I Don’t Believe in Randomness

The new buzzword among my pre-teen children and my adult friends seems to be “randomness”. My kids will say “that is so random” when referring to something cool (at least that’s how I interpret it) and my friends and I use it the same way, I think.  Sometimes I think we say it randomly just to say it.

However, nothing in life is random.  I firmly believe that.

A lot of the gurus say “live your life with intention” or sometimes they use the word “purpose”. There are a zillion websites on the topic.  They bore me.  To me it all boils down to find your passion and go for it. That’s all. I think Nike summed it up best with “Just Do It!”

Regardless of how you want to phrase it, chasing a dream is not a random act. If you want to be a farmer, but you’re working a desk job in a metropolis, don’t expect someone to come into your office and offer you 100 acres and a tractor. That would be random. However, if you put out a signal and told people that you wanted to be a farmer, and someone heard about it and decided you were worthy of their donation of free land and a John Deere, then it’s no longer random. Something triggered that response.

That’s the ticket – triggering a response. I believe Annie Oakley said it best with

“Aim at a high mark and you will hit it. No, not the first time, not the second time and maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting for only practice will make you perfect. Finally you’ll hit the bull’s-eye of success.”

Annie kept pulling that trigger.  For her it was a literal trigger that eventually brought about her sharpshooting stardom, but for you a trigger can be something as simple as telling a friend you want to be a marine biologist.  Or blogging about your passion on a public forum.  Or posting your story here and asking for feedback. You can’t just think about your dream and *poof* it randomly happens to you.  Life does not work that way.

Do you think anyone ever randomly becomes a brain surgeon?  Thankfully, no.  A brain surgeon at one point decided they had an interest in neuroscience and began to put out signals and pull triggers to get into med school, study and earn the right to perform brain surgery.  Believing you want to do something is NOT enough.  If you don’t “believe” me, read this post.

Nothing is random.  It starts with an intention.  How you act upon that intention and how much of a signal you put out can make the difference between catching a big break or sitting at home wondering why the world is passing you by.

And since I’m on a roll with the quotations, let me drop one from one of our tv favorites:

“Luck? I don’t know anything about luck. I’ve never banked on it, and I’m afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: Hard work — and realizing what is opportunity and what isn’t.” ~ Lucille Ball

Lucy never lived her life in randomness either.  She knew what she wanted and she went after it.

I don’t believe in randomness and neither should you.