Did you
know?

happenstance
noun

- a chance or a chance situation, especially one producing a good result.

Cambridge Dictionary

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Happenstance is a combination of the words, happen and circumstance. It first appeared in English in the late 19th century.

Niels Bohr, the Danish physicist, is famous for saying "Predictions are very difficult especially when they are about the future", Lao Tzu is similarly quoted as saying "those who have knowledge, don’t predict. Those who predict don’t have knowledge."

These two quotes are a nice starting point for thinking about the role of happenstance in an increasingly complex and unpredictable world.

If you're interested in the tension between "planning" and "indecision", I have some interesting slides from a presentation titled "Luck is No Accident" by Al Levin. I am happy to share these with interested readers. Just drop me a line at: paul.paradoxing@gmail.com

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SYNONYMS

blessing, godsend, opportunity, serendipity, windfall, big break, good fortune, luck, in the cards, lucky break, accident, chance, fluke, coincidence

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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO A CONVERSATION TODAY
Say something like:

"By a strange happenstance they were both in Munich at the same time."