Is Life Just A Roll Of The Dice? Thanks To Toni In Seat 21A, I Think Not.

 Do you ever wonder if we are simply rolling through life, landing in situations that are out of our control, or do you believe we determine our own fates by our decisions and actions?I've always believed that our decisions define our life and that we end up where we end up doing what we do because of our own actions and decisions.  I'm not a big believer in fate, or karma or pre-determined "accidents."What happened this week, on a flight from Newark to LA, however, made me start to wonder.I like order and planning in almost all aspects of my life, and I take it to a whole new level when I travel.  I don't like unpleasant surprises, and I'll admit I can go overboard.  I've been dubbed a travel guru by my friends and family, which is a kind description because I'm sure there's a different term, like whacko, that better describes my obsession with details and planning.I'm so detail oriented that I check the seat plan for the plane minutes before boarding so that I can see if my strategy of booking the aisle and window has left an empty seat between my husband and myself.  (The idea being that other fliers will rarely choose a middle seat, and more often than not, it's worked beautifully.)Much to my excitement the middle seat showed empty, which was so nice considering that we had a six hour trip ahead of us.  You can imagine my surprise upon boarding when a woman leaned into our row and said, "I think I'm in this seat."  What I wanted to say, was "Are you sure?" but instead, I said, "I'll take the middle and you can have the window."  At this point the person thinks they've hit the jackpot....not in the middle! But now, hubby and I are cuddled, (jammed) together and he knows he's lost all access to the armrest.I tried not to make eye contact hoping to avoid the possibility of endless conversation. I've learned from prior experience that, once started, there are some passengers that you just can't shut up, and I had plans for hours of watching "The White Queen" downloaded on my laptop.Unfortunately, this was a properly raised woman, who kindly said hello and asked the purpose of our trip.  We engaged in some small talk and I worked hard to avoid asking any leading questions.  A little bit after take off, I began my first hour of "The White Queen," and she'd fallen asleep.  Safe, so far.About midway through the flight, she woke up and I just so happened to be taking a break between shows.  She smiled at me, asked my name and then asked what I do.  I went into my usual schpiel about being a stay at home mom whose last kid had just left for college and how I've begun to blog and am considering my dream of writing a book one day; yada, yada, yada.And then, it happened.  Looking right at me she said, "Wow, that's great.  I'm a writer too."  As if launched by a booster rocket, we were off.  For hours, my husband looked over at me with that, "do you need rescuing look," and I ignored him.  As it turned out, my seat mate is a published author, a popular blogger who has been to blogging conventions, and she is also a motivational speaker.  I had hit the trifecta!Within minutes, she had encouraged me to go for it; to write the novel of my dreams.  She shared her own insecurities about writing, she challenged me to let go of all of my doubts, she showed me a workable plan to get started and she infused me with great confidence. I could literally feel myself fill up.Recently, I've been having doubts about my ability to write.  I've wondered about a lack of creativity and I'm terrified about putting myself out there to the masses through my writing.  I've been struggling with deciding whether this blogging thing that I've been at for these last few months is going to remain something of a hobby or if there was any way that I felt I could take my writing farther.In those few hours, zipping through the air over this country, I got exactly what I needed from the right person at the right time.Was it all just coincidence?  Karma?  Guardian angel?  Fate?What do you think?  Have you ever had that conversation with a stranger that changed everything?Have you ever wondered about such precise and perfect timing?So here's to Toni, my seat mate in 21A, I only hope that I was able to provide you with some sort of takeaway from our meeting as well.  I will be eternally grateful and, I  promise, I'll keep writing.