Photo by Sir Mervs
By Chandra Alexander
Sometimes, things just go our way. We get the job we have been dreaming of, an unexpected check comes in the mail, or things just seem to effortlessly fall into place for no apparent reason. We call it luck or attribute it to simply having a good day. But in truth, we have been given a glimpse of the true nature of the universe.
We tend to think the timing was right never realizing we are an intimate part of the process. We are not random recipients. If only for the moment, our state of being pulls to us this divine experience of synchronicity. There is rhyme and reason to the way the universe unfolds. When we are “in the flow”, the illusion that we can protect ourselves by being in control has been released. We have gotten out of the way long enough to experience how effortlessly this process takes place. We must be willing to stop pushing and allow the universe to send us the things we truly need rather than what we keep asking for.
When a bird looks for food there is an implicit assumption that he will find the worm and all will be okay. He does not get up and start thinking “What if I can’t find food? What will happen to me?” He does not anticipate there will be a problem. There is an ease with which he moves through his day, an underlying instinct that is minutely in keeping with the nature of the universe. He does not think anything. His being trusts that all will be provided for and he does not question how.
To be in that state is to observe the precise timing in which all things fall into place and to simultaneously marvel at the exquisite manifestations of an ever-changing universe. When we are fortunate enough to have an experience of this wholeness, we are filled with humility and compassion. We never know when we will be the recipients of such grace – that is part of the wonder.
The Universe In Action
I never thought a trip to the corner drugstore would be capable of delivering such an experience. I had gone there for the sole purpose of buying mascara and found myself wheeling the cart up and down each aisle looking for what else I could buy. On a top shelf, I spotted a box with a picture of a green birdfeeder. I liked the green color but knew the last thing I needed was another birdfeeder. One had been hanging on my balcony for the last year. It had taken the doves close to three months to find it, but now they came every day. I looked at the box again and put it into my cart. I started to think about why I was purchasing it, and stopped myself. I was just going to buy it, and that was it.
Purchases in hand, I walked through my front door and headed out towards the balcony. There, lying on the ground, was the birdfeeder. My heart stopped. It looked like the wire that had been holding it had snapped. All I could do was stare at the broken feeder. A sense of wonder and wholeness filled my being. I felt disoriented, out of time and space, and yet at the same time I knew exactly where I was. I was a hundred percent present. I could feel the intricacy of the process, every tiny little piece falling into place. Watching it work, I intuitively knew that birdfeeder fell the moment I opened the door!
There is speed and efficiency that operates in direct relation to our degree of trust. When we feel stuck, we need to get out of our own way. This does not mean we simply sit back and do nothing but rather know when to let go, when we have done enough. When we move through the world knowing we will be provided for, magic happens.
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Hi
Beautifully written.
I have also found that it is when I let go and when I release expectations that things start to progress.
I have been battling with lawyers over the purchase of my flat. I was fighting and fighting and then told I had to wait until January. Finally I sat back, I could DO no more, and then, the unexpected happened and the process started flowing again. We are now much further along the road and it is not yet even January.
Juliet
Part of the human condition is that we need to feel “in control;” we need to define things and if we can’t, then we feel anxious; we need to believe that our actions bring results; and our brains’ frontal lobe has us thinking and planning the future…
The problem with this human condition is that we are terrible at prediction. As a financial planner and investment adviser, I can certainly attest to the brains’ inability to find comfort in randomness and to accept the existence of uncertainty.
In terms of planning, I suggest to my clients (and blog readers) that we do not “make things happen” — instead, we “enable opportunities.”
Think of the most wonderful events in your life… Now how many of those were actually “planned?”
“As for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery
What a wonderful and well written story, thanks! Yes, isn’t it amazing how often that initial gut feel that doesn’t seem logical in any way can fit into life so seemlessly if we just allow it to?
Yes why can’t things just fall into place for us without effort? It does cause me to reflect about the many times when my intuition was calling and I was too busy to notice. I’m a big believer in action but it’s not the only strategy that works well. Openness to magic like you talked about works as well.
Chandra,
Thank you for this excellent guest post. I, too, have experienced the magic that comes with letting go and trusting things will work out. Meeting my wife, the birth of my first son…. these events were far from planned, and yet they are some of the best experiences of my life.
Peter,
Like you, I am very particular about my blog and where I post, so thank you for the opportunity to participate in your blog.
“Allowing the universe to work” is a razor’s edge process that demands full awareness. We put in the “right” ingredients , sit back and let it rip. Good ingredients equal…well, you know – there’s no way it can’t be good. It might not come in the package you imagined, but it’s perfect for you.
yeah that’s true, i think we do need this bird mindset badly in order to remove anxiety and stress from our lives
It’s amazing what can happen when you get out of the way. In fact, the very idea that we are in control is, in a sense, an illusion – when we release our desire to control and move ‘into the stream’ and let life take us, then the most astonishing things can happen – things more wonderful than you could ever have dreamed about.
Just came here from SU, hi…
While I can appreciate the idea that letting go is often the best way of dealing with things over which you have no control, and can give you some great adventures, sure, somehow this whole thing just doesn’t do it from me.
The reason a bird doesn’t start it’s day worrying over whether it will get enough food to eat is probably more to do with it not having a cerebral cortex, rather than it being tuned into the essential rhythyms of the universe. And often birds don’t find any food and starve, so I doubt following their mindset is really going to be helpful.
And assuming that you’re right, would this mean that cosmic forces exist to send you messages about buying birdfeeders, thereby saving you from having to make another trip to the shops?
I hope I don’t come across like too much of a cynic, as I said, I think “accept the thing you cannot change” is a great philosophy, but believing that the universe is going to actively help out with your daily chores is not.
Hey again, I’ve just been reading some more of your website, there’s some good articles here. I especially liked the last one about Positive Gift Giving. So please don’t think I’m just some troll…
This inspired me because I’ve had the universe step in at just the right time, keeping me humming along nicely when my ego got out of the way. I’ve had numerous experiences where the universe orchestrated things to the point where everything just fell into place.
Like for example, I was driving around doing errands one day and suddenly a thought barged its way in my mind. What I “heard” was “Time to go to London.” While I had been in conversations with some people from London around that time, I had no compelling reason to go. It wasn’t for business or a speaking engagement. But the message was so strong that I literally dropped everything and went to London a few weeks later.
Here’s where the universe came in. Not only did everything fall into place easily and effortlessly, but I managed to secure myself very reasonable seats on Air France for far less than what most airlines were charging (try $4 to 5 thousand! I got a seat for $765 roundtrip!). All of my connecting flights, events I went to in London as well as a place to stay were all coordinated without me lifting a finger. It was incredible!
Now, we all like to know how and why everything worked out in the end. Sometimes the real reason is revealed immediately while other times you don’t find out for months or years but I can tell you any one of the following could have been the reason for this trip: meeting a future lover or maybe it was because I was supposed to meet a couple of potential business partners?
Who knows?
Loved this article!
Wonderfully written! So glad I found your blog…
Hello, I’m here visiting from The Zen in You, Caroline sent me. You’ve got some very thought-provoking ideas here. I need to settle back and take the time to read them and think about them.
Thank you.
“We must be willing to stop pushing and allow the universe to send us the things we truly need rather than what we keep asking for.”
You get what you DESERVE, that’s how this universe works. Or you wanna say we are not affected by our own actions? Everything is connected. One’s inability to understand / be aware of what he has done might prevent him from accepting things are working the way I written, but that does not mean he didn’t deserved some “negative” consequence coming out of his own action considered “positive” by him or someone else. Actualy, “negative” experience might occur EXACTLY because of that – time to rethink alredy thought, and adjust!
“Allow the universe” sounds extremely arogant.
I just experienced this for the first time in my life here. I have been working so hard and getting nowhere. I woke up one day and decided to quit the job I needed to support the family that I was trying to take care and make everything right in the world and in my situation. Amazingly enough, I let go not knowing what was going to happen, but i did trust that it would be fine, I let go of the stress even though I didn’t know if I was going to have a roof over my head or my kids for that matter. I felt this deep feeling of letting go to move forward and I was willing to deal with the consiquences if i needed to, but i trusted with all of my being and let go. The result, the universe took over all of my needs are taken care of, not by me! things are being put in my path opportunities that were never there before, i lost my fear and found my passion and the universe is guiding me and providing for me as i do what it is that the universe wants me to contribute to this world. i would have never believed this had i not experienced this so deeply. i wish for all to feel this amazing feeling and relief from the ties that hang us. we are not that strong we have no control the more control we try to force the worse the damage to our lives and well being, letting go is not letting go of things that are important to you they are letting go of control! when you can whole heartedly do that the same people who want to collect money from you will be providing from you not wanting anything in return. I just can’t tell you how this deep insight of letting go to move forward will help you, i just know it will. have faith and believe that is all we need to do. it really works