Starbucks, Goleta
April 19, 2003
A beautiful day in Santa Barbara. Went out to Starbucks with a couple of friends. We had a good time but the day became more beautiful for me when this man, maybe in his 60ies approached our table and talked to us. He said: "It is a beautiful sunny day. It is much nicer to be out in the sun sipping your coffees than studying indoors, right?" We giggled and I said "absolutely" and he disappeared. Half an hour later, he came back. Out of the blue, he told us a joke, we laughed and then he approached me and said: "You know, 60% of success in life is having a great attitude towards life. If you keep being like you are now, you can retire at 45 just like I did." He smiled and disappeared again. I wanted to talk with him more but he was gone so fast.

To me, moments like this are irreplaceable... what makes life interesting and more exciting are these moments. I have no idea who this man is but I saw a 'happy life' in his eyes, and a light heart in his smile. (the compliments might have had an effect, too:))) I don't know why he said what he said since he doesn't know me, but it doesn't matter because he turned my day into a great one.

It was getting cold so we went inside and sat on real comfy couches. All of a sudden, unexpectedly, an old friend of mine whom I had not seen for three years appeared in front of me. He is a friend that I have great respect for. He is one of the finest musicians I know of. He has been a 'true-friend' to me always. We used to have these real long and deep conversations, which we really liked to have. I have missed him a lot and am very happy to have seen him again...

Interestingly, this morning I picked up a book from my shelf to read at the pool. The book is called "Chance Rules" by Brian Everitt. The first line in the book says: "Chance governs our lives". These two events made my day today; these events were unknown to me before they happened. Everitt also says; Chance colors our lives with uncertainty. Today is a proof of what Everitt claims!

Everything that happened today makes me think that chances may really govern our lives. Perhaps chances also shape our lives.

I think I should go out dancing tonight!
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