When I used to speak at recovery meetings and would talk about the ease that came into my life once I adopted a spiritual way of living, people would sometimes ask for examples. They wanted something concrete, not an ethereal, “and then I placed my trust in the Higher Power of my understanding and my whole life changed!”

Never one to pass up an opportunity to ramble on my thoughts and feelings, I would happily oblige.

I’d give examples about things like missing a turn when I was supposed to be navigating (which, by the way, happens every single time I’m navigating), and then earnestly expressing my belief that everything worked out for the best. “Maybe we would have gotten in an accident if I told you the right place to turn,” I’d tell Sam. “Did you think about THAT, Sam? Hmm? Hmmmmm?” (Spoiler: he never found it as comforting as I did.)

Then, this morning, when I was walking back to my car after a morning beach stroll, I realized I had just lived through a perfect example.

I had an off morning today. I struggled to fall asleep last night, which is unusual for me at the moment. Back when I had a burnout-inducing job, I struggled to fall asleep every night and the sleep specialist I saw told me that trouble falling asleep is always related to stress (FYI in case you have the same struggle).

Then, despite being up late, my body naturally woke up at 4:45, ready to play. So I got out of bed, thrilled to have a few extra hours to create.

But then I met resistance. Sure, I had extra hours. But I wasn’t able to tap into flow, so they weren’t doing me much good.

So I did what I do when I meet resistance: I rode the wave. I stopped pushing and forcing and said, “Okay, body. Here I am, soul. You’ve got my attention. What would YOU like in this moment?” 

And they wanted to go to the beach. So I took them to the beach.

We strolled along the crashing waves, delighting in the lively ocean.

Then, after I turned around to head back to my car, a giant plastic bag wrapped itself around my leg. One of those lively waves (way bigger than the ones we normally get in this part of Florida) delivered it directly to my right calf.

So I bent down and picked it up, then carried it with me until I found a trash can. I disposed of it, and got on with my life.

Then, when I got in my car, I realized this could have been the whole point of my last 24 hours.

Maybe that plastic bag would have wound up becoming microplastic if it floated out to sea. Then, maybe that microplastic would have made it into a fish’s body, then, by proxy, into a human’s body.

Maybe it would have been served to a child who WOULD have been the one to solve world hunger, but instead, that plastic-polluted fish was the straw the broke the camel’s back in the child’s body and, instead, she developed a neurological disorder.

No more solution to world hunger coming from that one.

Except…I couldn’t sleep, got up weirdly early, then went to the beach when my morning flow wasn’t happening, and kept the plastic from floating out to sea.

Pretty heroic of me, if I do say so myself.

I’m telling you about it for that obvious reason (my favorite way to be congratulated for heroic deeds is with spa gift certificates, BTW), but also to make a point.

We know nothing (just like Jon Snow).

I don’t know why I had trouble sleeping last night. I don’t know why my body woke up so early or why I couldn’t tap into flow while writing. I don’t know why I went to the beach in the morning when I usually go in the afternoon.

But I do know that the second most important contributor to human happiness is a sense of meaning (social connection is number one).

So if telling myself a “well maybe this is why that happened” story assigns meaning to my itty bitty human saga…good.

Meaning is good. Tapping into a sense of possibility is good. So is adopting an optimistic worldview and creating space for awe. And that’s not just me saying that–these are core principles of positive psychology.

There are so many things I don’t know about. I don’t know how to tend to the administrative details of life or how to be a functional adult when it comes to logistics. But I do know a whole lotta things about making the shift from perpetually dissatisfied to generally well-ish. And this right here-–it’s a big piece of the puzzle.

Wishing you the kind of mindset that allows you to be the hero of your own story,

Keely

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