Blogs and ezines have been filled with messages urging us to get those goals and plans set for the new year. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course.<\/p>\n
Not only is goal-setting a popular tool for gaining focus and clarity, it\u2019s also a fine time management tool.<\/p>\n
Far fewer writers have been recommending that we incorporate serendipity into our plans. That\u2019s not surprising since the popular definition of this word suggests that it means a happy accident, something unexpected.<\/p>\n
That seems contrary to the Get Focused on Concrete Goals advice.<\/p>\n
However, as I learned from Marcus Bach\u2019s The World of Serendipity<\/em><\/strong>, there\u2019s more to it than that. As Bach points out, the word originated with a story by Hugh Walpole written in 1754 and called The Princes of Serendip<\/em>.<\/p>\n This tale featured three young noblemen who traveled the world, rarely finding the treasures they were looking for. Nevertheless, they continually ran into other treasures equally great or even greater which they were not seeking<\/em>.<\/p>\n In looking for one thing, they found something else. \u201cEven though their goals eluded them,\u201d writes Bach, \u201cthey were more than rewarded with their wayside discoveries.\u201d<\/p>\n What Walpole was writing about goes well beyond the occasional happy surprises. The key to having regular experiences of serendipity does not occur if we\u2019re sitting on our sofa wishing<\/em> something exciting\u2014a windfall, a new opportunity, perhaps\u2014would drop into our laps.<\/p>\n Serendipity happens when we\u2019re on our way to a dream, actively engaged in doing what we can to bring it to life. Along the way, we may discover something bigger and better comes to us, something that more than compensates for our failure to reach the original goal.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Marcus Bach shares how serendipity has played a role in his writing career. He says that\u00a0 he always sends out a new manuscript with high expectations.<\/p>\n \u201cBut every once in a while a manuscript comes back. It is then that my faith in serendipity comes in. I affirm that though I did not reach the initial goal, there will be a wayside goal just as good, or better, waiting for me.<\/p>\n \u201cIn some twenty-five years of writing, every manuscript of mine that was rejected eventually turned out advantageously for me. Either I improved it, profited from the rejection, placed it elsewhere, adapted it for radio or television.<\/p>\n \u201cI can only conclude that if things work this way with manuscripts, they work this way with life if we are sincerely serendipitous and hold to great expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n So by all means keep designing new quests and see where they lead, but stay alert to all the unexpected rewards of the journey.<\/p>\n Justice Cardozo concurs. \u201cLike many of the finest things in life, like happiness and tranquility and fame, the gain that is most precious is not the thing sought, but one that comes of itself in the search for something else.\u201d<\/p>\n Sounds like a paradox, I know, but that just adds to the fun.<\/p>\n Have you noticed?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Blogs and ezines have been filled with messages urging us to get those goals and plans set for the new year. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. Not only is goal-setting a popular tool for gaining focus and clarity, it\u2019s also a fine time management tool. Far fewer writers have been recommending that we…<\/p>\n