The happiness of happenstance

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” – Douglas Adams

This seems to be a recurring lesson in my indie solopreneur journey. Or even in life.

It always starts off with ambitions, aspirations and goals. Very specific goals. Very targeted means to get there. A purposeful stance I adopt going into it. And sometimes I do get there the way I intended, but the satisfaction isn’t always commensurate with the achievement. Something feels off. I’ve won trophies in school where I wasn’t thrilled on receiving it. I redpointed climbing projects where I felt more relieved than joyous. I achieved revenue targets for one of my businesses but got burned out.

Yet when I did not go where I intended to go but chanced upon buried treasure, I feel blessed and overjoyed. I wandered down streets in foreign countries feeling lost and not in the direction I feel I should be, yet discovered beautiful places and neighbourhoods that are etched in my memory for life. Indie side projects that have a life of its own and pull me forward despite my original intentions are often my best performing products. I never expected to meet a girl (or any girl) at the office, yet I did, and one thing led to another and now I married her and had a lovely child with.

Every time I ended up where I needed to be without intending to, there’s joy.

Chance = Yay
Stance = Meh

Makes me think: Why set any goals or intentions at all? 🤔