Hi there! Well it’s been three weeks since I moved back to Australia and I have to say I’m already feeling really settled and know that I made the right decision – as hard as it was. The transition has been smooth, helped along by many serendipitous happenings. I feel supported – not only by the big old universe out there but also by the people in my life – both here and in Switzerland.
This transition has got me thinking even more about how to handle change and how to open up to synchronicity – so that you feel like everything is working out perfectly, even if you can’t yet see the full picture.
I wrote about synchronicity some weeks ago, but I wanted to expand on this topic today. How can we allow more cool coincidences into our lives? How can we let life be easy? How can we deal with challenges with grace? How can we feel protected and guided by a power greater than ourselves? And how can we have our mind-blown by what is transpiring in our lives?
I’ve called this 11 ways into a serendipitous life but really it is my principles for life in general!
I just want to say as well, in case you think I am a naively happy person who was born that way, a glitter-sprinkling leprechaun who rides a unicorn and lives at the end of a rainbow, that no! this did not come naturally to me. It’s what I’ve learned and what I practice – because cultivating a positive mindset is a practice and available to us all. So here goes…
1. Ask questions
Synchronicity doesn’t always come and smack you in the face. There may not be a constant flow of cool happenings that keeping you pinging like a pin-ball machine. There will be days when you may feel down and a bit lost or just plodding along and that’s totally normal.
Rather than thinking you have to have it all figured out now, get comfortable with not knowing. Get in the habit of putting your questions ‘out there’ (to God, the universe, your higher self, Spirit or whatever you believe in).
In The Map, Collette Barron-Reid, writes about how in ancient Rome, people used to pray to the Gods, especially Apollo, if they had a burning question and then go out to the market square and wait for a passer-by to say something that was the answer to their question (or give them some clue to it).
You’ve probably experienced this too when a stranger says exactly what you needed to hear or when you open a book and flip to a page that provides some kind of answer or comfort. Haven’t you?
Ask questions rather than worrying and be open to how the answer appears.
2. Get out there amongst the people
Opportunities come in the form of people and it’s the greatest feeling ever when you follow a hunch and turn up to a café or networking event or send that email and end up connecting with exactly who you were supposed to meet.
The cool thing is that spirit works through other people. People are the messengers and the bringers of opportunities and the more we stay open and curious to those we meet, the more we are able to experience this.
3. Release judgement of how you thought it’d be
This is part of staying open and curious – you may ask for something but you don’t know exactly what form it will show up in and this goes for people to.
If we hang on too tightly to our vision, we may miss the most excellent thing right before our eyes, which is exactly who or what we need.
4. Stop acting like a victim
I go on about this a lot because not only can you not be healthy and powerfully feminine like this, but you also won’t be open to the magic of life in victim mode.
As Caroline Myss teaches, power is the foundation of health and any time you’re acting like a victim, you’re losing power.
But that victim mode can be a sneaky one to detect. Personally, I didn’t act like a victim much at all except in my two closest relationships. And it was so ingrained in me as a subconscious pattern from childhood that I had to be super conscious about not allowing myself to go there anymore.
So see yourself as strong and connected to your spirit.
Know that you have this inner well of strength and power that you can connect to at any time. Drop inside to connect to this place and make your decisions from there.
5. Ask better questions
Rather than asking ‘Why isn’t it happening?’, ask ‘How can this happen?’
Rather than ‘Why is this happening to me?’, ask ‘How can I turn this situation around? What needs to happen?’
When I was back in Perth in November, I really felt torn over wanting to live in both Switzerland and Australia. One night I finally asked to be shown an alternative to having to decide this.
The very next day I met someone in a café who gave me the answer I was looking for and opened me up to a whole new possibility.
So what’s the best question you can ask?
6. View your life symbolically
When you view your life symbolically, you know that nothing is happening to you but for you.
As Caroline Myss says,
Trust the unseen more than the seen.
Sooner or later you’ll be able to take a step back, connect the dots and truly see the bigger picture. And that’s when life feels magical.
7. Know that people are your teachers
This is a huge part of viewing your life symbolically.
Many people will come into your life purely to teach you something and not to play a huge starring role in your movie. We have to see them as that.
Any conflicts that you have are bringing you something to be looked at and perhaps worked through. If you look closely, you will see the pattern in these encounters.
But if you don’t get the lesson from this teacher, another teacher will be back and it will be even more intense until you finally get it. So don’t hate the teacher, look for the lesson.
8. Keep practicing following your gut
Our gut is our second brain and the seat of our intuition – the unseen.
When we act upon our intuition, gut feelings and visions as much as we can it’s like a muscle that gets stronger with use. When we constantly ignore it, it gets weaker and quieter till you can’t really hear it.
So keep saying no to what doesn’t feel right, what trespasses over your boundaries and what puts you into compromises you’re not cool with. I know this can be challenging when we think this is our best option but…
When you say no to one option, you’re actually saying yes to something else that’s coming. But you won’t receive it if you’ve already accepted the thing you didn’t really want.
You can practice using your intuition in small ways – like getting out of your mind (and all those magazine articles) and eating intuitively – what feels good in your body – for your digestion, mental clarity and pleasure.
It may not always work out perfectly but the rewards are great when it does so keep practicing.
9. Realize that this is not the end of the story
When one door closes another one opens.
(It’s true! It really is more than a cliché!)
But you’ve got to close that door and not be hanging about chatting in the doorway for like, forever.
Trust that everything is working out for your highest good.
Say it even. Work that affirmation!
And don’t be fooled by temporary setbacks. Something even better is coming so stay open and curious.
10. Mine everything that happens for its gold
Every life goes through phases of difficult change as well as peace.
Life is essentially a learning experience. Every situation, challenge and relationship contains some message worth learning or teaching to others.
Again this is part of seeing your life symbolically and staying out of acting like a victim. Look on the bright side by finding your ‘at least…’ in any temporary disappointment. Try it for a day. Extend it for a week.
Bonus effect : you become positively buoyant, resilient and uplifting to those around you too!
11. Take time to reflect and connect with your spirit daily
Take time out for yourself to go really deep with yourself. It could be journalling, meditating, setting intentions, exercising or simply sitting quietly without distraction and reflecting (make sure you’re unplugged from technology too).
After all, you are a spiritual being having a human experience and connecting to your spirit totally plugs you into the magic of life.
When you have time to reflect, you have time to notice how you’re being supported, you have time to see the lessons and get above the surface appearance of the happenings of your daily life.
That’s when you can step back, connect the dots and see the bigger picture. That’s when life gets fun!
It’s my hope that you feel even more so that your life is a magical journey of learning and discovery – so go out there and get some!
♥And I’d love to know in the comments below : Would you add anything to this? How do you stay open to synchronicity? What are your life principles? Or which of these are you going to start applying? ♥
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