We have all experienced fortuitous encounters—those moments in our lives—where a person, place, or thing caused our lives to change in a more positive direction.

Our lives are full of what some have called serendipity, strange acts of fortune or causeless miracles. A favorite teacher inspires our choice of career, a chance encounter develops into love, marriage, and a new family. At the time we are most in need of a friend, one appears in our lives. We look at a mountain or the ocean and find meaning and peace, we read a book and an idea is planted in our brains that provides the wisdom we seek.

The ability to experience fortuitous encounters is key to learning and growth. The more fortuitous encounters someone has, the better the odds are the person is successful and happy. While fortuitous encounters are by their very nature a product of chance that is beyond our ability to control, Davis and Spears strongly believe, as did Pasteur, that “chance favors only the prepared mind." The intention is not to try to explain chance, or divine intervention in this book, but simply to help the reader, whatever their core beliefs, to understand the power of fortuitous encounters.

In this book, you will read firsthand reports of fortuitous encounters of many kinds. These true stories can help you to learn how to prepare yourself to experience your own fortuitous encounters, and experience a lifetime of learning and growth. This wise book will serve as a great companion to help you stay awake to the fortuitous people, places, and things that ultimately shape your days and your life.
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