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Saved by Destiny, Coffee, and Poetry

So there I was. All dressed up and in my car, following the voice of my GPS, making turn after turn. I had made a wrong turn sometime earlier, making my GPS go into overdrive trying to steer me back the right way. She insisted I go back to the main road (I programmed my GPS to have a female voice; no way would my pride be able to take another man’s voice telling me what to do.) Turn right, turn left, left again, she said. But, of course, to no avail. Finally, I accepted the undeniable truth; I would not get to my destination tonight.

My destination was a restaurant in a very business-y section of downtown Fort Worth. A local group was meeting there tonight for after-hours drinks and networking. I hadn't been to these meetings in almost a year. Not quite sure how I felt about going back. But the voices of all the no-nonsense career experts kept talking in my head, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” As usual, I listened and did as I was told.

But I have to admit, there was another reason I was planning on going tonight; and the only voice telling me to go was my own. The reason—you guessed it—was a guy. I knew he would be there. I also knew it wouldn’t make a difference to him if I was there or not. But I thought if I could get some more face time with him, I could make him less indifferent. Terrible plan, I know.

Fortunately, Destiny didn’t want me to make a fool of myself and Courage couldn't stand that I wasn't making my own decisions. Together they kept me away from that restaurant. It was then that I realized not too far was an awesome little coffee shop known as Buon Giorno. I had been there before but always accompanied by someone and only for the purpose of grabbing a quick pick-me-up. Not today, I thought, this time I’m going to enjoy some great-tasting coffee and a little peace.

So I parked my car and headed straight for the entrance, all while feeling self-conscience about being way too overdressed. As soon as I stepped in though, I saw the baristas’ smiling faces and smelled the sweet aroma of delicious coffee, and I knew I made the right choice.

I ordered a coffee and cranberry almond cake (so good, you should try it) then went to sit down in the comfy couch section. A very cool feature about this coffee shop is that they have plenty of books lying around. I asked one of the baristas about it and he told me that people are welcome to grab a book and leave a book. Like the Little Free Library that started in Wisconsin.

So as I was sitting there, still a little upset at not having made it to my destination, I happened to flip to one of the pages of a cute little book I saw underneath a stack of other books. Maybe it was the size or color of this book that drew me to it…or maybe it was my super cool friend Destiny having my back again. Whatever it was, I picked up the book, flipped to a random page, and found this cool poem.

From the book Words to Help You Be A Success, page 7.
See the title? Thank ya Destiny J

Moral of the story? Trust yourself and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Sometimes it’s those mistakes that lead us to where we are supposed to be. We may not accomplish every little thing we set out to do (like finding a restaurant) but with enough trust, and with the help of Destiny, we will find new opportunities in the most surprising areas.
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