Last year, there were two unexpected work-related travels I had to do: to Vietnam and to Qatar. In both cases, a colleague could not make the trip and I was the ‘substitute.’ A younger me would perhaps have grumbled about the unplanned developments, but I am now much more welcoming of the unexpected. I go in with a mindset of adventure, and how doing something different could actually make for a richer life.
I did not have this mindset in my earlier years. I liked things to be planned and organised. An unplanned trip, a delayed flight, a cancelled appointment, a last-minute meeting – I didn’t like any of these and would get grouchy. Through the years, I have started to view these as part of life’s journey – like the beautiful landscapes that show up suddenly when driving. They are to be welcomed rather than shunned.
A few months ago, I had gone to Goa to attend a conference. The organisers sprung a last-minute surprise on the attendees: a Covid self-test. I ended up testing positive. (I had no symptoms.) Initially, I was angry that they had not informed me about such a test in advance. As I reconciled to the fact that I would not be able to attend the conference, I decided to use my 2-day stay in the confines of a hotel room productively. It is not often that life hands out a couple days of absolutely free time! I read, thought, slept – and decided that I was not going to regret missing the conference. It turned out to be a different experience than the one I had planned for, but what I made from it was in my hands.
In fact, it is the twists of the unexpected turns that enrich life. Even as I dislike conversations with strangers on flights in the seat next to me, it was one such conversation more than 20 years ago which had me sitting in the cockpit of a Cathay Pacific flight watching a landing into Hong Kong. A chance meeting at a conference in Barcelona started a friendship that has lasted over a decade. The recent Vietnam trip gave me an opportunity to see a city which I probably would never have visited in the normal course of events.
In fact, each of these events creates its own connections and takes us down unexplored paths. I would never have gone and watched a FIFA World Cup match had it not been for Kalpit’s inability to travel because of a knee surgery. In fact, even if my marketing team had asked me if I wanted to travel, my first reaction would have been, “Me and Football? Impossible!” And here I was, watching Portugal play Switzerland in a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I have become more open to life’s unexpected surprises as I have grown older. I go in with a mindset that there is a good reason something unexpected is happening even though I may not immediately understand the reason. The unexpected events, the chance meetings, the accidental encounters – they are the spices which bring flavour to our existence. At times, if we trace the connections, we will find that they have done much more because no single event can be viewed in isolation. We should therefore take the unexpected opportunities that came our way in our stride and embrace.
