Chances, Odds, Coincidences

Darrel and I have been wearing our Fitbits for almost 5 years now.  I am not sure what prompted us to get them, but it has been a life-changer. With that single purchase, we rose to a level of competitiveness between us that had never existed before. We set our goals to 10,000 steps per day and would taunt each other all day long with phone calls and texts asking the other, “How many steps do you have?”  Darrel usually reached his goal earlier in the day than I did. When he would catch me running in place while watching TV, he said I was cheating. I said I was moving, so it still counted. On one particular day, we were having a very relaxed movie day.  I think the most walking either of us had done that entire day was to walk to the refrigerator and back to our spot on the couch.  That evening, I was far from my steps goal but was tired and headed to bed. I remembered Darrel had spent a short time outside watering the plants so, I figured he might have just a slight edge over me.  Just in case I could some how come out the winner and gloat, I asked one last time, “How many steps do you have?”  When Darrel answered, I took off my Fitbit and ran back downstairs to look at his Fitbit for myself.  I just could not believe my eyes. On September 2, at 8:12pm, we both had exactly 5,861 steps.  Darrel exclaimed, “What are the chances of this happening?” We put our Fitbits side by side and took a picture. That had never happened before. We have always been at least 700+ steps apart, with Darrel always ahead. It certainly will not happen again. Darrel has upped his daily goal to 15,000+ steps and I now wear a waterproof Fitbit set to count distance instead of steps to calculate my swimming.

Speaking of swimming, I usually go to the center three times a week to swim. Fraim Center for Active Adults is a popular spot. The parking lot is normally full when I get there.  Of course, our vehicles are as diverse as the many people who frequent the center. One day I arrived for my swim a little earlier than normal. There were not many people there yet and only a few cars in the parking lot.  I hesitated before pulling into a parking space. I sat there staring at the other cars, asking myself what are the odds of this?  Every early swimmer on this particular morning had the same color car as mine.  Laughing, I thought to myself what if we all have on the same swimsuit. Worse, what if, like in an episode of the Twilight Zone, I go into the locker room and everyone is a clone of me? After creeping myself out, I went into the building. I am happy to report nothing outside of the ordinary happened. Good thing I took a picture before going in because the same cars were not there when I left. I know the likelihood of this ever happening again is nil to none. What a coincidence…eh?

We call it by many names and we all experience them. When it happens, we are amazed or perplexed by the randomness of the occurrence. Darrel and I marvel at our reminders that all things are possible. We take pictures and talk about them often, for ours are many. We love when you share back with us and look forward to reading about some of your coincidental, ‘what are the odds?’ moments of chance.

 Darrel & Amanda ❤️

Thumbnail Photo by Olya Kobruseva from Pexels