"Coincidences are not accidents but signals from the universe which can guide us toward our true destiny" ~ Deepak Chopra

I don't believe there is such a thing as coincidence. When we delve deeper coincidences give us clues that steer us toward our own north star. If we investigate and listen they will guide us to create the life we crave. All we have to do ask the universe for guidance and wait for the magic to happen. The key is to be observant and be willing to suspend the logical brain's reasoning to brush it off as "just a coincidence".

I dig it. When I started paying attention and observing this in my own life, I can say for sure it has been happening a lot more often.

I had quite a doozy recently I would like to share. It started out small and when I didn't listen it got big!

I'll start off by mentioning I set up some signs and symbols with the universe last year. The intention was to ask a question and if the answer was yes to show me a car with one headlight in my rear view mirror within 24 hours. I don't even remember what happened at the time and I completely forgot about the whole thing.

Fast forward to last month.

We got hit with a snowstorm that was a little worse than expected. I was heading to work in the early hours of the morning and the roads were not yet plowed. I drive about a mile from my neighborhood to the road that leads to the highway. It's scary under these conditions. There wasn't any traffic so I was taking my time. Suddenly, a large SUV approached in my rear view mirror and I noticed it only had one headlight. It tailed me until we got to the light where we went our separate ways.

About 20 minutes later I had not made it very far and determined the road conditions were just too bad and getting worse by the minute so I decided to head back home. By the time I hit that same road it was getting light out, but lo and behold another car was driving directly behind me with one headlight. I thought it was weird because you don't see that very often, let alone twice in the same hour right behind you. It was a different car too, not an SUV.

The next day, on a different road, the same thing happened. A car with one headlight came up directly behind me.

At this point I started to take notice. What is up? This seems a little coincidental.

Okay, something is up. Universe what are you trying to tell me? What is the message here? Then I remembered the yes/no intention setting from last year so I decided to ask a question. I have had something on my mind for a while that I have not been able to decide. So I put it out there, should I or shouldn't I? If I see another car with one headlight directly behind me in the next day then I should.

Of course I won't see one, what are the odds?

The very next day, I turned onto the same road and sure enough a VW bug came up behind me with one headlight. Later that day, on different road, the same thing, a different car. WTF????

I still kept telling myself it is just a coincidence! My logical reasoning had all kinds of explanations for it.

I did not act on my question. I did nothing.

Then last week I had "the big doozy".

Last Wednesday, the universe wanted me to listen. It happened 6 times. SIX TIMES. SIX DIFFERENT CARS. All in one day.

On my commute to work it happened 3 times. On 3 different occasions as I looked in my rear view mirror the car directly behind me only had one headlight. These cars were each directly behind me on a crowded commute. Not in a different lane, not coming toward me, I didn't move to get in front of them and I am absolutely certain they were different cars. I wasn't thinking about it at all, I would just glance in the rear view mirror and there it would be. The first 2 times I didn't really even pay attention but by the 3rd time I was like "what is up??"

Then on my commute home it happened twice. I couldn't believe it, that was 5 times in one day. Seriously weird. But then I had to run to the store 2 miles away and on my drive back home it happened again! I was only in my car 4 times that day. I think the universe was driving the point home.

All I could do was laugh and say okay, it's a yes. Thank you!!!!

So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Weird, yes. True, yes!

Tell me about your strange coincidences, I would love to hear them!

Oh, and for you listening pleasure, here is One Headlight by The Wallflowers. Nothing related except I like the song. When I looked for the link I discovered it was released on the the same day this all happened to me (Feb 24th - 22 years ago). Coincidence?

Did you catch Powerball Fever last week? It was hard not to get caught up in the excitement of the largest jackpot in history.

Even with extremely slim odds of winning, part of the fun was dreaming about what to do with 1.5 billion dollars. Because we all believed we were going to win, right?
 
I hardly ever play the lottery. I only think about it when the jackpot gets really high and it is splattered all over the news. But when I do, I have always felt compelled to buy my tickets at one particular place. I have no idea why. It's not a place I normally go. In fact, I never go there except to buy powerball tickets. 
 
About 2.5 miles from my house sits a Speedway Station. It is out of my way for gas or to drop in for convenience items, but at lottery time it calls to me. I have to get my tickets there and only there. I have been doing so for at least 7 or 8 years.
 
I followed my normal protocol at the start of this frenzy too. Only no one hit the numbers the first couple of rounds so the jackpot grew. That's okay I thought, it's going to happen, just keep playing. 1.5 billion dollars. That is more money than I can really wrap my head around. I kept thinking maybe it would be better to win a smaller, more manageable amount. How does one stay anonymous or handle such a life changing event? These are problems I was willing to confront. Maybe it would be better to just win one of the million dollar payouts instead of the giant Mack Daddy prize. Am I the only person who thinks this way? Probably.
 
Anyway, when Wednesday rolled around, I decided to run out at lunch and get my tickets while at work...about 40 miles away. I chose a Speedway, hoping it wouldn't matter that I was cheating on my normal place. The chances of winning are so slim anyway, what does it really matter!
 
Thursday morning rolls around and I hear there are 3 winners, none in Ohio. Oh well, move on.
 
Then a few hours later I see something about one of the few million dollar winners being from Centerville, Ohio (my hometown). OMG, that is awesome, but please do not let that ticket be from MY Speedway!!
 
I quickly open the article and yep, there it is, MY Speedway sold one of the million dollar tickets! Wooooooohooooooooo! I sure hope it went to someone I know, because it sure as hell wasn’t me.
 
What I learned is: No matter how much I say it to other people, no matter how much I know it intellectually and no matter how much I doubt myself. I absolutely must trust my intuition. I knew that Speedway station was going to sell a major winning ticket at some point. I didn’t know when, I didn’t know how much, but I definitely knew deep down that it would happen and it would happen there. Yet I didn’t buy my ticket there for the biggest jackpot in all of history because I didn’t really trust my own intuition.
 
So that, my friends, is my takeaway. I do not believe I was meant to be Centerville’s newest millionaire. I believe I was meant to learn this lesson: Trust yourself, believe in yourself, when you know something in your gut you know something in your gut, do not doubt it.
 
So now I have to find a new place to buy my lottery tickets, or not. And I will go make my own millions, or not.
 
I have to see what my intuition says!!!
 

"A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles" ~Unknown

Here come the holidays!

As much as I anticipate the holiday season and look forward to this time of year, it seems I always forget just how much work it takes to create a nice experience for all involved.

I wish I could pluck my holiday visions right out of my head and make them a reality.

Sadly, the cozy family gathered peacefully around a fire cheerfully chatting it up in a perfectly decorated house with a nice spread of food does not quite match what actually happens.

Somehow my visions and memories never include all the planning, grocery shopping, cleaning, crowds, lists, lines, time crunches, spending, and family logistics involved in the season.

Equipped with my "life coaching, limiting-belief busting skills" I headed to the grocery store on Saturday to get my Thanksgiving shopping done.

Success! It was completely stress free.

Sunday it was time to tackle the cleaning. Most years I host Thanksgivng at my house and this year is no exception. I had to get things ready.

Okay, not gonna lie, as I was vaccuming up dust bunnies the thoughts started creeping in. "Why do I have to do this?", "Why can't I just show up at someone's house and plop myself down and enjoy a fully cooked meal for once?"

Don't get me wrong, I do truly enjoy cooking and having people over and it's just easier logistically to accomodate both sides of the family at my house, but getting everything ready is not my favorite.

Back to vaccuming...suddenly I hear a loud crash in the kitchen. 

I ran in to see what happened to find the dog had pulled a pot of chili off the stove. It was a small pot, leftovers from my son's lunch, but still enough to make a big mess in my freshly cleaned kitchen.

It was at this point where my old self would have lost it. Snapped. Done.

Have you ever cleaned splattered chili off cabinets, rugs and every other imaginable surface in the kitchen? Me either! My son, being the nice kid he is (and the one who left the pot on the stove) started cleaning it up, so I maintained my cool and went back to vaccuuming dust bunnies.

No need to make a scene, just move on to the task at hand.

That's when it happened.

I almost sucked it right up the vacuum hose. The earring I lost a year ago. While at work.

Right there on the floor at the edge of a bookshelf was my missing earring. How was this possible?

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” ~Eckhart Tolle
​
Given to me by a friend many years ago, these were my go-to earrings. I wore them most days. Devestated when I discovered it was missing, I searched all over my office, in the hallways, the office restroom, and even my car. It was cold out that day and I was wearing a scarf. Fishhook earrings can easily slip out if you don't have a back on them which I did not at the time. It was simply gone.

In the time between then and now, my house has been thoroughly cleaned. Surely it would have been sucked up if it was under the bookcase (how could it possibly get there anyway?), but it was laying in plain sight, it was not actually under the bookshelf when I found it.

Weird.

I am choosing to take it as a reminder to pause and appreciate what the holidays are really about, spending time with family in my cozy warm house. Forget the rest. To remember what I am grateful for and to not sweat the small stuff, who cares about spilled chili when we are lucky enough to have chili in the first place.

Who cares about planning, grocery shopping, cleaning, crowds, lists, lines, time crunches, spending, and family logistics if we don't appreciate what we do it all for. The people we love.

I am grateful.

When we are grateful and we acknowledge what we have, we open the door for good things to happen. Try it. Pay attention. See what happens.

How that earring made its appearance at that exact moment doesn't really matter, I got the message.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"There are only two ways you can live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other as though everything is a miracle." Albert Einstein