Hurricane Katrina stopped thousands of people in their tracks. Their challenge is to pick up what’s left and begin their lives anew. Taking charge of our lives is a significant challenge for many of us. There is no time to think of the future. We’re so busy dealing with daily challenges and opportunities that we seldom spend time thinking and deciding what we want our future to be. Many of us have given up on the idea and believe that destiny will dictate. Thinking about what we want, however, will allow us to make better decisions that lead to achieving what we want.
This is not to say that we must CONTROL all the events in our lives. We just need to pick a point in the future and set our gyroscopes on it. Then we do the best we can to make decisions that lead in the direction we’ve chosen. This is not a linear process, but a dynamic leaping forward and sometimes looping back to evaluate and think some more.
Often we find serendipities along the way. For example, some time ago while I was an extra in a movie that was filming at Union Station in Los Angeles, I picked up a voice message on my cell phone during one of the breaks. Someone wanted to buy a couple of copies of our book, 101 Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills Instantly. John followed up and the caller bought several books and audio-tape sets. In a later conversation with the caller, I asked how he’d heard about the book. “Jo, you won’t believe it,” he said. He related how he had found a satchel, “like a briefcase,” in the road. In the briefcase were several different books, but no identification of the owner. Our friend took the satchel home and looked at the books. 101 Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills Instantly caught his attention and he read it. Inside he found our telephone number and called. “I’m an immigrant,” he explained, “and I like your book. I can really use it.”
Out of nowhere, a stranger found our book and was influenced by it.
Out of nowhere, things happen to move you toward your destination. If you know where you’re going, you will recognize these “coincidences” and take full advantage of them.
