We hear many people talking about the signs the Universe gives them. They speak as if they have found a hidden truth; a way forward. A gut feeling, a sudden thought or even a situation that just feels like a sign. Something that tells them that they are (or not) on the right path; but what are these signs?
It’s like there’s an energy around our decisions, pushing us to our destiny (it’s easy to start wondering if free will even exists but that’s a thought for another blog). It’s always at those big decision points that the Universe seems to show up and shout “NOT THAT WAY, MATE”.
Once someone told me “luck is a mindset. It is a mix of being prepared and being in the right place at the right time”. Do you consider yourself to be a lucky person? There’s the classic “I’m luckier than that person who has just missed the bus, I got on it!”.
Then, there is luck that comes from gratitude.
Practicing gratitude has helped me see things with a new pair of eyes. Has helped me understand and accept my situation for what it is, giving me a fresh perspective on my own life.
We tell ourselves stories of who we are and who we were and our brain likes that. It likes recognising patterns because they help us make sense of reality. Therefore we let those stories define us, so much so that when we reach a vicious cycle we don’t know what to do. We get stuck in routines, working mindless jobs where we put in more effort for the job than it does for us.
Practising gratitude has helped me think outside the box, looking at issues in a different way, giving me a new and fresh perspective on life.
Of course I still take things for granted, the point of being here is to learn, but I recognise those moments faster and I am then able to change my perspective because of how lucky I am to have things in my life that make me want to be a better person.
Maybe following the signs is just another way of practicing gratitude?
I had to decide between what route to take this week; right or left.
To the left there is something familiar, that connects me to my past, that I am proud of.
To the right there is something new and exciting that I have been experiencing recently.
Ideally I would take the middle path, a mix of both. But the Universe seems to be pointing me to the path on the right.
I spent years of my life walking the path on the left, the path I knew, the path my brain told me stories about. And that path has led me here. To this moment. Writing my first blog.
Now though the Universe is shouting:
“NOT THAT WAY, MATE!’.
– Pedro E. Ferreira
Pedro E. Ferreira 