I’ve read that in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition it is sometimes said that when many things seem to go wrong at once it is because something special and beautiful is waiting to be born, waiting to emerge. Whatever is waiting to be born needs you to be distracted by all of these things going wrong, so that you don’t get in the way, so that it can emerge as beautiful as possible. I’ve been pondering this idea ever since: things going wrong, what is wanting to emerge, and getting out of the way.

I had lunch in Berkeley recently with the CEO of a large consulting company. He arrived nearly a half hour late because he had the date marked incorrectly on his calendar. Entering the restaurant, he apologized profusely, then recounted how many things seemed to be going wrong in his life. He was missing meetings, not responding to all his calls and emails, and in general there seemed to be numerous things out of kilter in his life. This was unusual for him, since he usually is quite competent and conscientious.

I told him the belief held by the Tibetan Buddhists about many things going wrong being related to something beautiful waiting to be born; that these things going wrong are a way to distract you, to help you get out of your way. He rolled his eyes, with skepticism and disbelief. He told me he was unable to relate to these “new age” philosophies. He said to me, “Oh, that’s an interesting rationalization.”

When we completed our lunch and were getting up to leave the restaurant, he dropped his umbrella on the floor. When be bent over to pick it up, he knocked over a glass of water on our table, that splashed on the people sitting at the next table. He apologized profusely, as he tried to clean up some of the water that had spilled on the neighboring table and from the pants of the woman who had been sitting next to us.

I smiled. I knew that something really beautiful was about to happen in his life.

What is waiting to emerge, to be born in your life?