Coincidence: Your Soul’s (Very Challenging) BFF
Coincidence does not exist. Although it is with a seeming ‘coincidence’ that your spiritual life might emerge or be kick started. I find coincidence to be a word that badly summarizes the fact that actually, nothing is a coincidence, and as per the mantra of my latest book, The High Heeled Guide to Spiritual Living, ‘everything happens for a reason’!
My husband has developed a coincidence face. It involves saying coincidence in a questioning way with a high-pitched lilt at the end, whilst cocking the head to the side, wide eyed and with one questioning eyebrow raised. I love it! It really does say it all!
I am convinced that coincidences are not accidental at all and are in fact part of the natural push and pull of the greater scheme of things. They are synchronicities that shed light on our lives. They are our higher-self working with the higher self of others to give us signs, to light the way and to visit us with crazy opportunities and learning. They are serendipitous gifts of cosmic wondrousness that show how intimately connected we are in often unseen and mysterious ways.
I have devised a new turn of phrase to describe such incidents. I will now refer to them as non-coincidences. That seems somehow more apt, it fits better in my world of Woo! Coincidence as a phrase does not cut it; it tends to mean happy or bizarre accident. Whilst I love happy accidents, I truly believe that they are in fact the workings of a spiritual universe. A non-coincidence is no accident. A non-coincidence is a purposeful and tangible act of spiritual guidance.
First, a word of warning. Just because something seems fated, does not mean that it is a good thing. Non-coincidence can pit you up against the enemy on occasion to see how you fare. You may stumble across an ex-partner on the street, suddenly and out of the blue, but this does not mean that you should jump into bed with them immediately. It may be a chance to catch up, to see how much you have grown, or even an opportunity not to succumb to your previous passions and to walk away the stronger person that you now are.
Non-coincidence might throw a cart of chocolate cakes at you just when you have gotten used to your healthy eating regime. This happened to me when I had undertaken a recent healthy eating lifestyle. I was doing so well. No sooner had I remarked to the world via Twitter that my vegetable intake was going fabulously than somebody offered me an array of cakes. Chocolate cakes. Now, this really was a non-coincidence too far! But rather than see it as an opportunity to break with my healthy ways and treat myself for having done so well, I saw it for what it was, a non-coincidence that would allow me to overcome the urge and to carry on in a place of pride and self respect.
Non-coincidence has shown me so many times what it is that I do not want. Non-coincidence can sometimes feel like a test. But as it reappears in your life with the same old lessons, its meaning becomes more apparent. If something keeps happening, or you keep coming up against the same kind of people, or the same brick walls, do not get mad, have a little think about what it is that you need to learn. What is it in you that needs to change so that the ‘same old same old’ stops occurring?
Non-coincidence is a complex gift. It gives you great things and it also gives you puzzles to make sense of. It can throw your whole life into chaos, because what you thought was ‘meant to be’ does not work out how you thought it would. But maybe that is because it was never supposed to. Non-coincidence can tempt us and leave us in a state of folly. Trick you once, shame on you, but allow it to happen twice and you can blame only yourself. Non-coincidence is not the enemy here. It is our own failings, and our interpretation of that non-coincidence that is at fault. We must learn from our failings or else we will continue to be tripped up by them until the day that we eventually decide to take the lesson on-board.
I have focused here mainly on the lessons and potential hardships that non-coincidence can bring. But believe me, there are a hundred other ways it can light up your life for the better. It can connect you through a series of apparently random but synchronous events to a person or people who are just right for you and your growth at any given stage of life. It can drop information your way that is desperately needed. Non-coincidence can play a song that means the very world to you, at the very moment that you needed to hear it.
Non-Coincidence is part and parcel of so many signs that the universe may send you. It is your lighthouse in the gloom, and whilst sometimes the non-coincidences are laden with meaning, depth and lessons, other times they are simply perfect meetings, happy education and wondrous ‘wow I can not believe that just happened’moments!
Non-coincidence can be a funny thing. It can visit a whole boatload of crazy upon us. It is for us to work out the meaning and for us to take this forward in the best way possible for our future development. Whatever you do, be certain that you will experience something from all non-coincidences. That something is sometimes profound, sometimes unique, and other times just plain old crazy! The lessons range from the infinitely miraculous to the more intense personal lessons about your self. Employing your intuition to such scenarios is the best way to get a happy result for yourself, and hopefully avoid any painstaking self-examination later. Noticing non-coincidence and paying attention to your intuition (gut instinct) are your fast track ways to contact your wise higher self and to access your spiritual potential.
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