Synchronicity: The Secret Language of the Universe
Analytical psychologist, Carl Jung, first introduced the concept of synchronicity in the 1920’s, but defined it more fully in a 1951 lecture stating that synchronous events are ones that appear to occur with meaningful coincidence and no causal relationship but seem to be causally related in a meaningful way. Otherwise known as meaningful coincidences, acausal parallelism, or the togetherness principle without any known cause, synchronous events occur in our daily lives more frequently than we even notice. But if we really pay attention when these seemingly related events occur, it is as if the universe is speaking directly to us. It is saying, “Hey, you. Pay attention. I am giving you some valuable information here. Take heed and use it for the betterment of yourself and those around you.”
Synchronous events are those strange coincidental occurrences that make you wonder how things happen in such strange related ways. For example, I remember growing up in a very lower middle class family where money was always tight. There was no nest egg to deal with those unexpected household expenses like a major appliance meeting the end of its life. My father loved to gamble. Actually, more accurately put, he was a compulsive gambler. Sometimes he brought home some pretty hefty amounts of cash, but most times he was on the losing end of the bet, the card game, the under/over odds. I specifically remember one time he was out playing poker and the furnace died. Completely. Beyond repair. A new furnace would be necessary. He came bounding in the door around dinner time, excitedly announcing that he had won $850 in his poker game that day. His elation was put in check by my mother who promptly announced, “Well, that is fantastic news because a new furnace will be just about $800. So really great timing, dear.” That is synchronicity in its best form. The universe delivering you a small windfall of cash that you really needed even before you knew you needed it.
But synchronicity doesn’t always come in monetary form. In fact, it rarely comes that way. Rather, the universe has a tendency to give you exactly what you need in the form of wisdom at exactly the right time before you even realize that you needed such wisdom. I recently experienced two synchronous events…one I am going to discuss today because it is fun and simple and more relatable. The other carries a bit heavier meaning and more value to me personally and I want to dedicate a separate post to that one. Both events came from words on a page in a book that I am reading that struck me as exactly the words I needed right at the moment I read them. As if the universe said to me, “Here you go. I think you need this right now. Do with it what you will.”
If you haven’t read Jen Sincero’s You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, then I highly recommend you check it out. You might find exactly the words you need right inside those pages, too.
I have been reading this book in teeny tiny increments for the past few months. It was given to me by a very dear friend who thought I could benefit from the message within. Inside the back cover of the book, she had affixed an sticker stating, “Please enjoy this book, brought to you compliments of SmartChicks. We hope you enjoy reading it. When you are done, please pass it on to another SmartChick. If you aren’t going to read it, please return it to the person who gave it to you so it can be passed along.” Well, I am enjoying reading it very much. It is lighting my fire and getting me motivated in all sorts of ways to live my most awesome life. It may be taking a bit longer than average to get through it, but I will for sure be passing it along to the next badass SmartChick as soon as I have learned all of the lessons it has to teach me.
Anyway, back to the story at hand. Last Monday I was in a bit of a hormonal misery of sorts. It was my day off and I was trying to work on some writing but I started hankering in a major way for French fries and brown gravy. Hankering to the point that it was all I could think about. And I had scheduled blood work at 5:00 p.m. that night which required 4 hours of fasting. So if I was going to have these French fries and gravy, I needed to have them soon and be finished eating before 1:00 p.m. I am always fascinated by how hungry you can get in just 4 hours when you are required to NOT eat in that time frame. Any other day, I go 5, 6, 7, 8 hours without eating and I don’t even notice. But the moment I am told I cannot eat, forget it. I want everything in sight and my stomach screams with hunger all day long. So the combination of PMS hormones, food cravings, and impending fasting was making me a bit irritable. So I packed up and left the house in search of French fries and gravy. My favorite place for this cuisine was closed. Closed every Monday apparently. I did not know that. I know it now. The second place on my list is open on Mondays according to their website. But as I pulled into their empty parking lot, I spotted the giant letters on their billboard sign, screaming at me and my craving, “CLOSED”. Okay, then. Now my irritability was turning into a case of downright pissed off. For no good reason really, just an overall feeling of agita that was taking control of me and my entire day.
Being one who likes to support local small businesses, I was now frustrated that I the only place left that might possibly have French fries and gravy was Cracker Barrel. I begrudgingly pulled into the parking lot and hesitatingly entered. Don’t get me wrong, I have no issue whatsoever with Cracker Barrel. It’s just not where I wanted to go that day. Feeling a bit defeated, I sat down out my table hoping they had French fries and gravy. I was not my normal cheerful self. I wasn’t in any way rude or unpleasant to the kind young lady who approached my table and introduced herself as my server, but I was definitely a bit standoffish which is atypical of my nature. My aloofness did not seem to phase my server as she cheerfully answered my questions and offered me a better meal combination for a much cheaper price. Then she happily bounded away to bring me my order of soup, salad, and French fries with gravy.
As I waited the arrival of my order, I opened my Jen Sincero book to Chapter 13: Give and Let Give and these are the words that leapt off the page and hit me straight in my bad mood,
“If you want to attract good things and feelings into your life, send awesomeness out to everyone around you.”
I was not being awesome. But my server was totally awesome. And while I was not living by these words in that exact moment, at least she was. Then the brilliant Ms. Sincero went on to list some examples of how to get into the give-and-take flow of awesomeness. Number 3 was “Leave a dollar more than you normally would every time you tip. Or ten.”
Well, as I sat enjoying my adequate French fries and gravy, every encounter with my server boosted my mood just a little bit more. She was giving her good energy in abundance, generously and authentically sharing it with me, a somewhat inapproachable moody customer who happened to be seated in her section. By the time I finished eating, finished reading Chapter 13, and packed up my belongings to leave, it was clear to me that I must leave that extra $10 tip on my $9 bill simply as a thank you to this woman for sharing her awesomeness with me in the moment when I most needed it. And that is the magic of synchronicity. The universe giving you exactly what you need at the moment that you need it even when you may not realize that is what you needed. It is the secret language of the universe. Its messages are valuable and important. So be sure to pay closer attention the next time some weird seemingly unrelated coincidence occurs. It may be the universe trying to communicate with you. It may be the universe giving you exactly what you need. It may also be the magic of the give-and-take flow of awesomeness that can change your day, your week, your year, your life.
Do you have any examples of the universe delivering you a message through some synchronous event? Do you notice an improvement in your connection with the universe when you pay closer attention to these strange coincidences?
Stay tuned next Monday for my discussion about Chapter 15: Forgive or Fester and how the message delivered to me came through loud and clear to help make 2019 The Year for Letting Go.
Keeping it on the edge,
Shelbee
Linking up with Fabulous Link Ups.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.
22 Comments
Tamar Strauss-Benjamin
Super cute outfit! Jung was one of my fav psychologists to study!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Tamar! And I am with you on Jung! One of my favorites as well.
xoxo
Shelbee
Nancy
Ah, I can not imagine you sitting alone with a angry face waiting for your food! Haha, but I don’t think I have ever noticed it happening to me. I should be more awear.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Ha, you make me laugh, Nancy! Sometimes I do get in really bad moods! Usually when that happens I hide away from the world because I don’t want to share my negativity. Thanks for stopping by, my friend! Have a great day.
xoxo
Shelbee
Patrick Weseman
Very interesting and I always though Synchronicity was just a song by The Police. To be be honest, I just kind of roll with the waves of the universe and don’t put much though into it. Kind of catch the coolest wave I see and then jump off when it looks bad and jump on the next coolest. I pretty much follow what Willie Nelson said when he was asked what parenting advice he told his kids; he responded “Don’t Be an Asshole”, it is simple and even I can get that. I might have to start thinking more.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Patrick, I love your approach! It is absolutely the best way to be as far as I am concerned…except I do enjoy the thinking about it all and what it all means bit! But still I like to jump from wave to wave and go with the flow the best I can. Great analogy, by the way. Thanks for sharing your perspective!
xoxo
Shelbee
Amy Arnold
Love your cute boots and this look! Sounds like a good book and thanks for sharing on synchronicity.
Amy Ann
Straight A Style
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Amy Ann! I highly recommend the book! It is amazing!
xoxo
Shelbee
Amy Christensen
What a wonderful story, Shelbee. Isn’t it funny, how something like a book or a song or a server with a good attitude can really change the direction of our thoughts. I’ve been writing about that on my faith page on the blog. How our thoughts can really affect whether we are going to succeed or not, or in the case of your book, whether we are going to be awesome or not. Thanks for sharing that. Love the outfit too and all your snow! Stay warm! – Amy
http://stylingrannymama.com/
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Amy, thank you so much! Our thoughts really do have a huge impact on how we feel. We really do have the power to manifest what we want by changing our perspective, being positive, and putting goodness out into the world. The universe will respond to what we need as long as we are doing our part of the work!
xoxo
Shelbee
Melissa
You receive what you put into the universe, this I strongly believe! Growing up in a household with strict religious parents it was glued to my brain. I totally see sometimes what we need is literally right in our faces. Sometimes we expect the actual sign, literally in a sign, but totally miss all the answer already present to us. I hope you enjoyed those fries and gravy! Sounds like a yummy combination 😉
xo
Mel
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Mel, thanks so much for sharing your perspective and experience on this topic. It is so true that the answers we are looking for are often directly in front of our faces but we choose not to see them. Just getting in tune with our surroundings is a good exercise to get in the practice of on a daily basis. It can make all the difference we need. And yes, the fries and gravy were quite good. Now I want them again!
xoxo
Shelbee
Michele Morin
Love a new word, and “synchronicity” is today’s gift!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Oh I am so glad that you love it, Michele! It really is such a wonderful concept, isn’t it?
xoxo
Shelbee
Kate
Love this post and weirdly the universe brought me here after reading something in a book on the lines that people come to you for a reason a season or a lifetime and you have to try to figure out which of these it is in individual cases. I have a love dilmemma going on right now and it spoke to me so much. Now to work out which it is. Lovely of you to be inspired to give that tip and also the tips in this post too! #BlogCrush
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Kate, I love that my message spoke directly to you. Thank you so much for sharing that with me. The universe has a very strange way of doing things and I find myself all too often questioning her intent as I face a similar dilemma myself. While I do not know the details of your dilemma, I can say this…sometimes what works best for me is refocusing on the things that I do understand and really giving the rest up to the universe. Like Tom Petty said, “The waiting is the hardest part.” Waiting for the answers to reveal themselves can be quite like torture. But take it one step at a time and know that you will end up exactly where you are supposed to be. Thank you so much for reading and hope your dilemma is resolved soon!
xoxo
Shelbee
Sigrid Chu
Hello Shelbee,
I love love this! Thank you for sharing your experiences with synchronicity. I have to think hard about any experiences in my life when the heavens aligned and gave me what I needed at the time that I needed it the most. This is something worth reflecting on. And thank you for sharing your wonderful photos!
Best,
Sigrid
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Oh, Sigrid, thank you so much for this validation of what I share on my blog. I am driven every day to contribute something of value to the world and it is wonderful comments like these that keep me going! I cannot express enough gratitude!
xoxo
Shelbee
Lucy At Home
What a lovely story (and I totally get why you were frustrated and feeling a little less than perky that day!). As a Christian, I look out for these “signs” all the time, but obviously I interpret them as a message from God rather than the universe. But I absolutely agree that if you are open to looking out for them, and accepting of them when they arrive, these little synchronicities can be greatly encouraging and build character #blogcrush
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Lucy, thanks so much for sharing your perspective on the topic! And I think no matter what higher being you are tuned into, as long as you do remain open to receiving the messages, your life will be that much more enriched! These messages are a blessing that should not be taken for granted! I hope you have the most wonderful day, my friend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Carol Cameleon
I’m a firm believer in synchronicity and the universe giving us a nudge when we need it. Love the snowy pictures too! #blogcrush
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Carol, thanks so much for stopping by! As a firm believer myself, it still always surprises me how the universe does this! But we must trust in it as the universe so often knows exactly what we need.
xoxo
Shelbee