Do you believe in coincidences?

[Torsten]

OK, I used to think that there is a such a thing like coincidences but a few years ago I changed my opinion on this question. For example, what do you make of the following situation:
Two of our forum moderators (who, as far as I know, got to know each other here) joined us a couple of months ago. As often is the case when you work on online projects, I only know the first names of both of those moderators.

One of them decided to work more closely with us and therefore I asked for (his/her) surname. He/she supplied that information via email a few minutes ago.

Then I updated the database of our forum users and discovered that the other moderator has the same surname as the first one.

Mind you, at this point it was not my intention to find out the surname of the second moderator -- it was supplied to me in a very interesting way. Which brings me back to my initial question: Do you believe in coincidences?
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[Yankee]

Hi Torsten

Something very coincidental happened to me a couple of years ago. Before coming to Germany, I lived in a very small city in the state of New York. Probably most people living outside the state have never heard of it before. Anyway, a few years ago, an American couple moved into the house across the street from me (here in Germany). It turned out they were from that same small city in New York! I found that to be quite a coincidence, seeing as we'd never met each other when we were all living in the same place in the US.

Sometimes, the world is really small, isn't it?

But you've got me curious. What changed your mind about coincidences?

Amy

[Vague]

coincidence? never, my friends..nth that happens in this world is coincidental...nth...everything happens because it is meant to happen, because it has to happen. fuguratively- each step we take leads us to the most important event in our life. we have certain things to learn in life and everything that happens is there exactly for this very purpose- to teach us. haven't u though "if i haven't done that, sth else wouldn't have happened". my life in the last three years is based on this principle only...i believe each of us has a path they have to follow..and nth on our way is accidental. Read Paolo Coelho...he will explain it better than me

[Cristina]

Its right ,I think that when something has to happen,will happen soon or later,I met someone very important in my life,when we talked about each other we realized he was going to apply in the company where I worked for years,he was going to work in my area,he went to my neighbors party,he's my neighbors friend,and I was there ,but we havent seen each other,and we had a friend in common,so we could have met at any moment,but finally we met each other teaching in a high school.He's the father of my daughter.

Cris
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[Worldtour]

Vague:
Quite an old question really. You imply that our path is predetermined and something or someone is directing our path or our choices. You also imply that there is meaning behind or connected to our appointed path in terms of learning a lesson. Like our stint on the karmic wheel is determined by our past failures.

Many would say that the realm of our existence is merely a series of random events with no meaninig, beyond our own ability to shape the moment.

I understand your point. Maybe it's all physical laws and every choice we make has a consequence. Each choice activates a wave of action, like the stone thrown in a pool, and in an expanding universe these ripples of consequence will at some point in space and time cross. Is that coincidence?