Accidents of fortune

Being at the right place at the right time has proverb status in America.  It usually is used when something good financially happens, but it is also true of other happenings.  Tonight I want to reflect on the good fortune of right place and right time showing up as inspirational signposts on the road I have taken in life.

My first encounter with inspiration was with a Greek scholar.  I sat in his class for a semester and a half before he died of a heart attack.  Anything I may have gained in translation principles and language acquisition after that point, I attribute to the inspiration from this man.

Fifteen years after this man another man appeared who taught me about language behavior in society.  I had thought all along that language behaved by a strict set of rules.  That, I now see, is a far cry from the truth.  The person was not inspiring in and of himself, but he presented all the literature I had never read about language as it is spoken by people in societies around the world (as opposed to language presented in grammar books) and fascinate me with personal stories of his own work with people in various societies.

Eleven years later, I found myself once again in the class of someone world renowned for his knowledge of language and translation.  I loved every single second of his classes.  They crowned what I had learned a quarter of a century before.  He lent the expertise I needed to carve out a niche of my own in the language world.

Then, a couple of years ago, through an accident of fortune, I had a chance to spend several dinners and a few days with two of the nation's top historians, one on world history, one on U.S. history.  I loved being around them because they reminded me in all our conversations of how open to interpretation everything is that happens.

I'm sure I would be meekly minding my P's and Q's if I had not had these four chance encounters with five men who changed my philosophical viewpoint and inspired me to always consider as many factors as possible for what I see in life - even things that appear counter-intuitive.  Reflections of my experience with them serve as markers along the way to drive my performance to the highest levels I am capable of.  I thanked each of them at the time of our encounters, but my true thanks will be with the work that I have left to do in life.