Chains of events

In one of Len Deighton’s earlier books, he observes that the southeastern terrain of the United States, that lends itself to military training, accounts for soldiers from all over the country taking southern wives. In my college orientation, one of the predictions proffered to us was that many of us would find out mates over the next four years. It struck me that, by selecting a college, I had also unintentionally plotted my life course in other ways, which turned out to be the case.

I find it interesting that many decisions have a chain reaction effect that shape our entire lives, especially as they almost randomly intersect with those of others. It can be which job we take, church we attend, neighborhood we reside in or whatever. The ramifications are far-reaching and may extend beyond what we anticipated at the time.

I was reminded of this last night at a pool party. Well, a pool party kayaker style. We bring our toys with us. Carolyn made reference to a kayaking couple, labeling them as the class after her. She had already referred to me as being in the class before.

It hadn’t dawned on me until then, but I got her point. Decades before, we had all gone through paddling courses offered by a club, and then became immersed in their paddling outings to various degrees. Hence, Carolyn’s reference to which class we were members of. However we made our decisions to enter that portal, many of us were making life decisions, aware of it or not.

Perhaps the reason I didn’t share her perspective was that I was married with young children at the time, and was not as involved as many of them. Carolyn and a lot of the others were younger and single.

As she spoke last night, I recalled the many weekends they spent away together in their shared avocation and how that resulted in a lot of marriages, including hers. So, by simply signing up for a weekend paddling course, she and the others set into motion a chain of events that led to where they are now with children, residences, etc.

Think of that today, as you decide where to shop, eat or take your walk. You may be altering the course of your life.