Earlier in my life when I was teaching at a small college in Boston, I became good friends with the career counselor there. I was fascinated with her job and expressed that I would love to do what she did someday. I didn't give it too much thought after that and went about living my life, never developing a plan to make that desire happen. But the Universe had taken note of it. About 17 years later I found myself being asked if I wanted to be the Director of Career Services at another small college. And I had no experience in this field! Talk about a leap of faith on their part.
I often wonder, "How did this happen?" Was it the simple act of expressing what I wanted?" As I said, I had no vision board or action plan to achieve this career goal. Did the universe conspire to make this happen as Paulo Coelho proclaims in The Alchemist? Was it pre-destined that it was meant to happen?
A cousin of mine commented to me recently that when she was little she had a scrapbook with pictures of houses that are remarkably similar to the house she now lives in. A former coworker who grew up in upstate New York told me that when she was a little girl she was obsessed with Russia for some reason and had a map of Russia on her bedroom wall. It turned out that many years later she married a man from Russia. Stories like these abound.
Sometimes we get impatient when we wish or pray for things and they don't happen immediately. However, when we look back on our earlier lives and the things we had hoped and prayed for, we often realize that they did eventually happen...not necessarily in our time, but in God's time or the Universe's time. Take a moment to reflect on this idea. Are there things that have manifested in your life that you had wished for long ago? Sometimes we take these things for granted, not realizing that they had once been desires or dreams that have remarkably come true with very little effort on our part. Take a moment to feel thankful for these blessings.
The beautiful thing is that the Universe will continue to conspire on your behalf, as it has for me. I find myself now working in a university environment that is the absolutely perfect place for me. All of my thoughts and desires about what I wanted in a work environment have come to fruition in this place, at this time. Sometimes we despair and abandon our dreams and desires if they don't happen when we want them to. Be patient. It took 17 years for my initial dream to manifest into a reality. When the time is right, the Universe will also conspire on your behalf to make your dreams a reality.
In my last post I wrote that I want to live my life with no regrets. In this article, a hospice nurse shares the top five regrets of those who are dying: http://faithhub.net/regrets-before-dying/#WAOrtcQs8fCA6AYA.01. What are the things that you would regret not having done when you're on your deathbed? Find a way to make them happen.
I just wanted to share two very inspirational videos today. Tao Porchon-Lynch is a 92 year old woman who teaches yoga and lives life to the fullest. The line I love best that she says is, "If you smile at everyone, you'll see how it opens the doors to all sorts of great adventure."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/01/tao-porchon-lynch-yoga_n_790743.html
Second inspirational video is of Willie Murphy, a 77 year old competitive power lifter: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/01/willie-murphy-body-builder-77_n_6250258.html. As you will hear, she never says the words, "I can't."
Both women espouse that life is an amazing adventure that each one of us has been given. Think about the ways you will take this precious gift and live your life to the absolute fullest. Don't let this relatively fleeting opportunity slip through your fingers. As comedienne Lucille Ball once said, "I'd rather regret the things I have done than the things I haven't done." One of the ways I assess life's options is to think, "When I'm lying on my death bed, will I regret not having done X." Is the answer is "yes," I make sure that I do it!
