The Important Thing
Leonard Mlodinow, from "Randomness and Choice," OnBeing with Krista Tippett, April 30, 2014:
When you look at your life, if you had to sit down and think about, and I'm talking about in detail, not just the headlines, if you think about all the details of what happened to you, you will find that there was a time where you had the extra cup of coffee, where if you hadn't, you wouldn't have met Person A.
When I look back in my life, I could find so many instances like that. And I had fun tracing some of them. And the course of your life depends on how you react to those opportunities and challenges that the randomness presents to you.
If you're awake and paying attention, you will find that things happen. They might seem good, they might seem bad but the important thing is how you reacted to it.
Dandelion seeds are dispersed by the wind.
See also: "Stochasticity," Radiolab,