CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE: SERENDIPITY HAPPENS WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT

On a long drive the other day, I hit the scan button on the radio, and one of my favorite songs came pouring out of the speakers.

That's the sort of serendipity that makes a cold rainy day a little less forbidding. And even on sunny days, "I Saw Her Standing There" (that's The Beatles, in case you forgot) is worth listening to.

And since I hate driving on cold, rainy days (which tend to turn into cold snowy days, thanks to El Nino), the song was more than welcome.

Happy little surprises are wonderful. A favorite song on the radio, an unexpected call from an old friend, flowers when it's not your birthday.

Big surprises are another proposition entirely. I'm not the sort of person who is comfortable with really big surprises unless I know in advance that they're going to be pleasant.

In which case, of course, they're not really surprises, are they?

The big surprises I've had tend to be unpleasant. Car trouble, health problems, money problems.

Winning the lottery would be a pleasant big surprise, but I'd have to buy tickets, so the surprise might come in not winning.

There are some good big surprises. A woman I know named her unplanned, but welcome, daughter Serendipity.

Little surprises are the sorts of things that keep you from screaming at the kids, kicking the dog, slamming doors.

Like getting your tax refund in the mail when you're expecting the electric bill.

Or finding your favorite movie on at 3 in the morning when you can't sleep anyway.

Or finding a parking space three spots from the mall entrance on Christmas Eve.

Actually, that's a miracle, not serendipity, but you know what I mean.

My friend Jana doesn't believe in luck. She believes in karma, which essentially says that what goes around, comes around -- on a cosmic scale.

Jana has lousy luck with men. She says it's because she was unkind to lovers or careless with love in her past lives.

Or a man. She's not sure which.

Some people have a talent for good luck. My friend Tina has great parking karma. She is a calm, courteous driver and so always finds good parking places.

But if some guy cuts you off in traffic and you follow him for blocks, screaming and threatening bodily harm, you're probably going to have to park in another county.

Especially if the police are in the neighborhood. I think vehicular harassment is a crime.

I try not to quantify it too much. If my favorite song comes on the radio or I stumble across the book I've been searching for on the remainder table, I just revel in the moment. I don't worry whether it was random chance or a cosmic pat on the back.

Actually, it's the cosmic kicks-in-the-pants that worry me, and those I do believe in, because I've gotten them.

Higher powers have ways of making their point, good or bad.

You can go looking for a lot of things -- love, trouble, money, success, fame -- but not serendipity. It has to be discovered with a glad heart.

Of course, a couple of lottery tickets and a scan button can't hurt.

Peggy O'Farrell is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.