I’ve discussed synchronicity a bit in the past, but for those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept, I’ll give a little refresher. According to Merriam-Webster it’s, “the coincidental occurrence of events.” Google defines it as, “the simultaneous occurrence of events that appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection.” According to Mel, it’s the universe’s way of poking you and saying, “Wake up! Pay attention! I’m trying to show you something!”
So last week during a conversation, a dear friend mentioned the Buddhist notion that enlightenment comes after suffering. A couple days later, it popped in my head, and I wrote few thoughts on the topic because I decided it would be a good blog post (which is what this post was originally going to be about). Fast forward to the beginning of this week when I saw a quote saying, “Remember, for everything you have lost, you have gained something else. Without the dark, you would never see the stars.” And then a few days later randomly (or maybe not so randomly), I stumbled upon information about a lecture being given by the brilliant Marianne Williamson called, “Suffering to Enlightenment” here in NYC—poke, poke, poke.
After the fourth synchronistic event, I surrendered and bought a ticket to the lecture because apparently this is a message I needed to hear.
I haven’t felt so inspired or spiritual for a few months now—I’ve felt a bit off balance. I sometimes worried I was losing touch with that side of myself. Concepts that have fueled me for so long just weren’t doing it for me.
Stumbling upon Marianne’s talk was exactly what I needed though. I’m so happy the universe poked me, and I payed attention. Her messages were simple, yet incredible. Spirituality is about being real and authentic, not about always “being happy.” If you don’t go through your pain, you don’t learn. Personal suffering gives us x-ray vision into the suffering of others, which leads to compassion. We are allowed to feel sad. Be gentle, expect life to be hard, but know it’s all important. Suffering allows us to become what we weren’t before. When we are present for our pain, we can be present for our joy.
With all the work I’ve done on myself and coaching others, I realized I put a hell of a lot of pressure on myself to be happy all the time. I sometimes think, I should know better, or I’m stronger than this when I’m not feelin’ so hot.
Synchronicity lead me exactly where I needed to be on Wednesday night. I felt inspired and excited and full of life. These messages were for me—and they were for you too.
While I drove home, I couldn’t stop smiling. The universe kept poking me all evening. Some notes in the random journal I grabbed that night were exactly aligned with Marianne’s messages and a conversation I had with one of my best friends earlier. A song I hadn’t heard in years that reminded me of a transformational time in my life, came on the radio. These are the types of things we need to pay attention to. The messages we need to hear are constantly around us if we open our eyes, ears and hearts!
That’s it—that’s all I got for ya!
Happy day lovely people!
