much grief.)
But to address the question: can co-incidence exist? The laws of probability say that it must. What are the odds of going on holiday to a city on another country and meeting somebody you know? A million to one, maybe? If ten million people travel every year to foreign cities, then you would expect ten people to meet people they know.
How about the fact that Jim and I first met at the A & W Root Beer Drive-In. We became engaged, broke up for 9 months, then met again at another A & W Root Beer Drive-In. We then reunited and got married.
Also, I had two daughters 5 years apart on September 2nd. Both were born on Labor Day plus that is the day Jim predicted they would be born. Then my oldest daughter married someone who also had 3 siblings and 2 with the same birthday date.
This subject mesmerized even Carl Jung. In his book Synchronicity (1952), Jung tells the following story as an example of a synchronistic event: "A young woman I was treating had, at a critical moment, a dream in which she was given a golden scarab. (Scarabs are also referred to as "dung beetles" , as they are infamous for rolling balls of dung along the ground and into their burrows.)While she was telling me this dream, I sat with my back to the closed window. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me, like a gentle tapping. I turned round and saw a flying insect knocking against the window-pane from the outside. I opened the window and caught the creature in the air as it flew in. It was the nearest analogy to a golden scarab one finds in our latitudes, a scarabaeid beetle, the common rose-chafer (Cetonia aurata), which, contrary to its usual habits had evidently felt the urge to get into a dark room at this particular moment. I must admit that nothing like it ever happened to me before or sinc
How about you, dear reader? Do you believe in coincidence or do you think everything is a pattern or order? Have you had coincidences in your life? Any advice about my job opportunity?
Sources:
Brainyquotes.com
Wikipedia.org
Goodreads.com/quotes
Wikianswers.com
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)I will second my friend Gregory and his reference to Jung. "Coincidence" at our level are surprising things that we notice. What about the patterns below that govern the tidal flows and ebbs that make all of these things finally appear? And when we note these things, they tend to play a bigger role. Does this have to do with our awareness alone, or are we getting more magnetic in the whole process, and thus "Unknowingly" participating in our own life's patterns and paths? It's a neat topic because it puts us at the "seen" level so close to the "unseen", on a pedestrian basis. The scarab was just a bug to anybody but, Jung, on that day. It was he himself who provided the drama and the authenticity. Great article, Fran!
Interesting article, Fran. Can we say it has got something to do with 6th sense ?I have an old friend who likes to say " I got a feeling who and who/something is going to happen to.... I got a feeling Peter got a crush on so and so or I got a feeling this one is going to be a boy (baby)............."As for me, I do have some kind of intuition and it rarely fails but mostly the case is about odds and ends so no big deal.Probably you are a sharp lady. (It's good)
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