The Universe Loves A Plot Twist: Make Sure You’re Prepared To Follow It
The art of surrender: How to lean into the unknown
“We must be willing to let go of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” Joseph Campbell
How often have you made plans, only for them not to have worked out? It can be frustrating when we’ve set our course and things go awry.
We try to be efficient and practical with our choices:
I want to get from A to B, so I’ll figure out the shortest, quickest route. Makes sense, right?
But sometimes, the Universe has other plans.
It wants to take you on a detour.
And that’s a good thing.
While you may be able to see the traffic jam up ahead, the Universe has a bird’s eye view and can send you on the scenic route.
Recently, my hubby and I planned a walk in southwest London to check out an area well-known for its Wisteria. We had a walking route all planned out.
Some of the wisteria was nice, but most of it was “past it”. We had waited too long to take our visit. Instead of giving up and going home, we followed nature.
You see, there are far more flowers out there right now than just wisteria. We saw roses, clematis, irises, poppies, and ceanothus (that’s a new name, for me).
It was like the Universe was saying “Why restrict yourself to just wisteria? There’s so much beauty out there! Go look at it”
Sometimes a detour isn’t a “no”, it’s just a “not yet”.
That dream job you applied for, but didn’t get?
Maybe you’re just not ready for it.
Maybe there’s a little more you have to learn.
Maybe the Universe is saying “try this first, you might be surprised what happens”.
The Universe will throw plot twists our way. We just have to know how to accept them.
Try this thought experiment.
Pick an outcome in your life. Maybe it’s a relationship, where you live, what job you do, your circle of friends, or anything meaningful in your life right now.
Let’s use a relationship as the example.
Think about that person and how you met.
What were the circumstances?
How did you get to where you were?
Ask yourself: “If that hadn’t happened, where would I be?” Would I have even met this person?
Then go back another step further to the origins of that step. How did you get there?
Here’s my example:
I met my husband on safari in Africa.
I went on that safari because my flatmate wanted to go and invited me to come with her.
My flatmate and I lived in London, England.
I’m Canadian and the reason I was in London to begin with, is because I met two girls from New Zealand at a resort we worked at in Ontario, Canada, who said “We’re going to London next. Why don’t you join us?” and I did.
I was working at that resort because my older brother was one of the managers and he got me the job.
My brother got started working in resorts as a teenager, when one of his teachers recommended him to a friend who owned a resort and was looking for reliable summer staff.
I mean, I could go back further, to why my parents bought the house we lived in, which dictated the high school we went to….
Do you think, when I was 10 years old and my 16 year old brother went off to work at a resort for the summer as a dishwasher, that I would have ever guessed it would lead to me meeting my husband in Africa???
Not in a million years could I have engineered that.
But the Universe could and did.
What did I do to follow the plot twists?
I said yes. Again and again.
Yes to leaving home and spending the summer working at a resort (I did it for 6 summers as a student. It was SO MUCH FUN!)
Yes to moving to London, England after University (it was supposed to be temporary)
Yes to going on safari in Africa
Yes to the guy!
The Universe presented me with opportunities, detours, unexpected diversions and I kept saying yes.
I had no idea where it would lead me, but when the adventure thrilled me, I said yes.
“Nature loves courage… This is the trick… By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering it’s a feather bed.” Terence McKenna
The Universe presents us with the opportunities, and it’s our job to grab them with both hands.
Even when those opportunities don’t look like anything we thought they would.
What about you? Are you willing to say “yes” to the opportunities life has presented to you? Even if they don’t quite look the way you thought they would?
Can you do the same thought experiment with your own life? I bet you could. I dare you to trace back the origins of where you are now and realize how the Universe conspired to bring you there, when you were brave enough to leap into the unknown.
Your story is a classic example of what it means to let go of the "how," because the Universe is much more imaginative than we are, and most importantly, it has the resources!