I think most people have experienced a life coincidence that has happened at the most opportune time in their life. This coincidence provides them with an answer that they had been waiting for.
For example, you run into a friend that you had not seen in years at a different country during a vacation. You sit and have lunch with your friend and you start having a conversation about somebody you want to hire for your company. After speaking for a few minutes, you realize that your friend worked with this person in the past and that hiring this new individual will be an absolute mistake.
Or maybe you are asking for guidance and you turn on the radio and there is a song that gives you a hint about what you should do.
Perhaps you are thinking about getting away for a weekend with your significant other when you look down on the ground and see a discarded advertisement for a romantic hideaway somewhere you’ve always wanted to travel.
Often we dismiss these things as just dumb luck but I believe that life’s coincidences are more than that. And you shouldn’t just wait for them to happen. You should always be encouraging them!
Throughout my life, I have found that when I am going through my most difficult moments and I’m having trouble reaching my goal, something crosses my path that makes a difference in my life. I used to ignore these coincidences and never gave them a second thought. Many, many people do that same thing. But now, I assign meaning to the coincidences in life. I ponder the importance of the coincidence and how and why it came my way. What answers does it hold for me?
One of the biggest coincidences of my life occurred shortly after I arrived to the mainland. I knew very little English but understood that in order to achieve my goals I had to become fluent in English as soon as possible. So I accepted a position at the registration office of a college near my house. On one particularly stressful day, a woman on the other end of the line started explaining her problem. The English words whirled around my head chaotically. I tried to translate but just couldn’t keep up with what she was trying to say. I began to panic. Feeling completely overwhelmed and helpless, I did the only thing I could do. I hung up the phone.
But someone saw me do it and was by my side in an instant. It was my coworker, Maria, who coincidentally, was Latina too and had been in the same situation many times herself. She completely understood what I was feeling. She stayed by me and helped me with a few calls until I felt comfortable to handle even the most difficult ones alone.
Now some people would call that a coincidence, or just another day on the job. But looking back, I don’t see it as a coincidence. I think Maria was deliberately put in my life to put me on a path to success. She was just one person among many I was working with that day, yet she was the one who had witnessed the event. She could have been a harsh supervisor who fired me on the spot and changed my destiny forever. But instead, she just happened to be from Mexico and had parents who didn’t speak the language as well. She understood the struggle. It was 30 years ago, but I am still thankful for her support and mentorship. The universe knew what I needed and sent me Maria to show me not to give up and to help me reach my goals.
I look at coincidences as gifts from the world that can trigger you to keep moving towards your goals. My coincidence with Maria taught me there is help and I can succeed. Often, coincidences provide the answers we are seeking, placed right before us in the most unassuming and most humble of ways.
Why do we miss them? The answer is typical. We are too busy, too stressed or just too worried about other things to live in the moment and appreciate the miracle that just occurred with the coincidence. Everything looks normal at the moment, but later, you realize the impact of what just happened.
I also believe that we can encourage these coincidences to appear in our lives. By becoming more aware and present, we can learn to recognize and embrace the coincidences we encounter with gratitude and purpose. I actually do this in three ways:
Meditation
I actively invite change into my life by meditating and praying about my day. I play the movie of what happened that day in my head. In my movie, I look the same and I go through the same events. If I had a bad day, I reimagine it with everything going right, making all the right decisions. I do that for several days in a row. Eventually, my mind’s eye becomes filled with thoughts about things that have not yet happened to me that I want to experience. I do that for another week and use my imagination to think about what I want. For example, if there is someone difficult at work, I imagine having a good relationship with him/her.
Dreaming
This is the indirect meditation we do throughout the day as we think about the goals we would like to accomplish. For example, I dream of getting my pilot’s license and being fearless about taking my solo flight and passing each test and preparatory step to get to my goal. I visualize my victory to invite it into my life.
Journaling
Finally, journaling is another way to bring yourself into the present and acknowledge the coincidences you want to encounter in your everyday life. I journal almost daily and find it expands my imagination and develops my creativity. I think it helps me understand myself, my feelings, and how I am dealing with things. When you journal, you can direct your writing to yourself or someone else, like God or your future self. Journaling never fails to help me look at the negative things in a more positive light.
Meditation, dreaming, and journaling can all bring coincidences into your life. And it is these divinely crafted experiences that can help us live the fulfilling life we can only imagine!
Jeannette is available for keynote addresses, breakout sessions, and panel discussions. Contact her for availability.