‘a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection’
‘intentional occurrence or meeting of souls predestined by the universe’
How many times have you found yourself in a parallel moment. A juncture in talking with someone, seeing something, over hearing something, that makes you think ‘oh isn’t the world a small place’.
It’s happened a few times to me, and the people around me, recently. The guy I got talking to at park run last month, who, it turns out, I worked with over twenty years ago. The Aussie friend my sister got chatting to in Brisbane who it transpires dated her boyfriends brother when she lived back in the UK. The business associate who it transpires also has a property in the tiny Cypriot village I love to think of as home.
I am definitely one for signs. I look for them everywhere to guide me. I’m not just talking about guidance on small decisions such as what to have for lunch or what my weekend social plans involve. I’m talking huge, life changing appraisals, such as relationships, career moves and property investment. I bought my last house based upon a little white feather. True story.
“The world’s a small place”
It isn’t really. With a radius of 6,371 km and a population of 7.1 billion, the earth is far from tiny.
We would therefore be forgiven for feeling a little bewildered when those connections occur. Some how rationale gets overlooked and we rarely consider that moment of fate any more deeply. Imagine if you were to add up the odds involved in every element of that ‘small world’ connection. It would be on a par with winning the lottery.
If these moments don’t happen to us purely by chance. Why do they happen? Is there a deeper meaning, a lesson, a purpose? Are we so keen to hastily dismiss them as a mere concurrence of events with no apparent connection, that we neglect to attribute any real value to them. Maybe we’re not seeing their real reason, their intended purpose.
It got me wondering whether the answer lies in figuring out the puzzle, the basis and justification for these moments in life. Do we shy away from thinking any more deeply about the moment because things get complicated? Or conversely, am I trying to simplify my search for answers by looking for guiding signs.
Trying to complete the puzzle brings its own dangers. What if, in searching so hard for the ‘correct’ interpretation, we don’t get the answer we’re looking for? There is a certain peril in consciously obsessing over the lesson, doing so can allow ego to take over, leading us down entirely the wrong path. It could also be suggested that not all moments of coincidence serve as a sign post for action. It could be that these occurrences are simply about gratitude with no further purpose.
Does the solution lie in acknowledging the moment as more than simply a concurrence of events with no apparent connection, balanced by avoiding the temptation to consciously search for a conclusion?
Manifest the feeling, let go of how, trust your gut instinct and let that guide you instead. Conceivably the answer, if there is one, will come naturally.
Beyond Fit 