Serendipity - Word Of The Year

 

SERENDIPITY (NOUN)

“The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. “

ORIGIN

1754 coined by Horace Walpole, suggested by The Three Princes of Serendip, the title of a fairy tale in which the heroes ‘were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of’.

(Source : Lexico )

 

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There is only one thing that can actually describe 2020 for me. It was the way in which certain things that I had never planned to do, but in my heart of hearts always wanted to do, happened. Not because of my rigorous planning and scheduling, which I am very bad at following anyway, but because of Serendipity.

The year 2020 has shown me some of the lowest moments and some of the happiest moments as well too. A nice amalgam of feelings that in most cases don’t belong together. I was anxious, stressed out, tired (from all the work), lonely, sad, worried, undecided, yet safe, calm, hopeful, content, at peace and thankful.

 

This year could have seen a financial, personal, or emotional failure at any point. But whether it was my children (who are in colleges far away), or my husband or me, or for that any of my friends and family members, have all shown a kind of resilience that I never knew existed within them.  I surprised me the most, though. ( More on that LATER:)

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not much of a planner. I have friends who have charted out their entire life while in college itself. Many of them have been able to accomplish most of those things too. I have had a tough time planning and curating my life.

I look back at my life and struggle to understand, how a life that I never planned and that which didn’t go exactly as I wanted it to go, can turn out to be so rewarding and wonderful. For every desire that didn’t happen, at least two or more good fortunes have replaced it. But at the point when it happened, I was too self-absorbed to understand it.

Serendipity has been the key factor in my life this far. So when this realization hit me yesterday, I knew I had discovered the WORD OF THE YEAR for me.

Speaking of Words, this year has been a year of reading for me. I have discovered some amazing books this year (come back here for reviews on them), which have helped me analyze myself and the people around me. Sometimes, reading what you already know about, in a book, seems to help etch it into your mind. 

Initially, I thought, I shouldn’t jinx this by announcing it. Then I thought, thinking and acknowledging it by itself could already have made that difference, right?  I do not know how to keep serendipity happening to me in the year 2021 too. But I plan on trying to do everything that I possibly want to and hope that at least for some of them I would be at the right place at the right time.

[Later]: Some of the things that have happened this year:

1. I started taking dance lessons

2. I started drawing/painting

3. I was able to lose 13 Kgs

4. I have an “exercise” habit now

5.  I have a “diet control” habit now

6. I have a healthy reading habit now

7. I am better at my relationships now

I have decided that for any of the above things and for any of the other things that might happen in 2021, I want to leave it all to Serendipity. It has been the only constant in my life this far.

What is your WOTY?  Do share in the comment section.

As a part of EverydayGyan’s Monday Musings.