I had a moment of serendipity today. I haven’t had one of those in a while – well, I probably have had them, but I haven’t recognised them as such. That one moment during peak-time traffic on the school run this morning was then followed by more serendipitous moments involving balloons, swallows, and ducklings.
Serendipity means the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way – in other words, a “purple cow” moment. When was the last time you saw a purple cow? Exactly! What would you do if you did see one? Yip, you’d at least look twice. You might even reverse your car and go back to where you thought you saw a purple cow, because you can’t quite believe you saw one grazing in the field, alongside all the other brown or black and white cows. In his book Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable, Seth Godin suggests that the only way your business can stand out from the rest is to be truly exceptional – be a “purple cow”.
Although none of today’s moments of serendipity included purple cows, the first one involved a flower. And, not just any flower, a sunflower – my favourite flower. There it was, growing tall in the middle of the highway. I drive this route every day, at least twice a day and I had never seen a sunflower (or any other flower or living thing) growing out of the road at the very point where I had to turn off this busy road. I don’t know if I’m going to see that sunflower on my way to school tomorrow morning but I do know that it was almost like a hand from Heaven reached down and planted it right there. A beautiful, big, yellow sunflower, for me to see, on a day that proved to be one of the most jam-packed I’ve had in a long time.
My unexpected moment of serendipity forced me to put the morning rush on hold and stare (cue wide open mouth.) I’m so grateful for that moment – it helped me be at peace throughout the day, knowing without doubt that regardless of how much I had to get done, someone greater than me was looking out for me and cared about a seemingly insignificant thing like my favourite flower.
It also helped me notice the small brightly-coloured, star-shaped helium balloons floating by during my son’s soccer practice, the swallows above the school roof, and when I got home, I was able to pause long enough to enjoy the birth of six new-born ducklings.
Sometimes what you’re looking for comes when you’re not looking at all. I hope you’re as surprised as I was today by a moment of serendipity.