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I must be somewhat of a maximizer. I value hard work as a great factor in luck. I seems to me that the more effort is put into something, the better the results. This logic might seem contradictory to The Paradox of Choice, but I believe that when Schwartz is talking about the anxiety from working on various choices, it is a different kind of work. The excruciating effort he describes in his book that are the cause for people's dissatisfaction appears to be misguided. Work on choice is spread thin because of the copious amounts of choice.  If the same amount of work is directed at only a few choices, as Schwartz indicates, more satisfactory results are perceived. I must agree with those who have stated that allowing for serendipity is to have a certain mindset. Along the same lines of shifting perspectives when working with choice, when one changes the way she looks at a certain event, it can lead to a reevaluation of a situation. If the red ribbon had not been wished for, it may not have seemed like serendipity.

In applying this concept to my own life, I think of this perspective change. Allowing for serendipity in my life would mean a conscious shift in judgment of circumstances. My first tour of this campus seemed like serendipity. Much like the ribbon story, I had just came from Smith. My experience was not what I had hoped for. I wished very badly to like Bryn Mawr, the last school on my list of East Coast college visits. It felt like fate when I walked on campus, but perhaps that was because I had set myself in the position to accept this accidental good fortune. I had just come from a rather bad experience at what had been my first choice school. I had only Smith and Bryn Mawr on the East Coast as my choices (limited choices, focused effort on the decision). Bryn Mawr was my last hope for an East Coast school. Did I set myself up for the unexpected blessing of this campus? Perhaps.