Lately, I have thought about our choices and how they influence our lives now and later in life. We approach a fork in the road — a decision point. This way or that way.
Either road onward will take us somewhere new, and turning around will take us back to where we came from. The choice is ours; we know the way home, but the results of going forward are unknown. We measure the risks and the “what ifs” and make a choice. If nothing unexpected happens, we know what each path offers.
Random occurrences happen every day. No matter how well we plan our lives, things come up that cause us to course-correct. Even weather professionals disagree on tomorrow’s forecast. Why? Minute fluctuations cause weather patterns to alter course. Tripping on a tree root, a sudden illness, a baseball through the front window, a fender-bender on the way to work, a freak storm that grounds an airplane — these are all “out of the blue” events. Nice things also happen randomly — perhaps serendipity as majestic as a double rainbow over the horizon.
Throughout history, “chance” has played an important role. Dinosaurs ruled the earth for 150 million years until a meteor hit Earth 66 million years ago and wiped them out in one day. Without this event, mammals would never have grown beyond the size of possums. About 6500 BCE, a series of landslides off the coast of Norway propelled tsunamis toward the British Isles. The last of these waves and melting glaciers disconnected Britain from mainland Europe. If you are of British descent, your ancestors were among the lucky ones who didn’t drown that day. A chance discovery by a shepherd locating the Dead Sea Scrolls has enhanced our understanding of the Biblical era. The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was not the only cause of World War I but was the single event that sparked declarations of war. None of these events were even on a “possible” list. They were flukes that changed the course of history.
We are each unique. Our DNA includes pieces of DNA from our parents and all our ancestors before us, as well as a few random variations. As an original being, I am here because my father happened to have a flat tire at the precise location of my mother’s boarding school.
He needed to use the telephone — and upon seeing her, it was love at first sight. Moreover, we are all here because distant ancestors managed to avoid wars, tsunamis, and falling trees, not to mention surviving childbirth, disease, and migrations.
If you’ve ever done an Ancestry DNA test, are you not amazed at the variety of people you descend from? In truth, we’re each singular and lucky to be here.
Have you ever thought about the “what ifs” in your life? What if you had grown up in a different place and hung out with different friends? Attended another school, married a different person, or chose not to marry and travel instead? How different would your life and other lives be? Once you were old enough to make your own choices, what unexpected events influenced them? Speaking of “out of the blue,” how did COVID impact your life?
None of us chose COVID to spread across the world, nor did we choose how we had to rearrange our lives to compensate. We could decide whether to vaccinate, wear a mask, how to school our children, where to go, and when.
The pandemic brought about many challenges: We lost cherished individuals to the disease, witnessed a surge in mental health struggles, and saw children facing disruptions in their education. However, amidst these hardships, we found a newfound familiarity with Zoom meetings and the widespread acceptance of remote work.
These shifts, unimaginable just four years ago, underscore the unforeseen connections between events, revealing our resilience and adaptability in the face of adversity.
I study history to understand how we got here. My findings have stories of good and bad choices and many unexpected events that changed history afterward. Philosophers and theologians can debate whether these strange occurrences result from a divine plan or pure chance.
However, we must “expect the unexpected” at any time and place and know that these events will change us and those around us.
No matter how well we plan, life is full of surprises and hope!
