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London, England

We were supposed to have a quick lunch meeting with the CIO, but a man three seats in front of us on the plane from Vienna had what appeared to be a heart attack, so our flight made an emergency landing in Frankfurt. Then we had to reclaim our baggage and rebook onto a later flight out of Dusseldorf, so we made a frantic call.

Then we waited. ... ... ...

Later, the CIO’s admin returned our call and asked if we could meet late that afternoon. “Sure,” we replied, “We’ll call you as soon as we land to let you know we’re on the way.”

We didn’t make that lunch meeting until just after five o’clock that afternoon. And we chatted for over two hours, then sauntered to a pub to continue the conversation with one of the participants. Had we met our original schedule, we never would have connected as we did.

From one perspective, our schedules are under constant threat. From another, the universe seems to be conspiring to guide us where we might have intended, had we only been wise enough to understand. Whether we end up wise or simply inconvenienced might be completely in our control.

The next time my schedule gets threatened, I intend to listen through my initial frustration and see what the universe has planned for me. I expect to be delighted with the result.