Sunday Musings - November 14, 2021
Today I have been thinking about the seemingly contradictory facts that all in the universes are part of an amazing system and events in our day to day lives are governed largely by chance.
A couple of days ago I was driving to Georgia for a wedding to be followed by visits with friends and clients in Florida. In the Atlanta area I was driving later than planned. Good sense finally prevailed, and I stopped to get gas and look for a motel. The road was very dark and I hit something in the road which I did not see causing considerable damage to the car. The fact that I got off on that exit and was on that road at that moment when that object was on the road and the car connected in the way it did was pure chance. If I had gotten off on the exit before or after that, turned left instead of right when I got off on the exit, gotten gas at the first overpriced gas station I saw, or any of a multitude of other possibilities the outcome would have been different.
Daily I am acutely aware that all the decisions and the consequent actions I take have far reaching consequences. The events which happen, who and what I encounter, and the events which flow out of those encounters which in turn affect an entire system of future events are all because of the seemingly random nature of unfolding events. There are those, of course, who would maintain that nothing happens by chance; that all unfolds as it is intended to unfold; that there is some master plan. I am not convinced of that, but do appreciate the fact that all is so interconnected that every action I take or do not take results in a chain of actions which reverberate throughout the universe.
I realize that one could be immobilized by this knowledge. One could be so fearful of making decisions which have seemingly negative consequences for any number of people and the universe as a whole that one decides to remain in one’s room and keep one’s world as small as possible. Yet, the risks one does not take; the opportunities one does not embrace; the people one does not encounter also results in a chain of events.
I often think of the six degrees of separation rule. This rule suggests that, on the average, there are only six degrees of separation between any of us and every other person in the world. Sometimes this is more and sometimes this is less, but the point is I know someone who knows someone who …. A man I met at a conference in Boston later invites me to the home of a person who has direct connection to the Queen of England. There was a myriad of decisions which each of us made to lead to the encounter with this vicar to the Queen. Any deviation would have had different outcomes, but all would have led to potential connection to another group of people. The fact that this weekend I will connect with people in Australia, Indonesia, and a host of other places via the magic of the internet are a result of past decisions I have made and those I have not made.
Daily I am conscious of the power of the decisions I make which will have consequences I cannot predict. Later today I will attend a wedding of the daughter of a friend I met years ago. We met by chance following some events in her life. I was in a place which made our meeting possible because of decisions I had previously made which affected the decisions my ex-wife made.
I could fill pages attempting to draw a sociogram which depicted all the people and events leading up to my attendance at this wedding. The bride and groom could each make complicated sociograms leading to this wedding. Each of the other wedding guests could make similar sociograms depicting events/decisions which culminate in us all being witnesses to the commitment ceremony of this couple.
My intention today is to be aware that each look, touch, smile, frown, word, decision to look up, down, to be distracted or attentive could sprout wings and travel around the universes and perhaps the universes. If I choose to be joyfully present with love I do not need to be concerned with the trajectory of that love. It is enough to know I have done my part in making love the operant or dominant force. I do not need to be concerned with yesterday or tomorrow. It is enough to be as fully present as possible and to trust each moment will blossom into an enormous bouquet of events. Chance and the amazing interconnectedness of all events will determine the future. I need not be concerned over that which I have no power while acknowledging that how I show up to the chance encounters today affects the chance encounters of the universe(s).
Written November 13, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
Today I have been thinking about the seemingly contradictory facts that all in the universes are part of an amazing system and events in our day to day lives are governed largely by chance.
A couple of days ago I was driving to Georgia for a wedding to be followed by visits with friends and clients in Florida. In the Atlanta area I was driving later than planned. Good sense finally prevailed, and I stopped to get gas and look for a motel. The road was very dark and I hit something in the road which I did not see causing considerable damage to the car. The fact that I got off on that exit and was on that road at that moment when that object was on the road and the car connected in the way it did was pure chance. If I had gotten off on the exit before or after that, turned left instead of right when I got off on the exit, gotten gas at the first overpriced gas station I saw, or any of a multitude of other possibilities the outcome would have been different.
Daily I am acutely aware that all the decisions and the consequent actions I take have far reaching consequences. The events which happen, who and what I encounter, and the events which flow out of those encounters which in turn affect an entire system of future events are all because of the seemingly random nature of unfolding events. There are those, of course, who would maintain that nothing happens by chance; that all unfolds as it is intended to unfold; that there is some master plan. I am not convinced of that, but do appreciate the fact that all is so interconnected that every action I take or do not take results in a chain of actions which reverberate throughout the universe.
I realize that one could be immobilized by this knowledge. One could be so fearful of making decisions which have seemingly negative consequences for any number of people and the universe as a whole that one decides to remain in one’s room and keep one’s world as small as possible. Yet, the risks one does not take; the opportunities one does not embrace; the people one does not encounter also results in a chain of events.
I often think of the six degrees of separation rule. This rule suggests that, on the average, there are only six degrees of separation between any of us and every other person in the world. Sometimes this is more and sometimes this is less, but the point is I know someone who knows someone who …. A man I met at a conference in Boston later invites me to the home of a person who has direct connection to the Queen of England. There was a myriad of decisions which each of us made to lead to the encounter with this vicar to the Queen. Any deviation would have had different outcomes, but all would have led to potential connection to another group of people. The fact that this weekend I will connect with people in Australia, Indonesia, and a host of other places via the magic of the internet are a result of past decisions I have made and those I have not made.
Daily I am conscious of the power of the decisions I make which will have consequences I cannot predict. Later today I will attend a wedding of the daughter of a friend I met years ago. We met by chance following some events in her life. I was in a place which made our meeting possible because of decisions I had previously made which affected the decisions my ex-wife made.
I could fill pages attempting to draw a sociogram which depicted all the people and events leading up to my attendance at this wedding. The bride and groom could each make complicated sociograms leading to this wedding. Each of the other wedding guests could make similar sociograms depicting events/decisions which culminate in us all being witnesses to the commitment ceremony of this couple.
My intention today is to be aware that each look, touch, smile, frown, word, decision to look up, down, to be distracted or attentive could sprout wings and travel around the universes and perhaps the universes. If I choose to be joyfully present with love I do not need to be concerned with the trajectory of that love. It is enough to know I have done my part in making love the operant or dominant force. I do not need to be concerned with yesterday or tomorrow. It is enough to be as fully present as possible and to trust each moment will blossom into an enormous bouquet of events. Chance and the amazing interconnectedness of all events will determine the future. I need not be concerned over that which I have no power while acknowledging that how I show up to the chance encounters today affects the chance encounters of the universe(s).
Written November 13, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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