Pick 23 - Coincidences

Today is Sunday. I state this in advance because the hidden value I personally encountered today may sound like a testimonial and I want to assure you that I am not trying to impart spiritual wisdom in this blog. The fact that I chose to write on this today is purely coincidental. And it is the hidden value in the coincidences of our life that I want to address.

My whole life has been a series of coincidences. For most of my youth I gave them no  thought. They just occurred. I shrugged and moved on. In middle age, I may have paid closer attention because coincidental events began to hold more meaning. For example, I made a major career change at the age of 35. Today such changes are all too common. But in that era few sane people did that--especially when they were well-established in their career paths and had a growing family to support. Looking back on it now I realize that what I thought was a coincidence may have been the conscious work of some Higher Power.


I did not have any intention of changing careers at that time. Oh yes...like most restless 30-somethings I dreamed of bigger and better things. However, I never projected those dreams into any action. One day out of the blue I found myself taking my brother-in-law around to different business sites in our area. He had been unemployed for nearly two years thanks to a consolidation of his employer with another company. Although he was a specialist in the work he did, he did not have the seniority required to hold onto his job and his counterpart in the other company replaced him. There were no equivalent jobs where he lived which is why he was unable to find work with an income capable of supporting his family. So we spent a Tuesday in March driving from company to company inquiring about potential openings in his specialty. Rather than just sit in the car and wait for him, I decided to engage in my own fantasy about changing careers. At one Blue Chip company, the HR people took the time to interview both of us and explain in detail how our skills matched their current needs. It was like a personal job fair.
In my case they picked up on my background in teaching  and my love of writing. That was the first time I heard the term "technical writer"  along with the encouragement that a new military contract had just been awarded that would create job openings for many technical writers. My brother-in-law was also encouraged. They expected immediate openings in his field.


So you may be wondering where the coincidence is here because most people get jobs this way. Except in our case, the next business office we visited happened to be the new headquarters for the start-up project. They had just moved in the furniture that day. Since they planned to start hiring immediately the HR person there asked us if "they had sent us over from the main building"  Not realizing that this was the very military program or even the same company we had just heard about, we nodded an affirmative. My brother-in-law was hired on the spot and I was given a tentative invite because technical writers would not be required for a few months. I interviewed with the head of the new Technical Support department in late May and started my 28 year career there in July. For me it was like a fantasy come true. There were days when I could not wait to get to work.


Similar coincidences occurred in my 50's and 60's but by then I was ready to admit to myself that there are no coincidences in life. There is only hidden value that can be ignored or explored. If I chose to explore them, I realize that they are not the result of random chaos but are more like signposts showing the way. I don't have to go that way. But if I do, I am now sure that the place they guide me to will be the right place for me. 

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