August 18 is National Serendipity Day. Serendipity is defined as the occurrence and development of any events by happenstance in a pleasant or useful way. This day encourages us to appreciate those unexpected, pleasant things.

I have a mantra I’ve been living now since January that my friend, Scott D’Alterio, shared with me: “Nothing happens to me; everything happens for me,” and it’s amazing how much it has helped me. It’s like taking serendipity to exponential levels, expecting that everything that happens is serendipitous. Another way to think about it is that it may not be serendipity, or a happy coincidence, after all. It might just be part of a grander picture from the unseen.

Some people have beliefs that thoughts can manifest things. I 100% subscribe to that theory. I have seen too much manifested in my own life—some of it good, some of it tragic, and most can be traced back to thoughts I had about those things coming to pass.

Isn’t this simply a coincidence or serendipity? I don’t believe so. Because I believe in the power of thoughts to manifest, I monitor my thoughts closely. You may have all experienced thinking of someone, and within a short period of time, they reach out to connect with you. This could be serendipitous, but more likely, it might just be your thoughts manifesting themselves.

When I was in my early twenties, my parents divorced and I watched my 16-year-old brother give my mother a terrible time. I started thinking, and then say this out loud: “Please, whatever happens, don’t let me be a single mother raising teenage boys alone.” Those of you who know my story, know that’s exactly what happened to me! Did I manifest it because of my vocal fears? I believe I did.

On a positive note, I have attracted the type of clients I want and the right people into my life to help me move my business forward. When I set an intention and maintain my focus, things I think about frequently come to pass, and sometimes what comes is even better than I had imagined.

As I live my new mantra, “Nothing happens to me; everything happens for me,” I find it truly helps me during challenging times. Just yesterday, I was deep into a project of writing curriculum. I had been working non-stop for nine hours when my computer inexplicably shut down. When I logged back on, all of my open documents were no longer there. Most of what had been open was backed up and recovered but for some reason, the curriculum I had been working on all day was lost. I couldn’t retrieve it, even though my computer is set to automatically back up my documents. When I opened the file, there was absolutely nothing there I had typed that entire day.

I’m not going to lie… I had a moment of frustration but when I applied my mantra, I was able to tell myself, There must be a good reason this happened and it will serve me in the end. Maybe I will make the new version even better than the one I had. Expecting serendipity, even when the happy coincidence hasn’t been revealed to me, helped me carry on without frustration and stress.

For this reason, I love this day to celebrate serendipity, only I’m challenging people to go one step beyond to expect and anticipate serendipity. If you are reading this and thinking, but what if the worst case happens, you won’t be prepared, it is still important to prepare and do everything you can to prevent painful things from occurring. However, sometimes, things just happen that you didn’t choose, and all you can control in those cases is the response you choose.

If you want to choose the response that leads to your mental freedom, then you choose what creates the least stress. When you decide everything that happens serves you in the end, then you won’t spend a lot of time frustrated or wallowing in self-pity. This is a choice you get to make.

When you are looking for the serendipity in a situation, you can often find it and it becomes a happy happenstance. The choice is yours.

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