I sat down at my desk early yesterday morning to begin the chore of getting caught up after a week away.  I had every intention of being productive, reading and responding to emails, returning calls, talking with clients, writing articles and blog entries.   I had just sat down and turned on my computer when I heard a loud crash.  I looked out the window and watched one  car spin around and come to rest against the telephone pole at the corner of my yard, as the other veered up onto my neighbor’s lawn.  I instinctively called 911 and then rushed outside to see if everyone was alright.  Thankfully and miraculously, given the condition of the cars involved, no one was hurt.  I could have come right back inside and gone back to my desk, but instead, I invited the 8th grade boy, a passenger in one of the cars who was on his way to school, and his dog, to come and sit inside my warm house while his mom and the others dealt with the details of the accident.   A little voice in my head said to me, ‘shouldn’t I be working?   Am I using this as an excuse to procrastinate?’  And a louder voice said to me, ‘No.  Being here for this boy and his dog, both of whom were shook up from the crash, is exactly the right thing for you to do.  The work will wait.’  The boy was delightful.  Scout, his four legged companion, looked like my dog’s smaller identical twin.  It was fun to watch them play together and to see Jake begin to relax as he shared his experience of the accident with me.  I felt fortunate to have been able to be there for him.   Once the accident scene was cleared and my visitors were gone, I sat back down at my desk feeling happy to have been able to serve others.  As easy as it is for us to be distracted  and frustrated  by the unexpected events that life throws us, it is in those moments that we find meaningful experiences.   Life is not the merely the events we have planned and the items on our to do lists, doomed to be interrupted by the unexpected.  It is the intricate weaving of those unexpected happenings into our plans that brings richness and forms the magnificent tapestry of our lives.  When we resist them or ignore them, we miss out on opportunites to connect to  and be present with others.     The rewards of serving others in unexpected ways are a gift.   The work will be there when you’re done, the opportunities to give may not be.