The Best Piece of Advice I Was Ever Given

The best piece of advice I was ever given is a quote from the film Serendipity:


"Life is not merely a series of meaningless accidents or coincidences, but rather, it's a tapestry of events that culminate into an exquisite sublime plan."


I know that there are two kind of people out there: the people who believe in fate, and the people who don't. And yeah, the people who do believe in fate are often labeled as 'pie in the sky' kind of people. But after watching this film for the first time, and having a few personal experiences, I know that everything happens for a reason.


Take my ski accident (as blogged about earlier) for example. In normal circumstances, I would not have lived. I hit a railroad tie going an estimated 30 miles an hour. I shouldn't have lived considering how I set my body up to hit the railroad tie. I swerved to the right of the lady who cut me off--most likely facing the railroad tie head-on. Yet, my left hip was the first part of my body that hit the tie--something that was physically impossible. Some divine force made my body hit the tie that way.  After my accident, the doctors said that if I had hit the railroad tie head on I would not have survived. In addition, all of my fractures (hip, collarbone, skull) were non-displaced, which is a miracle considering how hard I hit the railroad tie (which is about as dense as how hitting a tree would be). They also said that if the fracture on my skull had been horizontal instead of vertical, I would have had a 25 percent chance of hearing loss and facial paralysis. 


Needless to say, the odds of me surviving an accident like that were slim. And not only did I survive, but I walked away with no permanent damage. Clearly there was a force from the heavens above that wanted me to get through this. God had a plan for me, and it was not to die that young. My accident ended up demonstrating the literal meaning of serendipity: a fortunate accident.


After that experience, I learned to never take life for granted. I learned the hard way how precious the gift of life is. I know now that I am meant to do great things in this life; it's just an indescribable feeling I get inside of me when I think about the murky unknowns of my future. I've also learned that when something goes wrong, it's for a reason; it means that there are bigger and better things out there for me and I'm just yet to find them.


Some may call me too optimistic, but after that experience I can't help but to believe in fate.