Inspiration Mondays: Luck, Serendipity, and Sheep Magazines

Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart. --Marcus Aurelius

Some things are just meant to be.

I'm one of those people that shops around for the best credit card, not because I need a lower interest rate (I never carry a balance), but because I like freebies. I have had rewards cards for years now: cash rewards, loyalty points, travel miles, whatever I can get for zero fees. There are a surprising number of those kinds of cards out there, and I switch every couple of years. Since I use my cards for my regular expenses (plus the occasional treat), and pay my cards off every month, the rewards end up being true extras: I get paid for the money I'm already spending.

So, I've had this cash rewards card for years now, but I found a better one through my bank that gave me a better return. I had about $50 of cash rewards left of this card, which was sitting as a credit on the card. Before I could cancel the card, I figured I'd use up the credit for a treat for myself.

I'd been thinking about using it for a magazine subscription, specifically for Wild Fibers Magazine. I'd bought an issue back in December, and loved it so much that I thought it would be nice to get the subscription for a year.

Then, I thought about the other "necessities" that needed to come first: dental bills, groceries, a new pair of runners (I did need them. My feet were getting destroyed), fuel for the car, or a new pair of trousers (because I can't keep living in leggings). I thought about it for a week, then a few weeks, then a month...

So, finally I got myself a couple of pairs of pants. Go me...

... but by then, my credit card company got fed up of waiting for me and sent me a cheque for the credit...

... so I deposited the cheque and used it to pay for the purchase of the pants on the card...

... and then the pants didn't work out, so I returned them and got another credit on the card...

... so now, I'm back where I started.

So, guess what? Today, I'm getting the subscription.

I got lucky with that one, but what I'm working on right now is understanding that sometimes, things are just the way they are. Sometimes, things work out pleasurably (as with my sheep magazine), and sometimes, things work out painfully. And the only way to feel truly free is to make room for all this to happen without ranting, without pushing it away... just to look at it and say, "it is what it is."

Because it is. And a lot of what IS... is pretty good.

Today, I am inspired by the idea of serendipity, and that most of what happens in life is really just serendipity in disguise. All people that have come into my life have brought something to me... all of them, even the ones I have felt pain while knowing, because without them, I would not be learning how to be better. And for the ones that have brought me joy, many thanks. I'll be there when you need me.

I'll just be in the corner with my sheep magazine.