You may think you have it all figured out. You may think that you are the master of your destiny.
Where someone interprets things as a warning from above, you just think they’re being dramatic…or superstitious.
…Don’t you think that’s a little arrogant?
The universe is vast – amazing, powerful – and you are but a tiny speck on a tiny planet.
Isn’t it time you put things in perspective?
Isn’t it time that you listen to the omnipresent pull of the universe?
Look: I’m not here to tell you how to live your life. I’m here to say, “this is what happens when you ignore what the universe is telling you.”
Sure, you could ignore my words and go on your merry way.
But I promise, that you’ll be glad that you read this article. You’ll be glad that you learned to identify the signs of the universe, and you’ll be glad that you paid attention to what the universe is trying to tell you.
What are signs from the universe?
For the skeptics reading this page, I’m sure the first question you have is “what is a sign from the universe?”
That’s fair. Discovering what a sign from a universe can be a little complicated, especially if you haven’t started looking.
But once you start looking, the signs can be pretty hard to miss.
Me personally – I’m not a hyper skeptic, nor am I an believe-anything-at-first-glance believer. I know that there are hucksters out there – folks who use cold reading to pretend to be psychic, folks who repackage free ancient and free-to-access theology under a new name just to charge an arm-and-a-leg.
I also know that there are true believers who work in the spiritual realm for altruistic reasons. It’s all about doing your research to discover which is which.
When it comes to interpreting signs from the universe, I am of the school of thought that serendipitous (beneficial and coincidental) moments, recurring instances, gut feelings, dreams, and powerfully symbolic gestures are our signs from the universe.
What does that mean?
Serendipitous moments
Serendipitous moments are moments of benevolent coincidence.
Here’s an example. Let’s say that you got broken up with a few months ago. You’re having a hard time moving forward. You even say to yourself, “I don’t know if I’m ready to start again.”
Not even five minutes later, you get a text from an old friend. He’s in town, and he wants to meet up for drinks.
Or, it’s a text from a best friend, who (out of the blue), says, “I have the best person I want to set you up with.”
The key here is the coincidental timing. Right when you voice your uncertainty, you are hit with the reassurance. It’s a sign that it’s time to try again.
Recurring instances
Sometimes, the universe likes to beat you over the head until you get the message.
Here’s one that actually happened to me. I kept losing my job.
Huh? No, I’m serious. I had taken a job in a field I didn’t like, but did because I felt like I couldn’t get another job.
A year later, I was laid off. I jumped immediately to another company – same job. Laid off again.
After that, I interviewed (in person – final round!) for six different companies (same job), and was rejected from all of them.
That is the universe saying “STOP DOING THAT.”
Finally, I took the hint (the enormous hint), and went into writing.
And my life has gotten so much happier.
Gut feeling
Intuition, aka gut feelings, are critical signs from the universe. Maybe they’re from your guardian angel, your higher self, but whatever you want to call it: it rarely leads you astray.
Me again (I like to keep it about myself – and this is true), I was itching to go check out a new cocktail bar.
But right before I was set to head out, I (for some reason), had a gut feeling that it wasn’t a good idea. I decided I could make a cocktail at home, so I whipped up a Negroni and hung out in my living room.
That evening, I got an alert from my Citizen app: someone had been shot in the head at that very bar.
That person did not make it. Neither did the bar.
I don’t (I can’t) get into the theology of fairness, of why was I warned while the victim wasn’t.
All I can say is that my intuition – and the universe – was looking out for me.
Dreams
Ah, dreams. Dreams are endlessly fascinating for me. Are they simply manifestations of our fears and frustrations of the day? Are they coded messages from the universe itself? Or it it our brain’s way of working through complicated problems so that we begin each day with a sense of determination and inner peace?
I’m not sure. All I know is that there are few sources of relief as wonderful as waking up from a nightmare and realizing that none of that was real.
Swimming through an alligator-infested swamp? Just a dream. Thank God.
But, dreams – especially when they are recurring – represent messages that we need to pay attention to. Maybe it’s from an angel, maybe it’s just from your subconscious.
It doesn’t really matter who is the author of the message. The important part is that you need to pay attention to the message. You need to recognize that you are being given a sign, and then you need to act accordingly.
Powerful symbols
The last form of signs from the universe are powerful symbols. These often take on cultural connotations. For Christians, seeing an unexpected sign of the cross or a dove can serve as powerful markers that the universe is sending you a sign.
For folks who have recently lost a loved one, they often are visited by animals that had a particular attachment to their recently departed loves. These visits are often seen as a sign from their loved ones who have passed on to another realm.
There are many other instances and categories of signs from the universe, but this is a good starting place. What is important is that you keep an open mind, and be willing to listen when the universe comes calling.
How can I tell if it’s a sign from the universe?
How can you tell if it’s a sign from the universe as opposed to a mere coincidence – or that you’re imagining things.
I don’t have an answer for you. I don’t believe you can, with certainty, tell if something is a sign or if it is a coincidence.
What I will say is that you can’t force a sign from the universe. If you know that your departed father loved birds, and you drive yourself to an aviary and slather yourself in nectar – you’re not getting a sign from the universe or a sign from your father.
You’re probably just gonna be covered in birds.
That’s not to say that doing this can’t help you grow closer to the spirit of your father, or help you meditate on the love that you had for your father – it just means that you can’t force the universe to send you a sign.
What happens if I ignore signs from the universe?
Here’s the big question: what happens if you ignore signs from the universe?
Well, it depends upon the situation, but here are five things that can happen when you leave the universe’s messages on read.
1) You may miss an opportunity
The universe wants you to succeed. When the universe provides you with signs, it’s doing so to point the way to your success.
When you ignore those signs, that’s like throwing out the map when you’re hiking on an unknown trail. Sure, maybe you’ll get where you need to go – but it’s going to take a lot longer, and it could be a little dangerous.
When you put off the universe’s calling, you could miss a job opportunity, a love connection, or even a chance at spiritual development.
2) You could end up in a bad situation
This is especially relevant to listening to your gut. Your gut is your friend. When you hear a voice saying, “we really shouldn’t go here,” or “we really need to leave now,” then you ought to listen to that little voice.
You never know when it could save your hide.
3) You will struggle with finding your purpose
The universe wants to help you discover and develop your purpose. When you discover your purpose, you are able to further develop yourself, and the universe benefits from the development and effort that you bring forth.
Sometimes, the universe will provide you with signs that help point the way to you developing your purpose. If you choose to ignore those signs, you will stray further from discovering your purpose, leaving you feeling underwhelmed, confused, and a little empty.
So, the next time you feel the universe nudging you in a certain direction, take the time to analyze the sign, and maybe choose to follow the path that the universe has lain out for you.
4) You’ll feel disconnected
When you turn your back on the signs from the universe, you turn your back on the chance to be drawn into a deeper connection with the greater world.
Look at all of the examples we have of the universe giving people signs. What did those signs lead to?
Love? That’s a connection.
Career? Careers don’t exist in a bubble?
Family? That’s a whole web of interconnectivity.
The universe wants to help us find our place within the all-interconnected everything. And it wants us to appreciate our place within our system. Turning our backs on signs from the universe means turning our backs on this connectivity.
This makes us feel alone and isolated.
5) You may want to consider speaking with a spiritual expert.
Those are the general problems that you could face. But they’re not necessarily specific to your unique circumstances.
That’s because I’m writing an article, and we’re not talking face to face.
To get more specific answers, you may want to consider speaking with a spiritual adviser.
They can answer questions like, am I really seeing a sign from the universe or is this a coincidence?
That’s why many of the writers and Nomadrs recommend using Psychic Source.
I’m always 100% honest with you, so I’ll say that I haven’t used this company yet, but MANY of my fellow writers have. And they are always highly impressed with the unique insights these advisers bring to their lives.
Having tried several online advisors, our team resoundly believes they’re the most caring, compassionate and helpful network of gifted advisors out there.
Click here to get your own personalized reading.
And hey, let me know how the reading goes. I want to know your opinion on it.
Why am I getting signs from the universe?
If you’ve been getting signs from the universe, and you’ve decided, “hm, I probably shouldn’t ignore them,” then you may be wondering, “but why is the universe giving me signs?”
I’ve certainly wondered this before.
What did I do to deserve a sign from the universe?
This is a bit of a heavy question – and it gets at an uncomfortable concept which is, “why did I get this sign and someone else did not?”
This is how I felt when I got the sign to not go to the bar that fateful night.
I don’t have an answer that is that satisfying. All I can say is that we are all given nudges and signs throughout our lives. Some of us take advantage of them, others cannot hear the nudges.
And many times, there are no amount of signs that can prevent something from happening. Sometimes, we are not fully in control of our destiny. Sometimes, things simply happen.
There isn’t always a neat cause-and-effect chain that you can use to order life. Things are spontaneous. Sometimes, the universe steps in with a sign, with a warning, with an opportunity that you can take advantage of.
All I can say is, when the sign is presented, make sure that you act.
Don’t I have free will?
I dunno man, do you?
I’m mostly joking. I believe we have free will. Though, interestingly, it hasn’t necessarily been proven that we do or do not have free will.
But the point is: if we have free will, then why are we – penalized – by ignoring the universe?
Shouldn’t we just do what the universe urges us to do, time and time again? At that point, doesn’t it make sense to hand the reins over to the universe itself.
Hm. Far out, man.
Here’s the best way to think about it: when the universe sends you a sign, it’s a message that something is coming – perhaps a critical choice, perhaps a source of blessing, perhaps a danger, and the universe is giving you a clue as to how to find the right answer.
Now, you can be boneheaded about it and say, “no universe, I want to find the answer on my own,” or you can thank the universe for looking out for you.
Because, think about it, the universe wouldn’t be sending you a “warning” sign if you weren’t going in a bad direction.
You don’t yell WATCH OUT to someone who doesn’t need to WATCH OUT. You yell WATCH OUT when they’re about to be knocked in the head by a stray baseball.
So, think of the signs as messages. Perhaps they’re encouraging you to keep persevering. Maybe they’re telling you to change courses.
But at the end of the day, they’re doing so because they have your best interest in mind.
What should I do when I receive signs from the universe?
Listen to them!
Seriously. When you receive a message from the universe, the first thing you should do is stop, then pay attention to the message.
Don’t let it zip by you. Don’t briefly skim it like a boring textbook you’re zipping through before an exam.
No, meditate on that message. Try and examine the context of the message. See how it may apply to your life.
Then, once you understand how it factors into your life, you must make the decision on how to proceed.
And once you’ve made that decision, make sure to thank the universe for sending you a nudge.
Show your appreciation. The universe may respond in kind.
