If not this door, another door.

The universe just keeps nudging us in the right direction, doesn’t it?

Sometimes, it’s driving and hitting all the right lights.

Sometimes, it’s having events that you didn’t really want to do get canceled at the last minute, therefore, freeing you up to go do what you really want and ought to be doing for your soul’s highest purpose.

I remember when I was a kid I was crazy busy. I worked my butt off both in school and full time at the Baskin Robbins ice cream store. I also took care of my younger sister and dealt with a ridiculously arduous family life (suffice it to say the police were not strangers to being summoned to our house).

Often, I was up at 4:00 am the night before a big assignment was due. I had a plan. I wanted to make sure I graduated, got into a good university and got the hell out of Dodge. I did all those things, but not without a little universal help.

Whenever I had projects or assignments due, I moved mountains to get things done. And most of the time I did. But there were times, despite my best efforts, that I couldn’t finish. I dragged myself into class prepared to admit my failure. And then, the miraculous would occur. The teacher was out that day, and we wouldn’t have to turn in our assignments. I got a stay of execution and an extra day to finish my report.

One time, we had to present our projects in front of the class. I had been unable to even start the project much less finish it. As the class period drew to a close, there might have been time for one more student to go. My name was next on the list. In fact, the teacher even called me up. And just as I stood to say I hadn’t finished my assignment and would need to take a zero, someone in the school pulled the fire alarm. Again, I got an extra day to finish.

I worked those miracles like crazy. I made sure I finished those assignments and received an A on every one. I knew even back then that I had some sort of sympathetic Guardian Angel who made sure I had sufficient time in my crazy life to finish my tasks.

Those moments saved me. I now believe they were also guiding me. And here’s why. There were times when I tried to do something that wasn’t in my best interest, overall. Every single time I tried one of those, I got a metaphysical smack upside the head. When I tried to drive to meet new friends who, I am now sure, would have gotten me in huge trouble, my car would not start. Nothing I tried worked, and I had to cancel my outing. The next morning the car started fine as if nothing had ever been wrong. In the meantime, that evening, those people had gotten into an altercation with Detroit City Police and everyone had been arrested for being drunk and disorderly. I would have been among them if I had been there.

Dozens, if not hundreds, of these sorts of events, have nudged me in the direction I’ve headed.

Every time I have tried to work against my soul’s highest purpose in my professional life, this same type of phenomenon has occurred. When I have taken jobs that were not the right fit, I have found immediate impediments to doing the work. When I have taken on tasks that are in the category of my highest good, the doors have opened before me.

More importantly, as I have gotten older, and I hope, wiser, I have begun to recognize when it is happening. Sometimes, the most frustrating roadblock is an on-ramp to a new and better path. So, now, when I see the detours and the roadblocks, I look for the hidden opportunities along the way. They are there if I pay attention to them. I know that with hindsight most of us can see how things have worked out for the best. I am trying to capitalize on these nudges in the right direction right when they are happening. They are full of information. They are trying to tell me something. My job is to listen and then to act on what I learn.

More on how to act on what you learn, tomorrow.

Sending you all of my love.

Z