Godincidence

I used to be a pretty closed minded person. I went back and forth between calling myself an agnostic and atheist. To this day I still do not like organized religion. However, due to some life altering events and my membership in Alcoholics Anonymous my mind has become much more open.

Certain events that have occurred in my life I used to write off as coincidence. Today I would classify them as Godincidences or if that term bugs you than synchronicity as coined by Carl Jung (circa 1920s). When I got sober I looked back through my life. I remember one time stumbling home from a bar when I lived in Montreal and crossing some train tracks. I crossed the tracks and less than 10 seconds later a train went by. Another time in Montreal I was taking the escalators down from Concordia's pub on the 10th floor (I could be wrong about the floor but it was high up there in the building). I was sitting on the handrail of the escalator and started laughing. I leaned too far back and dropped off. I fell approximately 10 feet, missed a huge food cart by a couple feet and smashed my head on the hard floor. When I awoke there was a bunch of people leaning over me asking me if I was okay. I panicked and ran away - unscathed.  Many such events occurred in my drinking career bringing to mind the saying, God looks after drunks and children.

Approximately two months after I got sober I was sitting in the Renascent treatment centre in Brooklin, Ontario. One of the problems I deal with in life is talking myself out of trying new things due to fear (I would later learn, through the 12 Steps, that fear was a big reason I self-medicated through drugs and alcohol). I was having a meeting with the counsellor assigned to me. He asked me what I planned to do in life. At that point I was 35-years-old. I told the counsellor that I wanted to do what he did but felt I was too old. He looked at me and said, "are you kidding? I'm 53 and this is my student placement." That conversation changed my life and I began making plans to return to school to study addictions counselling. I didn't have any money and wasn't sure what to do. I believed I would not be eligible for OSAP (student loan) because a couple years earlier I had declared personal bankruptcy. As was my pattern I was talking myself out of something out of fear of being rejected before I even tried. I ended up breaking that cycle and put in my application. I ended up receiving the loan. These events of synchronicity led me to get into an addictions program, carry out a placement at Renascent and eventually being hired by Renascent. After a couple years at Renascent the economy went bust and I was informed that my contract would not be renewed. The day I was told that information I sent out several resumes. Three hours later I received a call from Bellwood Health Services for an interview. I ended up getting the job and the start date was the Monday after my last Friday at Renascent. Again some would say the above events were coincidence but I beg to differ.

Eventually I ended up working an evening shift at Bellwood. The shift was 4:00 PM until midnight. As I'm ought to do I got into the habit of doing the same routine everyday. I was living with my Dad at the time. I would wake up in the morning, go to an AA meeting then head over to my girlfriend Indra's place until 3:00 PM then I'd drive to work. I carried out this routine for months,. One day the pattern was interrupted because Indra had an early appointment. I dropped Indra off at her appointment and found that I still had a few hours to kill before I had to go to work. So I went back home. I walked into my house to hear my Dad calling for help. He had suffered a stroke and had fallen down. I found him and called 911. I firmly believe that if my routine had not been altered that day and I didn't go home early he would have passed away that very day, stuck behind a toilet where he had collapsed. To me that is one big Godincidence.

As I continue my life's journey I am able to see more and more of these synchronized events. Just one of many things that keeps me on the path I have chosen.
Dave the Dude