Happy Accidents

Happy Accidents

You might find
accidental 
treasure.

Sometimes, without much of our own doing we end up with an outcome or result that ends positively.  The history of inventors and scientists is ripe with stories where a byproduct became far more successful than the original hypothesis or attempt.  In our families, there are likely times when something we weren't expecting turns out to be a blessing in disguise.  The doors that closed we were hoping wouldn't end up being the door that had to close to get us to where we needed to be are happy accidents.  The importance of this is to watch for how to find the silver lining or make the accidents happy as we go through life.  

You might
find an
astronaut.

There are times when we can build the "triple option" to use a football analogy or, in other words, set up the fertile ground where something going right is more likely.  In the idea of making our own luck through preparedness, we can make happy accidents more likely.  For example, if we build a system where we create resilience...say multiple streams of income, disability insurance, education, networking, and so forth...a layoff has the potential to turn into a reinvention, gap year, travel opportunity, or something else positive.  On the other side, if you're living paycheck-to-paycheck, the same layoff can send you into a tailspin catastrophe.  

You'll learn how
to go fast...
eventually.

Part of the "happy accident" idea is a mindset that makes the best of whatever set of circumstances we're in. So much of our happiness or satisfaction is based on our expectations and our outcomes in relation to our expectations.  When we see the proverbial glass as half full, we're more likely to see the silver lining in an apparent negative situation and make the most out of the circumstances.  For our part in this, we should try to see our expectations right size or level so that our aspirations continue to push us forward. However, we aren't so lofty that a perceived failure becomes a fatal off-ramp to our life trajectory.  

This led to a 
new tree 
house.

Sometimes, as we explore these situations, we aren't able to see the happy accident in the moment.  A good friend once called it the "celestial theater," where we, years from now with wisdom and age can look back to see the blessing something was that changed our course...even if it was painful in the moment.  Some of these may be in heaven where we can see the turns like The Five People We Meet In Heaven from Mitch Albom that were invisible in the moment...but in hindsight had to happen.  As we look back...or forward...hopefully we have the wisdom or patience to know that God has a plan for us...even when we can't understand the turn-by-turn directions.  

You might
get a horse
out of the deal

What happens when things accidentally go right?  When we're accidentally lucky?  We've talked about the upside above...but it bears reminding that, while we should look for the happy in the accidents...we must watch for bad habits.  We've talked about it before, but the concept of normalized deviance is a dangerous precedent where just because a risky behavior turned out in our favor doesn't mean we should keep doing the risky thing and/or not learn from the near miss.  

Get up...
learn...go 
again.

Part of avoiding normalized deviance while embracing the happy accidents is to do an "after action review" or AAR as it's called.  This is a deliberate and intentional process of introspection and facilitated discussion questions.  What went well in spite or despite of you and your efforts?  Can you count on those things happening again?  Can you prime the ground to be more fertile/can you "create" luck? Did what we intended to do occur?  Often we frame it with what should we start/stop/sustain (keep) doing so that we can capitalize don't the successes and correct the failures.  

As we wrap up, think about what you can do to look for the blessings and the happy accidents in the paths of life.  As you start to see the ups in the downs, you can begin to get in front of your system and build it so that there are more wins in losses.  More lessons learned and high points in the failures.  As you start to look for the happy accidents...you'll start to see them and over time, you'll be able to get closer to creating them.  

With you in the arena, from ours to yours...Happy Trails!

Call to Action: 

• Pick out a couple of historic happy accidents that you didn't want to happen in the moment but wouldn't change now.  Take a moment to explore the situations and apply a lesson or principle that you can use in the future.  
• 1 - ___________________ 
• 2 - ___________________
• 3 - ___________________
• Discussion: Consider what you/your family could/would/should (level of commitment) and start/stop/sustain (action) in terms of seeing...and creating happy accidents.  

Further Reading, Motivation, and References:

- There Goes My Life - Kenny Chesney