Coincidenza
When we seek for connection, we restore the
world to wholeness. Our seemingly separate
lives become meaningful as we discover how
truly necessary we are to each other.
--Margaret Wheatley
Before I went to Italy, I tried (not terribly
successfully, I might add) to learn a few
words in Italian. I just covered the basics
- "buon giorno", "buono sera", "dove � il
bagno?" (always an important phrase in any
language), and various words that dealt with
transportation. When referring to an
airplane, train or bus, the word for
"connection" is "coincidenza". Like so many
words in English, this word in Italian has
several meanings including the English word
it most sounds like - coincidence.
The connections that come from
coincidence
It made me think about the word coincidence
and how it truly is about the connections in
our lives. When I think of the events that
had to happen for me to meet some of the most
important people in my life, I find it
mind-boggling.
Two of my best friends I met in high school,
but we were all transplants (from New York,
Minnesota, and Illinois). If our fathers had
not been transferred (one was corporate, one
military, and one civil service), and we had
not all landed in Marshall High School's
attendance boundaries (which admittedly were
a whole lot bigger back then), we never would
have met and my life would be much poorer.
I couldn't make it without them
One of my other best friends and I met when
we both worked for the Texas Commission for
the Blind. When we compared notes, we
realized that we had been near each other for
years. She, too, was from a small town just
outside St. Louis. She had attended UT for a
semester about the same time I was there, but
then transferred. If we hadn't ended up
doing the same job in different cities, we
never would have met.
Then of course, there is Yvonne
(www.mymexicaneyes.com) who came to a
presentation I did at the SBA a few years
ago. If she hadn't shown up, we wouldn't
have made the trip to Europe and I wouldn't
have learned the word "coincidenza." (While
on the trip, we met an editor from the
Express-News in a jewelry shop in Turkey and
two girls from Tyler, Texas in a laundromat
in Florence. Weird, isn't it?)
Time to help or be helped
There are so many other people I have met at
just the right time. Sometimes it was just
in time for me to help them; more often it
seems that it was just in time for them to
help me.
What connections do you have? When that
question is asked, often we find ourselves
listing the people who make hiring or
purchasing decisions at companies. Those
connections are important for furthering our
business interests. But we often forget that
the most important connections are those who
bring friendship, happiness, and a chance to
serve or learn.
What about your connections?
How did you meet the most important
connections in your life? Have you
discovered coincidences that led to your
meeting? Does it seem like the universe made
sure the two of you met? Had you come close
to meeting previously?
I'd love to hear about the coincidences in
your life that have brought you the best
connections. Email me and let me know.
By the way, one of the other meanings of
"coincidenza" is harmony. And doesn't that
fit just perfectly?
