Coincidence or Destiny?

co·in·ci·dence /kōˈinsədəns/

Noun: A remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection 

des·ti·ny /ˈdestinē/

Noun: The events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future.

One of the most common themes in our life is coincidence. Coincidences happen by chance far more often than we think.  I have experienced many random events but I will tell you about an incredible coincidence that occurred a couple of days ago.  This incident made me a believer that whenever you are thinking about something so intensively, the universe or your subconscious brings it to fruition sooner than you think (Law of Attraction). 

So you ask what happened?

Scene 1: It is 10am on a beautiful sunny day in December.  I am going through the list of contacts in my phone deleting those I no longer interact with.  I came across Cathy (whom I met through an estranged friend) and contemplated whether or not to delete her since we’ve had no form of communication in the last two years.  I could not help but wonder if Cathy’s decision not to communicate with me was influenced by my estranged friend.  As I was thinking about how awkward it would be to bump into Cathy and have a conversation about why we stopped keeping in touch, my thought was interrupted by a call from a friend inviting me to have coffee with her that afternoon.  

Scene 2: I met my friend at Starbucks Coffee located at an outdoor mall.  We had great dialogue and decided to do some shopping as well. It was a gorgeous day and so refreshing to be outside in the elements.  The sounds of music filled the streets as people enjoyed the weather, shopping, and company of friends.  The crowd was really big and the shopping fever was going on.  As we strolled leisurely chatting about new years' eve celebration plans, I heard someone call my name and who did I see standing in-front of me...“Cathy”.  We were both shocked to see each other but I was more shocked because I just thought about her a couple of hours ago.  By the way, Cathy lives in New York and who would have imagined that we would be in the same place at the same time.  It is truly a small world after all.  We hugged and we chatted for about five minutes.  We wished each other well and said goodbye. 

Scene 3: As we moved on,  I said to my friend “what a coincidence, the universe gave life to my random thought”... But then I wondered if that encounter was a coincidence or destiny.

Our life stories are interwoven with occasional random encounters such as banging our toes, being late for work, food poisoning, missing our flight, forgetting where we dropped our car keys and the list goes on but when you accidentally see an old friend you have not seen for a long time, you have to wonder why has this coincidence happened and is there a message behind this encounter?

What about you?  Has anything like that ever happened to you?  Have you ever been thinking about someone, whom you have not seen or spoken to for months, and then that person showed up from nowhere on the very same day or next?  Have you ever thought about someone and wanted to send him/her an text message and he/she sends you a message or calls you almost at the same time? Also, what is the difference between coincidence and destiny? We think everything that happens is coincidence. Perhaps there will come  a time or a situation which we will say that it was destiny.  

Sow a thought and you will harvest an act;

Sow an act and you will harvest habits;

Sow habits and you will harvest your character;

Sow the character and you will harvest your destiny. 

- Charles Reade