Chance and Choice

Lately I’ve found myself thinking about the serendipity of chance encounters and the decisions I’ve made along the way that have gotten me to this point in time.  They are so intricately connected.  I wonder where I would be today if even one of them had happened differently.

Here are just a few that impacted by life:

-- After 11th grade, went to “Math Camp” at FSU, where I discovered computer programming and confirmed that I would major in math.

-- Took Tennis to satisfy my PE requirement at FSU, where I met my first serious boyfriend.  He got an A. I got a C.  

-- Summer of 1971 in Athens, Greece, got a letter from my best childhood friend inviting me to live in her group house in DC.  Otherwise I might have stayed in the Florida panhandle forever in my WASPish cocoon.
-- Got two job offers in DC, but took the lower paying job because I thought it would be more interesting.  

-- Met a big shot in the Commerce Department on my bus as I rode to work at my despicable job at the FBI.  Within 2 weeks had 3 job offers.

-- Went for a job interview at the Census Bureau, where the first face I saw was that of the man who would become my husband almost 5 years later.

-- When we became serious, I looked for another job and ended up with a position in the international area of the Census Bureau, where I was paid to become fluent in French and Spanish and then get to travel around the world for 15 years.

-- When we were looking for our first house in 1977, found a house on the market for 3 months with what seemed like a ridiculously high price tag of $80K.  We have lived here ever since.

-- While babysitting in our neighborhood co-op, met a family whose children went to school on a farm.  Thus began years of private school so my children could watch animals be born and learn without the pressure of grades for many years.

-- At an employee’s suggestion, took my first yoga class at least 10 years ago.  

-- At my yoga teacher’s suggestion, got my first massage and met Reya.

-- From Reya learned about Blogging.

-- Met Bill through meditation, who introduced me to Deborah, who has been my musical partner ever since.

-- After 25 years of going through the motions, joined Temple Micah and started really practicing Judaism.

-- Through a choir member, found Anadel, my piano teacher.

There are many, many more.  It is so apparent to me that if any one of these things had happened differently, my life would not be the same.  That’s not to say it wouldn’t be as good, but just different.

Sometimes I try to invent stories around a different set of encounters and choices, much in the style of “Groundhog Day.”  I ask what would have happened if I had married the first boyfriend?  If I hadn't interviewed at the Census Bureau?  If I hadn't met Reya, although we are no longer friends? If I hadn't started writing?  If I  hadn't found Deborah and learned to love playing music with others?  But they remain just stories, because the reality is that we are who we are because of our life experiences, for better or for worse (but hopefully for better!).